12 Books for Goal-Oriented Entrepreneurs People have been writing about overcoming our inner inertia for a long time.
By Deep Patel Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Goals are what drive us and keep us moving forward. When you are goal-oriented and motivated, you hit the ground running each day, focused on your ambitions.
However, like all of us, you probably have times when you feel stuck. You might feel as though your motivation has been sucked into a black hole and you can't find your rhythm. Or perhaps you were never really sure how to organize your ideas or even get started in the first place.
Whatever the hang-up, there's a book that can help! Rediscover your purpose, renew your dreams and find inspiration with these 12 books that will put you on the path to achieving your goals.
1. Creating Your Best Life, by Caroline Miller
This is the first book of its kind to offer research-validated information on why certain steps matter in goal accomplishment. It connects research on goal-setting with the science of positive psychology.
In Creating Your Best Life, Caroline Miller offers new ideas on combining personal dreams with practicality, as well as valuable tools to anyone who wants to foolproof their goal-setting and accomplishment strategies. Creating Your Best Life supplies dozens of interactive exercises and quizzes that readers can use to identify their most cherished dreams and ambitions. Using these tools and exercises, you'll be able to determine for yourself what may be missing from your life.
Related: The 5 Books Billionaire Bill Gates Recommends for Summer Reading
2. S.M.A.R.T. Goals Made Simple, by S.J. Scott
We all have milestones we'd like to reach and dreams we'd like to turn into reality. The trick is to create a plan to see them through, and then commit to that plan. Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals can help you do this. S.M.A.R.T. Goals Made Simple offers practical and structured advice on how to set realistic goals and achieve them.
S.J. Scott presents information in an easy-to-follow guide that walks you through the goal-setting process. To get the most out of this book, work through the assignments. The visualization process will help you formulate your dreams into step-by-step goals.
3. The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson
Every day, every moment, you're working either toward failure or toward success. This is among the important insights The Slight Edge offers readers. Olson presents powerful principles on how to retrain your approach to work and life so you take full advantage of seemingly insignificant details.
The premise is that small but continuous changes in a positive direction will allow you to achieve maximum results over time. But first you need to recalibrate your way of thinking and processing information so you make daily choices that will lead to the success and happiness you desire.
Related: The 5-Hour Rule Used by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk
4. The Selfish Guide to Success, by Nicholas Caldwell
The Selfish Guide to Success is a unique perspective on goal setting that challenges societal norms. Conventional wisdom tells us to set long-term goals that may take many years to accomplish. However, focusing too much on the long term can make us lose sight of enjoying and embracing the present.
Too often, we allow ourselves to become pinned down by restrictions. Nicholas Caldwell tells us it's time to halt that cycle. In order to do so, we need to stop feeling bad about being selfish. When you put the focus back on you, you can gain the momentum you need to transform. This book guides readers through powerful self-focused techniques to help you break out of any slump.
5. The Magic of Thinking Big, by David J. Schwartz
Everybody wants to live a life of success and achievements, but most people don't know how to start working on their goals. The Magic of Thinking Big unveils why believing in ourselves is key to success, and how we're each capable of achieving the goals we've always dreamed of.
By simply believing you can succeed, your mental power will shift to help you get the job done. You'll become an inspiration to others, who will begin to believe in you, too. Believing in yourself means banishing negative thinking and starting to think and act positively every day.
6. Goals!, by Brian Tracy
A goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish. And a goal that is written down, and written down often, is more likely to be achieved. In Goals!, Brian Tracy presents the principles you need to make your dreams come true.
He offers advice on how to clarify values and analyze beliefs. According to Tracy, you must recognize that you are responsible for what happens to you. You must create your own future and do away with self-limiting beliefs that hold you back. Tracy shows us how we can use our own weaknesses to help us grow and find ways to turn our fears into success.
Related: 16 Actions to Take to Achieve Any Goal
7. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill spent 20 years researching and analyzing hundreds of well-known, successful people of his time, including the world's richest men, top politicians, famous inventors, writers and captains of industry.
First published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich has sold more than 100 million copies and has emerged as one of the most-read self-help books of all time. Napoleon Hill provides us with a 13-step process, which serves as a road map to success and riches. Once you learn and apply these simple techniques for believing in yourself and setting your goals, you'll have mastered the secret of how to achieve true and lasting success.
8. Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, by Heidi Grant Halvorson
Accomplished people reach their goals because of what they do, not because of who they are. Heidi Grant Halvorson cuts to the heart of the matter in Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. She condenses decades of scientific and academic research into nine easy-to-understand principles.
These are the strategies successful people use that have the biggest impact on their ability to set and pursue goals. This short book is full of examples to help you incorporate one or more of the principles into your daily routine.
9. Your Best Just Got Better, by Jason W. Womack
Most of us are working far below our full potential. Your Best Just Got Better outlines the most effective techniques for setting goals and using your time efficiently and effectively to work toward them. Jason Womack, a productivity expert, reveals which parts of your life are draining your motivation and what you can do to bring your ambition to the next level. (Hint: Working longer hours doesn't make up for a flawed approach to performance and productivity!) Womack offers a fresh take for life management. He'll teach you how to get stuff done and how to start making progress, not excuses.
Related: How to Live With Purpose and Stay Focused on Long-Term Goals
10. Think Small, by Owain Service and Rory Gallagher
Small changes in the way we think and act can help us achieve big goals. Think Small looks at why our best-laid plans so often go awry and ways of avoiding the common roadblocks that stand in the way of our goals.
Owain Service and Rory Gallagher harness insights from behavioral science. They present a seven-step program to help you make and stick to your plans and improve your well-being. It is not enough to have a distant dream. To succeed, you need to connect that dream to the realities of daily life. Whether your aim is to lose weight or to get ahead at work, this framework will help you get there.
11. Put Your Dream to the Test, by John C. Maxwell
We're all dreamers at heart, but some are able to achieve their dreams, while others are never able to get their heads out of the clouds. Best-selling author John Maxwell presents 10 powerful questions that will help you evaluate your dream so you can answer the all-important question: Can I achieve it?
Answering these questions will give you practical insight and direction, and help you find a compelling pathway to making your dream happen. Put Your Dream to the Test will help you excel not only in your professional life, but also in your personal life as it pushes you to look at your attitudes and personality.
12. Your Best Year Ever, by Michael Hyatt
Stop making New Year's resolutions that fizzle out because they seem impossible to achieve, and start taking the necessary steps to make this your best year. Where do you want to be 12 months from now?
Michael Hyatt reveals three simple ways to triple the likelihood of achieving your goals. He also teaches you how to quit-proof your goals and what to do when you feel stuck. Your Best Year Ever helps you find your motivation, and teaches you how to apply that drive to your goals and maximize your success.
