With the longer nights and cooler temperatures, winter is the perfect time to do deep work. It’s the nights where you choose to shut off the TV, dive deep, and learn. Whether it’s plowing through an ecourse (we have two amazing ones on Instagram and Branding here and here) or picking up an amazing book, here’s one thing I know to be true. No one will invest in your own personal growth as much as you will. With this in mind, we put together our must reads for business owners for 2020. Many of them are ones we’ve recommended for a while. Our reasoning for that is simple. There are some books that will serve as primers for years to come. They serve as desk references that you revisit, read and reread all over again.

Keep reading for the must-read books in 2020!

Essentialism

Are you a multi passionate entrepreneur and don’t know where to begin? Are you someone who is full of ideas and dreams, but you struggle to put action to them? Essentialism is a book that was recommended to us a while ago and is worth a yearly read. I recommend this book to truly discover where your business needs focus and how you present it to the world.

Creative Truth

This book is incredible and sits on our coffee table always. Diving deep into the inner world of running a successful design studio, Weaver lays out common plights among creative entrepreneurs starting with mindset, getting paid, and managing client expectations. It’s a book that can be quickly read cover to cover, but ours remains highlighted, underlined, and filled with notes. If you’re a creative that’s on the cusp of burn out and are looking for sustainable income, this one is a must read.

Daring Greatly

If you’ve been around here a while you will quickly know that we’re huge fans of the work of Brene Brown. I think I could read her books repeatedly. As an entrepreneur, you’re already a leader and your positioning yourself as an expert in your field. Whether you’re serving others, creating an amazing product, or providing a service that will add value to your customer’s life, there’s implicit risk to it all. Most of us never started a business because it was glamorous. It’s something we believe in. However, as time goes on, the launch approaches, or getting bookings feel like a struggle, voices of the inner critic and self doubt begin to creep in. Daring Greatly is an amazing read and thoughtfully tackles this topic.

The War of Art

As a business owner, you are innately creative. Whether it’s the generation of ideas, product marketing, networking, or collaboration, by nature you are building a better world. In the War of Art, Steven Pressfield identifies the barriers to creativity and resistance in your life. With a truth telling and straightforward writing style, he offers both entrepreneurs and creatives the message needed to finish the work, get it done, and see it impact the world. This is a book I’ve reread countless times and it pushes me even further. If you’ve been lacking motivation to finish the projects you’ve started, this is a phenomenal read and will help you grow in your business this year.

Building a Story Brand

Once a well known author within the Christian sphere, Miller made a career pivot into marketing and launched a book that has become an industry primer. Specializing in storytelling marketing, in this quick read you will find the very ideas that inspire audiences, add value to their life, and bring a sale your way. If you’re struggling to ROI on offerings or selling products through existing sites, social media platforms, and campaigns, this book is worth its weight in gold. Storytelling will be one of the pivotal moments in marketing in 2020, hands down and this resource will teach you how to do it.

Tell me, what are your must reads for this year?

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