The Three Books That Changed My Business Life

I've been an entrepreneur since I knew there was money to be had. Even as a kid, I was selling golf balls, renting out video games, and finding ways to turn a profit. But having the entrepreneurial spirit doesn't automatically translate to entrepreneurial success.

My journey from eager kid hustler to CEO of FormPiper and founder of multiple successful businesses wasn't just shaped by experiences – it was profoundly influenced by the books I read along the way.

When I speak at events, I always bring copies of three specific books to give away. These aren't just good reads – they're the foundation of my business philosophy and the cornerstones of my Drive Charity Today initiative, which aims to donate one million books (among other goals).

Let me share why these three books transformed my approach to business and life – and why they might do the same for you.

1. "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey

I believe this book should be mandatory reading for everyone before they turn 18. Had I read it at that age, I would have avoided years of financial stress and limited options.

The Core Concept

Ramsey's approach is simple but revolutionary: avoid debt completely, save aggressively, and build wealth steadily through disciplined financial management. It's not about complex investment strategies or get-rich-quick schemes – it's about the fundamentals of financial health.

How It Changed My Approach

As a young entrepreneur, I fell into the debt trap that ensnares so many Americans. Credit cards, car loans, business financing – each seemed reasonable in isolation, but collectively they created a financial prison that limited my options.

Ramsey's book showed me how debt wasn't just a financial burden – it was a mental and emotional one too. Every loan payment was a claim on my future earnings, a limitation on my freedom to take risks and pursue opportunities.

After implementing Ramsey's principles, I experienced what he calls "financial peace" – that state where money becomes a tool rather than a source of stress. This freedom allowed me to make business decisions based on long-term strategy rather than short-term cash needs.

The Business Application

Beyond personal finance, Ramsey's principles transformed how I structured my business finances:

• Cash Flow Focus: I shifted from profit-obsession to cash flow management, ensuring we always had liquid resources available
• Debt-Free Operations: We eliminated business debt and began operating entirely from cash flow, even if it meant slower growth
• Emergency Funds: We maintained substantial cash reserves, allowing us to weather downturns without panic
• Clear Financial Priorities: We established a hierarchy of financial needs from necessary (maintaining operations) to aspirational (funding new ventures)

This approach meant that when opportunities arose – like buying a competitor's business or developing FormPiper – we had both the resources and the freedom to pursue them without taking on crippling debt.

The Unforgettable Insight

The most powerful concept Ramsey taught me was that most financial problems aren't math problems – they're behavior problems. We know we should spend less than we earn, avoid debt, and save for the future. The challenge isn't understanding what to do; it's changing our behavior to actually do it.

This insight applies equally to business. Most business owners know they should track metrics, train their team, manage cash flow carefully, and focus on customer experience. The gap isn't knowledge – it's implementation.

2. "The 12 Week Year" by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington

If Total Money Makeover transformed my financial approach, The 12 Week Year revolutionized how I set goals and execute plans.

The Core Concept

The premise is deceptively simple: Rather than setting annual goals, compress your execution timeline to 12 weeks. Treat each quarter as a complete "year," with its own planning, execution, and evaluation cycle.

How It Changed My Approach

Before discovering this book, I followed the conventional wisdom of annual business planning. The problem? These plans became obsolete within weeks, yet I felt obligated to stick with them for the entire year.

The 12 Week Year liberated me from this ineffective cycle. By compressing the timeframe:

• Urgency Increases: When a deadline is 12 months away, procrastination is easy. When it's just 12 weeks away, action becomes imperative.
• Focus Sharpens: With less time, you naturally prioritize high-impact activities and eliminate distractions.
• Adaptability Improves: Instead of waiting until year-end to adjust course, you can pivot every 12 weeks based on what you've learned.
• Momentum Builds: Success compounds as you achieve four "wins" per year instead of waiting for one annual victory.

The Business Application

This methodology transformed how we operate at FormPiper and became a cornerstone of my "Power of 27" goal-setting framework:

• Rolling 90-Day Sprints: Every department operates on 90-day plans with clear, measurable objectives
• Weekly Execution Reviews: We don't wait until the end of the quarter to evaluate progress – we track execution weekly
• Rapid Innovation Cycles: New features and services launch in 12-week development cycles, allowing faster market testing
• Quarterly Strategic Resets: Leadership recalibrates priorities every 12 weeks based on market feedback and performance data

The result has been dramatically faster growth. Features that might have taken a year to implement in the traditional annual cycle now reach market in a single quarter. Strategic shifts that previously would have been postponed until "next year's plan" happen within weeks.

The Unforgettable Insight

The most powerful concept from The 12 Week Year is the distinction between activity and achievement. Many business owners confuse busyness with progress, creating the illusion of productivity while failing to move meaningfully toward their goals.

By focusing on a smaller number of truly high-impact activities in a compressed timeframe, you create clarity around what actually matters. You stop confusing motion with progress and start measuring what counts: execution on the vital few priorities that drive real results.

