Journey With Myself Promotion : Promote to win a top level domains + Hosting!

This is a promotional giveaway where you could win the following prizes: Top Level Domains [Like *.com *.org *.in etc] Premium hosting for 1 year Many domains This promotion will run from Sunday, 12th October’ 2011 to 31st October’ 2011 00:00 hours (mid-night). Result of the promotion will be announced on within a week and prizes will be distributed to all the winners in the next 3 weeks’ time.

Every Day is A New Day

New day.. New office location.. New Seat.. So many new things happened to me before this new year comes. Newness always brings enthusiasm and excitement. Hope this New Year also comes with hand full of surprises as Every Day is a New Day indeed..!!!

12 Most Famous Love Stories of All Time

When: 31 BC Where: Rome and Egypt What’s So Special about Their Love: These two had a love so strong, war was waged against them to break them up. When Mark Antony left his wife, Octavia, for the mesmerizing Cleopatra, Octavia’s brother Octavian brought the army of Rome to destroy them. These two lovers were so entranced with each other that they committed suicide rather than be apart- the ultimate Romeo and Juliet true love story.

Mahatma`s Teachings

I like both the movies MunnaBhai MBBS and Lage Raho MunnaBhai. I dont know about the Gandhi`s political decisions but I believe in his teachings to the nation.

Universal Truth about Boys............lolz!!

Now i truly admit, Google is very very very smart......

Monday, February 27, 2012

Billionaires Kids Who Won't Inherit Wealth from their Parents



You must have thought all the billionaires’ children are very lucky as they can enjoy their parents’ wealth in their lifetime and you might have also wished to have such a posh life by looking up to them. But take that thought out of your mind as you have better examples of billionaire kids who are not going to inherit their parent’s wealth to become rich. Here is the list of billionaires who are not going to inherit their parents wealth in their life.


1. Bill Gates:


William Henry “Bill” Gates is an American business tycoon, investor, philanthropist and author and he is also the former CEO and current Chairman of Microsoft, a software company which he jointly founded with Paul Allen. Bill Gates of his total wealth is considered as one among the richest person in the world. He plans to give his children only a tiny portion of his total wealth. This statement from him has made his children to find their own way in life though they will be getting a secured share in his wealth for the lifetime.



2. Warren Buffett:


He is an American business magnate, investor and also a philanthropist and he is also widely regarded as one of the successful investors in the world often introduced as ‘Legendary investor, Warren Buffett”, reports the Wikipedia. He is the next person who has asked his three children not to expect much from his wealth as he is not going to leave them much of his property. He has always believed in teaching them values than giving those billions. But the point to be noted here is, his children have already started their own careers and are self sufficient to manage their life.


3. Bernard Marcus:


Bernard is an American pharmacist and retail entrepreneur who was born to a Jewish-Russian immigrant parents in New Jersey. This Chairman of Home Depot joins the list of billionaires who won’t leave much of his property to his children. He believes that if his children want to be rich, they will have to work for it. And because of that reason he plans on leaving most of his Home Depot stock worth to his Marcus foundation which helps for to the handicapped people and for educational purposes of the poor.


4. George Lucas:


Born in the year 1944, this American film producer, screen writer, director and also an entrepreneur is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is considered as the financially successful director and producer of the American film industry. He has promised to give away at least half of his wealth away for the needy not leaving too much for his three kids.  


5. Ted Turner:


Ted Turner, fully known as Robert Edward ‘Ted” Turner 3rd is an American media tycoon and philanthropist. He is the founder of Cable News Network CNN, the 1st 24 hour news channel and also the Chairman of the United Nations Foundation has said that at the time of his death almost all his wealth will go to the charity and if he really gives his billions to the charity then his children will have to work hard to make their way to the top.




Richest Women of the World


The world of business is largely male dominated and fighting to the top is no easy task. However, there are a few women who, with inherited fortunes Christy Walton and conquered the path to glory like Gina Rinehart, have made a niche for themselves. Here are the richest women in the world.


1. Christy Walton


Age: 56
Country: United States
Net worth: $24.5 Billion
Company: Walmart
Currently: Philanthropist

Christy Walton inherited a fortune of $15.7 billion in 2005 after the death of John T. Walton, one of the sons of the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. She is considered to be the richest women alive, the sixth richest in the United States and the 10th richest person in the world. A large bulk of her calculated net worth of $26.5 billion comes from her shares in Wal-Mart and First Solar, a solar panel maker in which her husband invested. According to the amount she gives as a percentage of her wealth, she has been ranked the highest female philanthropist and 2002-2006, Walton contributed billions from her then $16.3 billion net worth to charity.

