Can a book change you?  Perhaps. Can a book change the way you do things? Of course, if that’s what you are after.  Here is a short story of how three books changed my perception of business and how to run my own.

Before I started my own business I spent a couple of years, while still in full time employment, reading all sorts of books and blogs about business, marketing and personal development.   In the years 2005-7 is when I noticed many people becoming professional bloggers; for the first time individuals could make a living by writing (one or more) blogs, and monetise them in various ways.

With plenty of free information available I started reading everything which fit my own interest in running business, bootstrapping and, my new passion from 2007, coaching.  It was at that time I read the “Four hour work week” from Timothy Ferriss.  Many of the concepts Tim explains in this first book were so extraordinary that the book became, within a short time, a New York Time best seller.

Fast forward a few years to 2011; by that time I was an established business and executive coach in the Cambridge area and running Salus Wellness for over a year.  During my summer holidays I read “The Thank You Economy” from Gary Vaynerchuck and “Permission Marketing” from Seth Godin.  At that point I realised, from two very different angles, how business was changing and how I could have done things differently, somehow anticipating the market as most people would be slow in their reaction.

Over the years I kept myself up-to-date about the whereabouts of these three authors and I saw their work evolving into three very distinct pathways and I feel very thankful that, on top of the paid for content they produce (e.g books and courses), they also distribute tons of free material which is just great.