10 Books (& Podcasts) That Helped Me — Part 2
Last year I wrote a blog called 10 Books That Helped Me, intended to be a blog about… ten books that had helped me.
The past year (basically since I wrote that last blog post) was also pretty intense, but less chaotic and more just working hard towards our goals. I’ve learned a lot. The nice thing, as of this writing (December 29th, 2017), is that a lot of the really difficult parts of our journey with Get REAL are behind us. Difficult obstacles, difficult people, difficult finances. We’re not on easy street by any means, but we have worked extremely hard the past 12 months and a lot of success has materialized — especially over the last 3 — that we’ll be announcing come January. I’m proud to say that we made it, we’re rested, and we’re so excited to see what 2018 has in store.
That being said, coming out of that kind of year, there were definitely books and podcasts I looked to for inspiration. Apart from listening to this video every morning on the treadmill (kid you not), the following books and podcasts were great for motivation, determination, focus, and perspective. If you’re reading this blog, and haven’t read some (or any) of these books, hopefully they can help you too.
1. “Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.” — Ron Chernow
I can safely say that I’ve never read a more life-altering book in my life, so I’ll write more about it than other books and podcasts on this list. It’s a long book, and took a while to get through, but this man’s life was truly amazing — the kind of achievement, focus, drive that comes around once in a century, and it was the commentary on sobriety and discipline that makes this the first book in this blog.
Rockefeller was a force of nature; I can’t put it any other way. His company Standard Oil transformed him from the eldest son in a dirt-poor family abandoned by their father, into the man widely considered to be the single richest person in the history of capitalism. But it’s hard to articulate just what his life was. He was a devout baptist who never drank, smoke, gambled, or even danced. He valued compassion, politeness, integrity, and duty to one’s family above all things, despite being accused of using ruthless, dishonest, and predatory business tactics to crush his competition and build the largest business monopoly in American history.
His universities, charitable organizations, and foundations were responsible for eradicating global diseases and ushering in the scientific approach to modern medicine, yet he refused to name or even enter the buildings of most of his institutions due to his humility. He outmanoeuvred or crushed formidable foes, from rival CEOs to dogged prosecutors and US Presidents, but he was almost completely ruined by one sole reporter on a mission to expose Standard Oil’s aggressive tactics. He was brave in the face of countless scandals and near-disasters, but lived in constant fear of that his biggest scandal would be exposed: his estranged father, “Devil” Bill, a travelling, crooked “doctor” who was living a double life, with another wife and family.
That really doesn’t come close to scratching the surface of this man’s life. It is so worth the read, just for the story. But this book was motivating and helped me because of Rockefeller’s outlook on life: work-ethic, family, sobriety, manners, discipline, health, charity, faith, and on-going self-improvement. It really made me think about choices in my life, how I spend my time, how I spend my money, what I’m doing to constantly improve my quality of life and the quality of life of everyone I come into contact with. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect. It means that my direction, and state of mind, is one of a positive, determined, intentional way of living.
And what I found was that the more I have those things in my life (work-ethic, family, sobriety, manners, discipline, health, charity), the more calm I am. The better my work goes. The clearer my mind is. And the happier I am. And this book has an interesting look into faith as well. Rockefeller’s vice was definitely success, and maybe the odd fast car-ride, but not much else. You could look at his life and scoff at how “joyless” it was. How repressed. But I think his life speaks otherwise — this was a big life lived — and there’s no denying that his faith was a crucial part of that, of how he treated his work, his family, his friends, his enemies, and his charity. All in all, an amazing book. One I’ll read again in a few years.
2. “Shoedog: A Memoir By The Creator Of Nike” — Phil Knight
If “Titan” is one of those profoundly different, meaning-of-life-changing books, then “Shoedog” is definitely in the category of insanely-fun-to-read-motivating-page-turners. Apart from being a visionary, with a lot of guts, Phil Knight is also extremely funny, and an amazing story-teller. Anybody remotely interested in entrepreneurship, history, shoes, running, doing business with other cultures, branding, sales, management, or who just loves a great story — this is a must-read. It’s also a book about choosing to persevere, choosing to get up after a failure, and choosing to fight another day. Much like Richard Branson and Bill Clinton, Knight remembers key moments in his life like a battle: getting up off of the ground, picking up your sword, and digging deep enough to face yet another battle head-on. That’s the biggest difference I’ve noticed in all of these biographies: it’s never about who can summon that one extra bit of of energy to get it done, to fight it out, to take the hard road, or to be there for others… it’s about who will summon that extra bit of energy. These are so often “ordinary” people. They just have extraordinary wills.
3. “Bullets And Blood: The Secret History of Hollywood” — Adam Roche
An amazing podcast that follows the lives of the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack) and James Cagney, set to the rise and history of Hollywood. This is 100% the most epic podcast I’ve ever listened to: part I is 4 hours and 45 minutes, part II is 5 hours and 40 minutes, and part III is a whopping 9 hours long. The awesome thing about podcasts though is the easy ability to take them in on the go — during a 4 hour drive, at the gym, and walking from meeting to meeting ( I’ve also taken to the very anti-social habit of reading actual books while walking on the sidewalk). So I would listen to this literally anytime I had a free moment, and it was probably the best thing I listened to all year.