2. Liliane Bettencourt


Age: 89 
Country: France
Net worth: $23.5 billion
Notable company: L’Oreal
Currently: Principal shareholder, L’Oreal


Liliane Bettencourt is the richest woman in Europe, second richest women in the world and second richest person in France (behind Bernard Arnault). She is the only child of Eugene Schueller, founder of the cosmetic giant, L’Oreal. Liliane, who had a close bond with her father, joined his company at the age of 15 as an apprentice, mixing cosmetics and labeling bottles of shampoo. In 1950, she married French politician Andr├й Bettencourt and in 1957, she inherited the L'Or├йal fortune when her father died. She has always been in news ranging from a high-level French political scandal regarding tax evasion to a sensational family scandal involving a long political battle with her only daughter and heir, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyer.

3. Alice Walton


Age: 61 
Country: United States
Net worth: $20.9 Billion
Notable Company: Walmart
Currently: Board member, Amon Carter Museum


Alice is another heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune and is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton. She is the tenth richest American, the riches goes to the original Bentonville store founded by her father with his brother James in 1962. Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, has sales over $405 billion today and employs more than 2.1 million people. Alice Walton founded Llama Company, an investment bank engaged in corporate finance, public and structured finance in 1988, which she closed down in the late 1990s. Her primary philanthropic efforts are done as a board member of the Walton Family Foundation. Currently she is on the board of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas and is a member of the Trustees' Council of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.


4. Iris Fontbona


Age: N/A 
Country: Chile
Net worth: $19.2 billion
Notable company: Antofagasta
Current position: Owner, Antofagasta


Second wife of Antonio Andr├│nico Luksic Abaroa, a Chilean billionaire who heads one of the world’s biggest and most influential copper-mining concerns, Fontbona become one of the richest in the world after his death.  Her business empire, Antofagasta, is the 30th-biggest company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Iris Fontbona and family hold shares in Quinenco, a consumer packaging and beverage maker, and Plava Laguna, a chain of Croatian beach resorts. Her son Jean Paul is the Chairman of Antofagasta, of shares of which have more than doubled in the past 12 months.

5. Gina Rinehart


Age: 57 
Country: Australia
Net worth: $18 Billion-$20 Billion
Notable company: Hancock Prospecting
Currently: Chairman & Director, Hancock Prospecting


Unlike the aforementioned successful business women, success was not just gifted to Gina Rinehart, rather she earned it. She went all the way to making his dad’s struggling mining concern, Hancock Prospecting, one of the greatest in the industry with an eye toward expansion and profit. She was ranked the wealthiest person in Australia by both Forbes Asia and Business Review Weekly in 2011. Rinehart growth was quite amazing that in 2007, her wealth amounted to $1 billion which more than doubled to $2.4 billion next year and in spite of the global economic slowdown, she was reported to be having assets worth $9 billion, which once again doubled to $18 in 2012.

6. Susanne Klatten


Age: 48 
Country: Germany
Net worth: $14.6 billion
Notable companies: BMW; Altana
Currently: Supervisory board, BMW


Susanne Klatten  is the richest woman in Germany and the 44th richest person in the world. Upon her father Herbert Quandt’s death, Klatten inherited partial ownership of renowned carmaker BMW and 50.1 percent stake in pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturer Altana, which she now wholly owns. She has been named in a sex-tape scandal in 2008 and a blackmail plot, of which the accused named Helg Sgarbi pleaded guilty in court. Since 2005, she has been a member of the University Council of the Technical University of Munich and is one of the major donors of the centre-right political party the Christian Democratic Union.

7. Birgit Rausing


Age: 87 
Country: Switzerland
Net worth: $14 billion
Notable company: Tetra Pak
Current position: Owner, Tetra Laval


Birgit Rausing inherited the food-packaging giant Tetra Laval when her husband Gad Rausing died in 2000, making her one of the richest women in the world. The company was founded in 1944 by Gad’s dad which revolutionized the packaging of liquids such as juices and milk. Tetra Laval employs more than 31,000 people in 165 countries today. All her three children are on Tetra Laval's board. While her son Jorn is the head of mergers and acquisitions, son Finn is the chairman of the board of the Swedish R.R. Institute of Applied Economics and daughter Kirsten is a horse breeder in the U.K.

8.  Jacqueline Mars


Age: 71 
Country: United States
Net worth: $13.8 billion
Notable company: Mars, Inc.
Current position: Vice president, Mars, Inc.


