30 GREAT BOOKS I'VE READ

“You will be the same person in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” – Charlie Jones

As I continue to reflect over my life of three decades, I realize that reading has played a major role in who I have become. I am still convinced that reading will be critical to who I will become in the next thirty years and beyond. So, I took up a task to recollect thirty books I have read and how they have influenced me.

It is my joy to share my list with you.

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: I grasped the principles of personal financial management and wealth creation from this masterpiece by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lecher. This book helped me to distinguish between assets and liabilities and transformed how I managed my finances.
2. Purpose-Driven Life: During my undergraduate years at University of Ghana, Rick Warren’s classic was the toast of many of my Christian friends. I read it too and it caused me to pursue my purpose in life more decisively. That is why I do what I do – life coach, author and motivational speaker.
3. Youth Power: Youth Power is a revolutionary book published in 2004 by my friend Yaw Perbi. This book talks about how young people could play significant roles in life and impact their society. From this book, I learnt from my friend that the youth are not just future leaders, but leaders of today.
4. Buy the Future: This is a book I’ve read every year since 2004, and each time I read it I pick new lessons from it. The author is pastor of International Central Gospel Church in Ghana, Mensa Otabil. It’s a book that teaches about the need to sacrifice short term pleasures for long term fulfillment.
   
5. The King of Torts: It’s one of the numerous books of American thriller novelist John Grisham. In this work of fiction, Grisham skilfully teaches about class action and tort law. As an author, I realized that serious lessons could be communicated through fiction. Fiction was not only for entertainment but could educate as well.
6. Good to Great: I bought and read this book sometime in 2006. After reading it, it took me about six months before I could read any other book. Author Jim Collins and his research team shared some intriguing lessons on business, leadership, excellence and personal development that are hard to come by in any other book. It is a masterpiece.
7. How to Influence People Through Public Speaking: It became necessary for me to get Dale Carnegie’s classic work when I lost an election in St Peter’s because I couldn’t speak with confidence. Carnegie’s book was very useful in my development as a speaker. Till date, it is the best book I’ve read on the subject of public speaking.
8. Future Wealth: It is the work of Chistopher Meyer and Stan Davis. This book stresses the primacy of human capital and how it will underpin the economy of the future. It strengthened my resolve to develop myself and others.
   
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People: Another classic from the stables of Dale Carnegie, this book had a landmark impact on my social skills. As an introvert, I did not know how to initiate conversations with people but this book came in handy. I also learnt about how to persuade people and a whole lot more.
10. Beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia: In this book, Mensa Otabil tracks the role of black people in the Bible and establishes that in God’s scheme of affairs, no race is superior to another. As an African, this book helped me to embrace that God thinks about me, God has a plan for me and I can become an influential person in the world.
11. Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do: This was the first motivational book I read. I was in high school at St Peter’s. I read this book just before we wrote our final examination. It was in this book that I embraced the mindset of a possibility thinker. At the time I read it, it was relevant for the impending examination battle which would qualify me to gain admission to the university. Robert Schuller’s book helped to jump this hurdle successfully.
    
12. Seven Keys to Abundant Living with no Regrets: I bought this book in 2002 at Aburi Girls High School when I served as a delegate for St Peter’s in a congress of student leaders. On the last day of the congress, I spotted a book stand mounted by the Scripture Union, went close to it and what I got was this book by Stephen Adei. It was in this book that I first read about the 10:10:80 strategy for wealth creation. This strategy recommends that for every income we earn, we must give out 10% as tithe to God, set aside another 10% for investment and live on the remaining 80%.

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