3. "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield

While the first two books address tactical aspects of business success – financial management and goal execution – The War of Art tackles something far more fundamental: the internal resistance that prevents us from pursuing our most important work.

The Core Concept

Pressfield identifies a universal force he calls "Resistance" – the invisible, internal barrier that arises whenever we attempt to move from a lower sphere toward a higher calling, from immediate gratification toward long-term growth.

This Resistance manifests as procrastination, self-doubt, rationalization, fear, and a host of other subtle saboteurs that keep us from doing our most meaningful work.

How It Changed My Approach

Before encountering this book, I couldn't understand why I would set ambitious goals I genuinely wanted to achieve, yet still find myself procrastinating, making excuses, or getting distracted by less important tasks.

Pressfield helped me recognize these behaviors not as character flaws or lack of discipline, but as manifestations of Resistance – a force that emerges specifically when we're pursuing work that matters.

Most importantly, he taught me that Resistance is normal. Everyone experiences it. The difference between successful people and everyone else isn't the absence of Resistance – it's their relationship with it. Professionals feel the Resistance but act anyway. Amateurs let Resistance dictate their actions.

The Business Application

Understanding Resistance transformed how I approach entrepreneurial challenges:

• Recognizing Rationalization: I became skilled at identifying when I was making reasonable-sounding excuses to avoid important but difficult work
• Morning Priority Blocks: I began tackling the most Resistance-prone activities first thing in the morning, before distractions could derail me
• Commitment to Shipping: We established a culture of completion rather than perfection, countering the Resistance that hides behind "it's not ready yet"
• Normalizing Discomfort: I learned to interpret the discomfort of growth as a positive sign rather than a warning to retreat

Perhaps most importantly, I began to see Resistance as a compass. The tasks that generate the most internal Resistance are often precisely the ones that will create the greatest growth – both personally and for the business.

The Unforgettable Insight

The most profound concept from The War of Art is the distinction between the amateur and the professional. The amateur waits for inspiration, works when conditions are perfect, takes criticism personally, and quits when things get difficult. The professional shows up every day regardless of mood, sees criticism as valuable feedback rather than personal attack, and persists through difficulties.

This insight redefined my identity as an entrepreneur. I stopped seeing myself as someone who owns businesses and started seeing myself as a professional who shows up daily to do the work – whether I feel like it or not.

How These Books Work Together

What makes these three books so powerful is how they complement each other:

• Total Money Makeover provides financial foundation – the stability that makes entrepreneurial risk possible
• The 12 Week Year offers execution framework – the system that turns vision into reality
• The War of Art addresses internal barriers – the resistance that would otherwise prevent implementation

Together, they create a comprehensive approach to entrepreneurial success:

1. Create financial freedom through disciplined money management
2. Set ambitious but achievable 12-week goals
3. Recognize and overcome the Resistance that emerges when pursuing those goals
4. Execute with professional consistency regardless of mood or circumstance
5. Evaluate results and recalibrate every 12 weeks
6. Repeat, building momentum with each cycle

This integrated approach has not only transformed my businesses but has become the foundation of my mentoring work with other entrepreneurs through Drive Success Today.

Why I Donate These Books

Through my Drive Charity Today initiative, I've committed to donating one million books over my lifetime. These three are always at the top of my list because they address the fundamental challenges that derail most entrepreneurial journeys:

• Financial mismanagement
• Ineffective goal setting and execution
• Surrender to internal Resistance

When someone attends one of my speaking events, they receive a chess board (another one of my charitable passions) and their choice of one of these three books. The chess board represents strategic thinking and unlimited possibilities; the book provides a specific pathway to success in an area where they might be struggling.

How to Apply These Insights Today

If you're an entrepreneur facing challenges in your business or personal life, here's how you can immediately apply the wisdom from these three transformative books:

From Total Money Makeover:

• Create a detailed personal and business budget that accounts for every dollar
• Develop a debt elimination plan, targeting the smallest debts first to build momentum
• Build an emergency fund covering 3-6 months of expenses
• Create separate accounts for taxes, profit, and operating expenses

From The 12 Week Year:

• Identify your 2-3 most important objectives for the next 12 weeks
• Break these down into weekly action plans with specific, measurable targets
• Establish a weekly review process to track your execution score
• Create accountability by sharing your 12-week plan with someone else

From The War of Art:

• Identify your primary forms of Resistance (procrastination, distraction, perfectionism, etc.)
• Commit to showing up for your most important work at the same time daily
• Create a "starting ritual" that signals to your brain it's time to work
• Judge your success by whether you did the work, not how you felt doing it

Most importantly, remember that reading these books is just the beginning. Knowledge without implementation creates no value. The true power comes from applying these principles consistently, day after day, until they become your natural way of operating.

These three books changed my life not because I read them, but because I implemented them. They can do the same for you.