Jacqueline Mars is the granddaughter of Frank C. Mars, Founders of the American candy company Mars Incorporated. The company has bunch of brands like Snickers, Pedigree, M&M and Milky Way which are quite famous across the globe. She is the fourth richest American woman and has been ranked the 52nd richest person in the world and the 26th richest person in America by Forbes. The combined sales of all the business undertakings of the company exceed $30 billion and her shares in the company is said to be more than $10 billion. She is the public face of the Mars business group.


9. Anne Cox Chambers


Age: 92 
Country: United States
Net worth: $13.4 Billion
Notable company: Cox Enterprises
Currently: Owner, Cox Enterprises

92 year old, Anne Cox Chambers’ is the daughter of James M. Cox, the founder of Cox Enterprises. Today, the media empire has a vast range of business undertakings includes Cox Communications cable company, 15 TV stations, 17 daily newspapers, 86 radio stations, Manheim Auctions (cars) and AutoTrader.com. The family has a history of political activism as James Cox had served as U.S. representative and governor of Ohio before being the Democratic nominee for president and Anne too followed his path and was named ambassador to Belgium in 1977 by the then President Jimmy Carter. Cox-Chambers is the 20th richest person in the United States and 53rd richest person in the world.

10. Savitri Jindal


Age: 61 
Country: India
Net worth: $13.2 Billion


Notable company: O.P. Jindal Group
Currently: Chair, O.P. Jindal Group


Savitri Jindal is the wealthiest woman in India and the world's 56th richest person. This Indian steel baroness is the non-executive chairperson of O.P. Jindal Group and is the member of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. She also had served as a Minister of Power in the Government of Haryana until 2010. She become the chairperson of the company upon the death of her husband, O. P. Jindal, in a helicopter crash in 2005. In actual practice, it’s her four sons, Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen who run the businesses. Jindal Steel & Power is the biggest asset of the Jindal family, which is run by the youngest son Naveen, a member of parliament.





Friday, February 17, 2012

Does your idea have to be "unique" for your startup to be successful or you can be just "+1" to the market, execute well and still succeed?





You are more likely to fail if you are "unique".  Its safer and easy to clone existing businesses and incrementally improve them.  First movers almost never understand the market as well as their competitors and are usually annihilated by the later competition (which only has to improve their product or exploit a new marketing channel).

Creating a new market and holding it is the most difficult you can do, where as incremental improvement is much easier and has comparable financial advantages.

Google was not the first search engine.  Google did not invent search monetization (Overture did).

Facebook was not the first social network.  It was a clone of HouseSYSTEM and myspace.  Myspace was a friendster clone.

Zynga did not invent Farmville, they copied the game almost to the pixel from Farmtown.  Farmtown was a copy of the Chinese game HappyFarm.

The iPod was not the first mp3 player.

Microsoft Windows was not the first or even the best GUI OS.  In fact it was technically inferior to its competitors, but won the standards war because Microsoft had a better understanding of the market and the nature of computer standards than IBM or Apple.

And so on.  Its rare that the first company into a market is the company that becomes the dominant player in that market.  I have never seen it happen in the absence of a government granted monopoly.

Your product should be designed to satisfy a validated demand that consumers have, but perhaps in a new way, or with a new technology; for instance, people have been watching video since the 1960s, but Youtube enables them to satisfy that need over a new medium (the internet/web-browser).

If there is not a product in a market (or atleast an extreme shitty product), the reason is generally that there is no demand for that product.  However, concepts like tablet computing and Groupon were tried several dozen times and failed before they were successful.

Personally, I am big fan of improving existing services, exploiting superior knowledge about your market (such as using better marketing strategies or distribution methods) and market segmentation.  Market segmentation is great strategy for grabbing your competitor's customers and potentially being able to achieve higher margins

What books are on your "must read" list for web startups?



