I’ve already decided this year I’m going to do my best to limit myself to a small number of books to really hone in on.
I’m not even using the term “read”.
I’ll be studying these books.
I’ll be reading them, taking notes, referencing them for information, reviewing them, and re-reading them throughout the year.
I’ll be meditating on them and digging deep into them.
These days some people use reading books as an opportunity to “flex” over how many books they’ve read.
I’d rather read a smaller number of powerful books that I can internalize and apply to my life.
Many of the books I’m going to be studying are what I call ‘Living Texts’.
Timeless
books that can be read infinite times and hold potentially infinite
knowledge and wisdom. You can truly learn something new or see something
from a different perspective each time you open this kind of book.
The other books I’ll be studying are very specific, relevant, and applicable books to help me in my business or with my mindset.
I’m choosing 10 books that are either esoteric or business-related (or a mix) to focus on in 2020.
Esoteric books I’ll be studying
1. The Bible
Arguably the most popular book of all time.
I mean the Bible literally translates to “the book”.
As someone who’s into mysticism, mythology, and traditional medicine, the Bible is a book I’m always learning something from.
Recently I’ve seen a lot of fresh original content from social media accounts like TheHoodBotanica and ItsJujuBae related to Hoodoo and tying Bible stories to other practices that are popular in mysticism.
I
think there are all sorts of timeless esoteric gems and powerful
messages to be found in the Bible, even for those who don’t necessarily
consider themselves a follower of an Abrahamic faith (Judaism,
Christianity, Islam).
This
year I’ll be continuing my study of this scripture with an emphasis on
prophets like David, Solomon, and Daniel and the references to
mysticism.
2. The Upanishads
The second esoteric book I’ll be reading is the Upanishads.
The Upanishads are considered to belong to the mystic tradition of Hinduism.
Muslims study Sufism.
Christians study Gnosticism.
Jews study the Qaballah.
Hindus study the Upanishads.
It’s
one of the major religious books I’ve yet to explore and it has a lot
of similarities to Sufism and the mystic tradition of Islam, which I’m
very familiar with.
The prose and verses on God, Nature, and the reality of the universe are deep, beautiful, and profound.
I can’t wait to dive into it more deeply and excavate its rare gems.
3. Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts
The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts by Ifa Kode is the third esoteric book on my list to study, though it’s not a scriptural text but a reference text.
I want to deepen my knowledge of Ifa.
It’s
the indigenous religion of the Yoruba people of Nigeria that worship
the orishas. It’s also the grandfather of many of the African
traditional spiritual systems that were carried over to Latin America
during slavery.
Spiritual systems like Santeria, Lucumi, Candomble, Palo Mayombe and many more actually owe their origins to Ifa.
I have a pretty broad understanding of many Ifa concepts but I want to take it to a deeper level this year.
The Copywriter’s Handbook is Robert Bly’s introduction to and foundational breakdown of copywriting.
This
is the first of the business books I have on the list because I’ve
already read most of it, but I need to internalize more of the content.
This is a straightforward book that teaches copywriting from one of the best and most renowned copywriters to ever do it.
Everyone wants to skip the fundamentals.
But the fundamentals is what makes you better than everyone else.
Not much else to say on this one, to be honest.
5. Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset
This is the quintessential book on writing case studies by the woman who made a career out of it, Casey Hibbard.
Case
studies are one of the most powerful content marketing assets you can
create because it harnesses the power customer success to build
authority, display relevance, and establish trust.
Social proof that you’ve helped other clients with a specific problem and solution is extremely powerful and persuasive.
This book is meant to get better at crafting those stories.
This
book focuses specifically on case studies as a mode of content
marketing that can make a big impact on marketing and sales efforts.
6. The Ultimate Sales Letter
This book is a classic from Dan Kennedy, another copywriting legend, but this time the focus is honed in specifically on sales letters.
These are more copywriting gems, which I’ll gladly take more of.
In
marketing and as a writer, it’s so important to constantly learn and
improve when it comes to copywriting, which is simply writing for sales
purposes.
Copywriting bleeds into so many important areas:
Content marketing
Email marketing
Social media posts
Blog articles
Web design
It’s
a truly foundational skill and as someone who delivers writing services
professionally and uses them for my personal businesses, it’s something
I have to be disciplined about.