Since reading “An Empire Of Their Own” I’ve been a massive fan of learning about the early days of Hollywood. These were tough, creative, visionary people. Lots of chutzpah, lots of instincts, lots of ruthlessness; Roche is careful to tell the good, the bad, and the ugly of this story (and of each character). But what a journey: a Jewish family fleeing to America from Poland with nothing but the clothes in their backs, going on to become one of the most powerful movie studios in the world; a dirt-poor kid from the Lower East Side of Manhattan rising to the top of the acting world due to nothing but talent. There are so many heroes and villains it’s hard to know where to start, but the story includes the lives of everyone from Adolph Hitler to Al Capone. Sam Warner’s ex-wife Lina Basquette and Jack Warner’s son Jack Warner Jr. are the surprise main characters and heroes of the entire podcast. I won’t go on, but if you’re a movie buff, or love a good story about an underdog, this is one to listen to for sure.
4. “The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory” — John Seabrook
I wrote another blog about one of the most decorated music producers of all time, Max Martin, because I find it really interesting to learn who is behind which songs, as well as those special people who are able to adapt to the constant evolution of popular music trends. A hit song is hard; a hit record is harder; and a hit artist is to defy just about all the odds. From cassette tape demos getting stuck in the right person’s car, to Rihanna’s 50-person strong ghost-writing album retreats, almost every page of this book has an interesting story of ridiculous amount of talent and hard work featuring either insanely good luck or insanely bad luck. But either way, extremely entertaining, and it gave me a new appreciation for both the stars themselves, as well as ghost-writers I hadn’t heard of before, like Esther Dean, who has so much talent she basically writes #1 hooks by just going into the booth and humming random nonsense.
5. The Art Of War — Sun Tzu
This book is a classic, and there’s not much about it that needs to be said that hasn’t been said by better writers than me. I will say though — this past year definitely had me deal with more difficult people than I have had to in the past, and this book is a great lesson in all things confrontation. Keeping your cards close to your chest, being calm, disciplined, and thinking things through all the way like chess are all strategies that will serve one well in any conflict, and these were some of the lessons I loved hearing Tzu’s advice on.
6. Under The Influence’s episode on Albert Lasker, ‘The Most Interesting (Ad) Man In The World’ — Terry O’Reilly
If you love advertising and marketing strategy like I do, this entire podcast is amazing (as is his book “The Age Of Persuasion”, which is a must-read for anyone who even thinks they might be interested in advertising), but this episode stuck out as the best, simply because this guy’s life was just so cool. Lasker is the mind behind the following: Palmolive, Sunkist, Kotex (and breaking the taboo of advertising related to menstration), Kleenex, Planned Parenthood, naming Wrigley Field, two Presidential elections, and the American Cancer Society. He also accomplished all of this through a life-long battle with depression and anxiety; very motivating to say the least.
7. “Mogul: The Life and Death of Chris Lighty” — Reggie Ossé
Another great podcast, this one music-focused. Chris Lighty led a life blessed by success and riddled with tragedies. This was a true hustler, a scrappy kid who rose up in the ranks to manage some of hiphop’s biggest names including Nas, Mobb Deep, Missy Elliott, L.L. Cool J, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, and P. Diddy, before amassing huge debt and taking his own life after a battle with mental illness. A sad story, but a colourful life to be sure, and great anecdotes about life in the industry and coming up in the Bronx.
8. “The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun” — Robert Greenfield
Man, lots of music on here. Always the most fun to read about (minus AI and Bitcoin of course). I first wanted to read about Ahmet after seeing him portrayed in “Ray”, as not only a producer, but as both an entrepreneur and a song-writer in his own right. Ertegun’s life story is unique in a sense because it was far more about fun, flash, glamour and living large than the lives of people like Lasker and Rockefeller (a huge understatement, really). But that makes this book extremely fun to read. This is someone who lived and breathed music and had enough charm and energy to bridge the gaps when money would not. His vision is legendary — from Ray Charles to Led Zeppelin — and like Richard Branson, his almost childlike optimism and energy are infectious: “Why wouldn’t I succeed? Why wouldn’t this work? Why shouldn’t we put out great music and make money doing so? Now let’s make it happen!”
9. “The 3 Things Book” — Bryan Espiritu
This is an unconventional read but I wanted to include it a) to show some Toronto love to an inspiring guy and b) because it’s cool to have a few books on your shelf that you can open to just about any page and be inspired to keep going (or, be amused by good humour). And that’s 3 Things. Founder of the Legends League clothing, Bryan’s instagram is full of inspiration as he charts his path, opportunities, failures, and wins. 3 Things is from his Twitter series of… 3 things. Some are funny, some are excellent pieces of wisdom… and some are just a look into how he thinks. He’s also a cool, down to earth guy, had a chat with him when I went in to grab the book (LL is on Camden St. just off Spadina). Definitely worth the read.
10. “Winning Without Losing” — Martin Bjergegaard & Jordan Milne
This book was given to me by a friend and mentor last year. I was in the middle of a lot, and he could see that. This is a fantastic book because they’ve interviewed so many interesting and successful people who all preach the same thing: working towards happiness, peace, and balance. This book has helped me because it’s a nice reminder that the goal isn’t work as an end in itself; the goal is is balance, sustainability, making the impact you want or hope for, and being happy. Or my goal, at least.
If you’re looking for inspiration and motivation, and you haven’t read these, I hope at least one of them helps or offers some wisdom in the way they’ve done for me. I’m going to post this blog at the end of every year, as a way of reflecting on the past twelve months, and sharing some things that have made my life better.
-CS