  1. Startups Open Sourced (Jared Tame- This is a really great collection of interviews and promises to share some insight into some of the most interesting stories you typically won't hear on HN.
  2. The Thank You Economy (Gary Vaynerchuk- This book attest that your relationship with your customers will define your business's success.
  3. Designing for the Web (Mark Boulton- This material was eye opening from a developer's perspective because it helps you understand the designer's process. This is great from a designer's perspective because it covers 80% of the ground that make most web designers great! (Not to mention it's FREE to read online!)
  4. The Four Steps to the Epiphany (Steve Blank)This seems to be the entrepreneur's bible to business development. 
  5. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A Cheat Sheet to the Four Steps to the Epiphany (Brant Cooper , Patrick Vlaskovits) - I understand that this book really dissects the Customer Development process.
  6. Business Model Development: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers (Yves Pigneur and Alex Osterwalder) - Excellent book which walks you through developing your business model and efficiently pivoting until you achieve product-market fit.
  7. Founders at Work (Jessica Livingston) - Case studies on some of the great businesses and their founders of our day. Fascinating insight from people who have walked the walk.
  8. Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur (Pamela Slim) - I haven't gotten to this book personally, but I'm told there are some great takeaways. I've seen Pam speak on several occasions and have high expectations from her book as well.
  9. My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley (Ben Casnocha) - Another book I haven't gotten to, though the hot spot that is Silicon Valley has been a personal interest for me. I'm expecting a first-hand experience of what a new company in the Valley goes through.

Stay Self Motivated always in Stressful Times


10 Helpful Reminders for Stressful Times
“Fall seven times, stand up eight!”
Just a few things to think about when life delivers a dose of difficulty and stress…
  1. Happiness is never constant, and it’s not supposed to be. – You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life.  To believe that you can reach a state of happiness and stay there forever, is like the tide believing she can reach for the shoreline and remain there forever; or like a fruit tree believing that if she only holds on tighter, she can keep her fruit from dropping to the ground.  Happiness is simply a series of moments that come and go and add sweetness to our lives.  Learn to accept this, and the more happy moments you will have.  
  2. Failures are temporary situations that teach us necessary lessons. – Life’s best lessons are usually learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes.  So yes, you will fail sometimes.  The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  So get out there and try!  Either you succeed or you learn a vital lesson.  Win – Win.
  3. Even if you can’t see it now, you are making progress. – You may not be where you want to be yet, but if you think about it, you’re no longer where you once were either.  You have good reason to believe that you can trust yourself going forward.  Not because you’ve always made the right choices, but because you survived the bad ones, and taken small steps in the right direction.  So cry for a moment if you have to, and get it out of your system.  Crying doesn’t indicate that you’re weak; since birth, it has always been a sign that you’re alive and full of potential.  Once you’re done, keep going!  You’re undoubtedly getting closer to where you want to be.
  4. How you feel when you’re stressed is not a true measure of reality. – Just because you’re afraid, doesn’t mean you’re in danger.  Just because you feel alone, doesn’t mean nobody loves you.  Just because youthink you might fail, doesn’t mean you will.  Look beyond your doubts and keep searching for the truth.  Be aware of your mental self-talk.  We all talk silently to ourselves in our heads, but we aren’t always conscious of what we’re saying or how it’s affecting us.  The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.  Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.  The sun is always shining on some part of your life.  Sometimes you just have to forget how you feel, remember what you deserve, and keep pushing forward.
  5. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. – You can learn great things from your failures and mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.  If you’ve been asking the same questions for months or even years, yet are still stuck, it’s probably not that you haven’t been given the answers, but that you don’t like the answers you were given.  It takes a lot of courage to admit that something needs to change, and a lot more courage still, to accept the responsibility for actually changing it.  The most important step forward is taking the first step.  The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of positive changes – one building on the other.
  6. You are not what happened to you in the past. – No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. You are not your past habits. You are not your past failures. You are not how others have at one time treated you. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment. 
  7. Not getting what you want can be a blessing. – Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of good luck, because it forces you reevaluate things, opening new doors to opportunities and information you would have otherwise overlooked.  Remember, some things in life fall apart so that better things can fall together.
  8. Being a ‘work in progress’ is a great state to be in. – Stop berating yourself for being a work in progress.  Start embracing it!  Because being a work in progress doesn’t mean you’re not good enough today; it means you want a better tomorrow, and you wish to love yourself completely, so you can live your life fully.  It means you’re determined to heal your heart, expand your mind and cultivate the gifts you know you’re meant to share.  May we all be works in progress forever, and celebrate the fact that we are!
  9. Nobody else can do it for you. – Keep doing what you know in your heart is right for YOU.  Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions louder than your words.  Live by choice, not by chance.  Make changes, not excuses.  Be motivated, not manipulated.  Work to excel, not compete.  Choose to listen to your inner voice, not the jumbled opinions of everyone else.  It’s your road, and yours alone.  Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
  10. Life is not easy, but it’s worth it. – If you expect it to be, you will perpetually disappoint yourself.  Achieving anything worthwhile in life takes effort.  So start every morning ready to run farther than you did yesterday and fight harder than you ever have before.  Above all, make sure you properly align your efforts with your goals.  It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it in the end.

