Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Books That Built My CEO Mindset
12
items These are the books that genuinely changed how I think, work, and build my businesses.
I’ve listened to or read each of these while juggling shifts, family, and side hustles - and every one of them taught me something that stuck. From systems and ha...
Sections
4
Systems & Business Fundamentals
Habits & Mindset
Money & Freedom
Leadership & Execution
Systems & Business Fundamentals
The books that helped me stop winging it and start operating like a real business. These aren’t theory - they’re about building systems that run even when you’re not around.
If you’ve ever felt like the bottleneck in your own business, this book hits home. It’s all about moving from working in your business to working on your business. It helped me see why systems matter more than willpower.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Fail
Great if you’re guilty of overthinking. The key lesson: launch small, test, learn, and adapt. I applied this by not trying to build a “perfect” business upfront but by iterating as I went.
The Lean Startup: How Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation
This is a financial operating system for small businesses. It’s not theory - it’s a method I’ve used to stop cash disappearing and to pay myself consistently, even while reinvesting in growth.
Profit First: Transform Your Business Cash Flow
Habits & Mindset
These are the books that helped me stay consistent when motivation dropped. They’re about building identity and discipline - not chasing short bursts of effort.
I don’t believe in willpower alone. This book gave me the structure to build small, repeatable habits - exactly what you need when you’re building a side hustle in the margins of life.
Atomic Habits: Life-Changing #1 Bestseller
This one’s about mental resilience. It’s extreme, but it reminds me that discomfort is where growth happens - whether that’s in fitness, business, or showing up on TikTok when I don’t feel like it.
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind eBook
This one’s an old-school classic for a reason. It’s all about taking responsibility for your actions and building structure around your goals. It helped me stop reacting to everything and start leading my time, not just managing it.
7 Habits Of Highly Effective People 15th Ed
Money & Freedom
Money only creates freedom when you understand it. These books helped me stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like a builder.
This one shifted my view on money. It’s simple, no-nonsense advice about debt, cashflow, and building a strong foundation. I used the principles to stop wasting money on “small leaks”, "snowballing" my way out of debt and start treating my business a...
The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition
Not everything in here is realistic, but it’s a great mindset reset. It pushed me to think about freedom, automation, and designing my business around my life - not the other way around.
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5 & Live Anywhere
The first real money book that made me think differently about work, risk, and assets. It’s not perfect, but it makes one point that stuck - if you keep trading time for money, you’ll stay stuck. You have to build things that earn while you’re not th...
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Kids
Leadership & Execution
Once you’ve got systems and habits, these books teach you how to lead - both yourself and others - and focus on what truly matters.
This book’s about accountability at a level most people avoid. The idea that everything in your life and business is your responsibility hits hard - but once you accept that, you stop blaming and start building.
How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (Extreme Ownership)
When everything feels urgent, this book simplifies it all: focus on the one thing that makes everything else easier or unnecessary. I use this as a reset whenever I start spreading myself too thin.
The One Thing: Simple Truth Behind Results
This one helped me learn to say no - not out of laziness, but to protect energy for what actually moves the needle. If you’ve ever been stuck doing “busy work” instead of real work, this is your antidote.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less