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My relationship with books has been interesting. I never really liked reading in school and much to my parents’ chagrin, I was the Asian kid who was not good at math, so they were pretty worried.
English and history came more naturally to me, but I wasn’t very studious. I realized later on that wasn’t because I didn’t like reading—it was just ’cause I wasn’t interested in the subject matter.
I’ve categorized these books the best that I can and they are all ones I have no issue recommending to anybody. They’ve been meaningful to me, not just meaningful, but pivotal in who I’ve become as a person.
I would actually recommend you do the same thing—put together a book list of all the books that have really, really impacted your life.
It’s interesting to see what has resonated with me and the patterns that emerged from looking at my diet. It’s clear I believe in fundamentals, reflected in my business and marketing choices.
There’s also a section of books that were really important to me when I was going through the personal upheaval of a divorce.
Many of them were recommended to me by counselors and therapists I worked with. When people have reached out their own situations, I’ve passed along many of those books.
Regarding comic books: growing up, again to my parents’ chagrin, the only reading I seemed to do was comic books. Comics were huge when I was in junior high and high school in the nineties, many of those stories became plots in the superhero movies we know and love today.
They absolutely impacted my emphasis on visuals in branding and marketing.
I’ve also put together a few YouTube channels that I enjoy right now. I don’t watch every episode of every one of them, but they are channels that I regularly watch.
The list is way too long to put in one email, so I’ve organized everything into categories here:
One final thing: just ’cause I found a book insightful or meaningful doesn’t mean I necessarily stand by the author and who they are as people, their political or religious beliefs.
But you read in order to widen your perspective and gain understanding and insight, right? And that’s the beauty of books.
So if you see a few on there that you’re like, "Wow, I can’t believe he’s recommending this," that’s why—because I think we should read things that we’re not used to reading so that we understand more of the world.
You will probably find that my list is a little busy and serious and dark. Maybe that’s why I wear dark clothes all the time. I should probably read some happier books, but here it goes.
I’m curious what you have tuned into and what you’ve been shaped by. Hit reply and let me know—I’d love to hear what’s on your list.
Mike