Books I`m planning 2 Read


30 Books I Am Glad I Read Before 30
A medley of both fiction and nonfiction, these great reads challenged  internal status quo, opening  mind to new ideas and opportunities, and together  gave a basic framework for living, loving, learning and working successfully.
If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend doing so.  They will enrich your library and your life. I am going to start it soon as I am convinced after reading its  summary. Its briefing is -
  1. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert – Gilbert, a Harvard professor of psychology has studied happiness for decades, and he shares scientific findings that just might change the way you look at the world.  His primary goal is to persuade you into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where you imagined it would be.  This is my favorite book on happiness by a long shot.
  2. The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck – Pretty much the granddaddy of all self-improvement books, it’s easily one of the best nonfiction works I’ve ever read.  By melding love, science and spirituality into a primer for personal growth, Peck guides the reader through lessons on delaying gratification, accepting responsibility for decisions, dedicating oneself to truth and reality, and creating a balanced lifestyle.
  3. Getting Things Done by David Allen – The ultimate ‘organize your life’ book.  Allen’s ideas and processes are for all those people who are overwhelmed with too many things to do, too little time to do them, and a general sense of unease that something important is being missed.  The primary goal of this book is to teach you how to effectively get your ‘to-do inbox’ to empty.
  4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey – Covey presents a principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems by delivering a step-by-step guide for living with integrity and honesty and adapting to the inevitable change life brings us everyday.  It’s a must-read.
  5. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – This novel is an explanation of what hasbeen and always will be at the core of America’s prosperity: freedom and capitalism.  It should be required reading for every American.  All 1,069 pages are worthwhile.  Hands down, Atlas Shrugged is one of the best, most influential books I’ve ever read.
  6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – More parable than novel, ‘The Alchemist’ uses the story of young shepherd Santiago’s search for his personal legend as an allegory for everyman’s struggle to break from the comfortable confines of conformity and pursue his life dreams.  Along the way, of course, our young everyman is beset by numerous setbacks, testing his resolve and forcing him to become attuned to the Soul of the World in order to survive.  By paying attention to the details in the world around him, which serve as omens guiding him towards his goal, young Santiago becomes an alchemist in his own right, spinning unfavorable circumstances into riches.  I’ve read this tale a few times now and it always provides priceless inspiration.
  7. Walden by Henry David Thoreau – Thoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in a secluded cabin near the banks of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.  This is a story about being truly free from the pressures of society.  The book can speak for itself: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
  8. The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz – Schwartz gives the reader useful, proactive steps for achieving success.  He presents a clear-cut program for getting the most out of your job, marriage, family life and other relationships.  In doing so, he proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction in life.
  9. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – Looks at the reasons so many of us continuously make irrational decisions on a daily basis.  It’s a scientific but easily readable and unquestionably insightful look at why we do what we do on a daily basis, and why we never change our ways even though we often ‘know better.’
  10. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss – Ferris challenges us to evaluate our perspective on the cost and availability of our dreams, and he teaches us that hard work isn’t very hard when you love what you’re doing.  Although there’s certainly some pages of self promotion within, Ferris provides invaluable tips to help us remain aligned with our goals, set expectations on our terms, and eliminate unnecessary time-sinks while increasing our overall effectiveness.
  11. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – Easily one of the best and most popular books on people-skills ever written.  Carnegie uses his adept storytelling skills to illustrate how to be successful by making the most of human relations.
  12. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse – A short, powerful novel about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of self, happiness and attaining enlightenment.
  13. 1984 by George Orwell – 1984 still holds chief significance nearly 60 years after it was written in 1949.  It’s widely acclaimed for its haunting vision of an all-knowing government which uses pervasive, 24/7 surveillance tactics to manipulate all citizens of the populace.  In today’s world of continuous online connectivity, Orwell’s visions hit pretty close to home.
  14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Set in the Jazz Age of the roaring 20’s, this book unravels a cautionary tale of the American dream.  Specifically, the reader learns that a few good friends are far more important that a zillion acquaintances, and the drive created from the desire to have something is more valuable than actually having it.
  15. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck – Steinbeck’s deeply touching tale about the survival of displaced families desperately searching for work in a nation stuck by depression will never cease to be relevant.
  16. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason – The best book on money management ever written.  Although only 145 pages, this book is packed to the brim with powerful, life changing information.  I’ve read it three times and I still pull new pearls of wisdom out of it.  Babylon should be mandatory reading beginning at the grade school level, then again in college, and should be given as a gift right along with a college diploma.