7. The Well-Fed Writer
This is a book by Peter Bowerman
that I’ve seen is pretty well regarded and highly reviewed that
promises to teach financial self-sufficiency as a commercial freelancer
in six months or less.
I actually narrowly picked this book over How To Get Rich
by Dennis Felix, at the very last minute while I was in the middle of
writing this article. I feel like I have so much general knowledge of
personal finance and making money that a book on mindset and general
strategy for making money might not actually benefit me much.
But a book focused on a specific niche/industry (writing) could be more applicable and relevant.
One good thing about writing often is it forces you to analyze your thoughts and what you’re putting down on the page.
I
was literally typing out a paragraph explaining Dennis Felix’s book in
my draft when I realized the Well-Fed Writer might make a much better
choice.
I’ll be putting its claim of financial self-sufficiency for commercial freelancers to the test.
Hybrid books I’ll be studying
I call these books hybrids because they have esoteric/spiritual and business applications.
8. Psycho-Cybernetics
Psycho-Cybernetics is an amazing book by plastic surgeon, author, and visionary Maxwell Maltz that touches on the power of visualization, belief, and self-image.
He
not only explains the theory of it but backs it up with testimony and
research. He also has practical application sections where he teaches
actual techniques you can use in your daily life.
This book is one of my favorites and I can’t wait to read it again and really integrate its teachings.
Psycho-Cybernetics
is one of the quintessential self-help books and a lot of
self-improvement material you see today is actually inspired by this
book.
I
consider it an esoteric book because it talks so much of the powers of
belief and visualization to help us manifest our desires and direct our
habits.
But it applies so much to business as well, especially sales.
This book has amazing gems on the subconscious mind and how our internal dialogue influences us.
Really it applies to achieving success in any endeavor.
9.
The Home Reference to Holistic Health & Healing — Easy-to-Use
Natural Remedies, Herbs, Flower Essences, Essential Oils, Supplements,
and Therapeutic Practices for Health, Happiness and Well-Being
I
like to create lots of original content so I study material on
herbalism, traditional medicine, holistic health, adaptogenic herbs, and
anything else that’s related or piques my interest.
This
book will really help me with understanding better for myself and so I
can continue sharing content with other people on different ways to use
herbs, decrease stress and anxiety, and incorporate other self-care and
holistic health practices into their lifestyle.
However,
in some strange way, I also consider it an esoteric book because I have
great respect for Mother Nature and the natural wonders of the Earth.
Plant
medicine, in particular, is a special gift to humans and the fact that
there are so many plants and herbs that can help us and heal us is
amazing and miraculous.
That the things we need most literally grow out of the ground is poetic.
10. The Art of War
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is one of the most famous books ever written.
This
is the last book on my list and something I read when I was younger
multiple times but haven’t revisited much as an adult. Something about
it was calling to me.
This book is renowned in business and also has an esoteric and timeless element to it.
Much of its wisdom reminds me of things you would find in a Confucianist or Taoist text.
What can be applied to war can be applied to life and vice versa.
It’s funny how as humans war is such a big part of the culture and how we view the world.
War, as horrible as it is, is something that advances technology and shapes the history of the world and its peoples.
As a veteran and a student of mysticism, war is something I think on often.
My take on it is like the classic saying:
A student said to his master: “You teach me fighting, but you talk about peace. How do you reconcile the two?”
The master replied: “It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.”
- Chinese Proverb
Hopefully, this helps me truly internalize these books better
Reading
books these days with social media culture and the hype around the
self-improvement niche can sometimes end up as a virtue-signaling
contest.
Turn down the volume on the Gary Vee videos and take a deep breath.
“How many books did you read?”
Who cares?
“What did you learn” is much more important to me and learning is about two things:
Retention
Integration
By
focusing on these 10 books (which might actually be too many, maybe for
2021 I’ll cut that number in half) I really hope to both retain and
integrate the knowledge and wisdom these books have to offer.
Writer
~ Digital Marketer ~ Veteran ~ Cutting through society’s noise. Student
of traditional medicine, focused on marketing & mindfulness.
WritingOnOffense.com
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