Two weeks ago, I told you a little about me and my lack of apparent talent upon entering the workforce and feeling imposter syndrome in a big way; I set out to learn a lot. 

I owe a considerable debt to a few amazing mentors who believed in me and inspired me to work hard and learn more. 

With their suggestions and so many others, I took some great classes, listened to excellent audio, and read many outstanding books. In Blog #965 and on Linked in, I asked you to list some of the books and programs that influenced you the most. Below is the unedited list you all gave me.  

• B2B is Really P2P by Frank Somma (Thanks for sending this one in, Mom)

• Peter Thompsons Secrets of the great communicators

• The Seven Habits by Stephen Covey

• Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World

• All of Zig Zigler’s audio programs

• A Passion for Excellence & The Pursuit of WOW by Tom Peters

• Think Big and Kick Ass Bill Zanker and Donald Trump

• How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie

• The Richest Man in Babylon by Samuel Clason

• The Bible Old and New Testaments

• The Demand Side of Sales by Bob Monesta

• How I took myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Betger

• Be Fearless by Jean Case

• Looking at Mindfulness by Christophe Andre’

• Josh Braun courses

• NLP Practitioners Training course

• I’m OK. You’re OK, Thomas Anthony Harris

• Strategic Selling by Miller and Heiman

• The Millionaire Next Door Thomas J. Stanley

• 12 Rules for Life Jordan Peterson

• Discipline Equals Freedom Jocko Willnik

• The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort

• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

• The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

• Selling From the Heart by Larry Levine

• The US Army Adjutant General Personnel Manual

• Find the Fire Scott Mautz

• Closers are Losers podcast by Jeremy Miner

Here’s a tip I didn’t learn until about 15 years ago. 

Not every book I read, course I take, or program I listen to resonates with me, but still, I’d press on and usually get at least one good idea. It used to be that I would mine even the most difficult material looking for that one gem. 

I no longer feel compelled to read, watch or listen to something that doesn’t grab me early on. There is just too much good stuff to get to. If it doesn’t grab me early, I put it down and move onto something that will.

I hope you find something here that clicks for you or that this list inspires you to find something somewhere else that does. 

My firm belief is that there are only two controllable elements to success: Working and Learning.

Own Your Sales Gene…