  17. Quitter by Jon Acuff – If you’re looking for an honest account of what it’s like to make the transition from your day job to your dream job, this book is for you.  The author doesn’t sugarcoat the journey or convince you that it’s worth making stupid decisions now that you’ll pay for later.  He stays grounded in reality while inspiring you to truly connect with the things you’re passionate about, and he gives you hope and a plan for getting yourself there.
  18. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer – The creator of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series reveals secrets to success with sixty-four timeless principles packed into this one book.  Sixty-four principles may seem like a lot, but each receives a concise, easy-to-digest chapter that challenges readers to risk creating their lives exactly as they want them.  This is easily one of the most practical books I’ve ever read on achieving your dreams.
  19. The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz – Faced with too many options or decisions in your life?  We feel worse when we have too many options.  This book will make you feel better and change the way you look at them.  Schwartz discusses people making difficult decisions about jobs, families, where to live, whether to have children, how to spend recreational time, choosing colleges, etc.  He talks about why making these decisions today is much harder than it was thirty years ago, and he offers many practical suggestions for how to address decision-making so that it creates less stress and more happiness.
  20. The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman – Unfortunately, the title may limit the market to business people, but the truth is we are all in the business of managing and selling ourselves no matter what our occupation.  What makes this book warrant such a strong statement is the fact that it’s a comprehensive synthesis of all of the concepts you need to know to understand business inside and out.  There are no complex models to learn or outdated theories to memorize just to get marks or pass exams.  What you get is a clear, comprehensive set of ‘rules of thumb’ for any possible scenario you might encounter in running a business (or just your life in general).
  21. The Art of War by Sun Tzu – One of the oldest books on military strategy in the world.  It’s easily the most successful written work on the mechanics of general strategy and business tactics.
  22. The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowieckiv – Great examples of how groups of diverse people acting independently are smarter than any one person in the group.  This is one of the most entertaining and intellectually engaging books I’ve come across in a long while.  The author has a gift for making complex ideas accessible, and he has a wonderful eye for the telling anecdote.  The material within has huge implications for management, markets, decision-making and more.
  23. The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz – The authors worked with the best athletes and executives for years and found that the best ones knew how to push themselves, then recuperate, push, recuperate, and so forth.  Take this same approach to your emotional, mental, physical, and even spiritual life, and it’s a powerful metaphor.  Think of sprints, not marathons.  Be fully in whatever you’re in, then give time to recuperate.  But push further each time, past your comfort zone, like a good exercise plan.
  24. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath – An easy to read psychology book about real ways to make change last – both personal and organizational.  So many powerful insights, based on fact not theory.  Inspiring counterintuitive stories of huge organizational change against all odds.  Highly recommended for people in all walks of life.
  25. The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz – This book is a beautiful instruction guide to achieve a life of freedom and happiness.  The author teaches four lifestyle commitments which can transform life into the realization of your own personal dream.  Simply put, this small book has made profound positive changes in my life.
  26. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt – The chapters are short, the prose is easy to follow and the logic is compelling.  I’ve never seriously studied economics in my life, yet I had no trouble following the reasoning in this book.  This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand basic economics and the keys to widespread prosperity in the long run.
  27. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – It is unfortunate that in America, arguably the greatest nation in the free world, few people including those with high incomes understand the value of investing and the proper use of money strategies.  You can live off your income, but you can’t get wealthy off your income.  True wealth is the result of using principles described in this book.  This is a classic, must read for everyone.
  28. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – This novel is hilarious and depicts some pretty insightful observations about life, people, and the world in general.  Under it all, it’s an enjoyable read that will leave you yearning for more.  If you don’t like science fiction, it doesn’t matter; read this book just for the laughs.  The most amazing thing about Adams’ humor is the fact that everyone seems to get it.
  29. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – The themes within primarily involve racial injustice and the destruction of human innocence.  The author also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South.  It’s simply a classic piece of our American history that depicts racism and prejudice, childhood innocence, and the perseverance of a man who risked it all to stand up for what he believed in.
  30. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey – The plot followers a sane man that, due to a brush with the law, opts for being committed in a mental asylum rather than be incarcerated with hard labor.  Upon his entry into the secluded world of the asylum, he strips all the barriers formed and starts laying his own rules, in his own way.  This leads to problems with the head honcho of the place.  The rollercoaster that the protagonist takes the inmates through finally leads them to realize the ultimate goal.  That man, no matter the situation, can always hold his destiny in his hands.