My goal was to complete 100 books for the year. Obviously, I did not achieve it. I don’t know how many years it will take for me to reach this goal, but I know someday I will. As this marks the second year, I am becoming more certain of the benefits of reading and putting out book notes. Some advocate that individuals have various individually effective receptive learning methods. Yet, watching 100 YouTube videos and reading 100 books on the same topic can’t possibly result in the same depth of understanding.

2024 started off strong learning about the marketing industry, specifically digital marketing. In fact, more than half the books I read this year comprised of this topic. It was due much to the fact that a local SEO engineer that took me under his wing and was guiding me through the nuances of digital marketing. We had plans to build some projects together up to the point of his abrupt death.

Diving into the field of SEO naturally lead me to e-commerce, specifically WordPress and Shopify. After which, I dabbled in a few self-development books some of which were the best books I’ve read by far. In fact, I’d go as far as to say some of them have made it to my top 10 books list I’ve read in my whole life.

The year ended with dabbling back into trading. My trading journey actually started since my junior year of high school, up to the point of working with a trading bot developer I found on YouTube during Covid. I plan to delve deeper into trading, especially into prop firm trading.

If there was ONE thing any one could do to achieve success in life is reading. Reading allows us to live the lives of others; relive others’ mistakes and successes. Most do not have the luck or resources to receive personal mentoring, but literature allows us to fill that gap at a fraction of the cost. If you desire to become somewhat well-versed in a particular topic, 20~30 books seems to be the sweet spot to achieve that level.

Below is a brief excerpt from the top ten books I’ve read this past year.

This book is the modern Machiavellian version of The Prince. Gain powerful insights into power dynamics, understand how people manipulate and influence others in various social situations, and learn historical examples of power plays.
This reminded me of the word 눈치. This word roughly translates to “the ability to read the room” or “taking a hint”. In the Korean society, this ability is constantly emphasized and is a mandatory skill in social settings.
This book is a must to be able to identify power dynamic methods that people use deliberately or instinctively such that one can better protect themselves from manipulation.

“I have the right to choose” is the core focus theme of the book. It is a very thick book and is not for light reading. It is packed with philosophical quasi-spiritual concepts about engineering your own life on your own terms. But it only starts when you mentally begin to acknowledge the potential power you have in yourself. Such methods of engineering your reality were reducing importance, aligning your mind and heart, visualization, and pendulums.
If you’re into loa(law of attraction) topics, The Power of your Subconscious Mind book(below) is also highly recommended as a supplementary read.

It is a practical philosophy to find meaning, reinvent yourself, and create your ideal future. The most valuable currency these days is attention. Where we put our attention determines our future. And for that, we require disciplined focus.
We will never be free of problems. If that’s the case, we should embrace a life full of problems; furthermore, choose which problems we want to work on. Life is about tackling our own problems, getting better at them, and continuing to climb the proverbial problem mountain.

Talent is something you are born with; this is the traditional view. In reality, our superhuman computer brains have evolved to allow us to become anyone to do anything despite any condition anyhow. ‘Practice makes perfect’ is the reality. “Talent” is something that is invested, nurtured, and developed. “Talented” people are those who have spent the most time, energy, and deliberate practice.
Our brains start to connect neuron pathways for specific tasks and actions we do to increase efficiency. Those myelins hardwires skills into our brains so they become perfect and automatic. The 10,000 hour rule has been proven with scientific backing. What do you want to get good at?

In trading, the key to success is risk management and maintaining a strong psychological mindset to steel yourself from the inevitable losses you will take. Surviving to trade another day and becoming the best loser often becomes the most consistently profitable trader in the long run by keeping in check your negative emotions and having strong emotional discipline.
The most crucial aspect of trading is not maximizing profits, but to minimize losses. Do not let emotions cloud your judgement. You must stay calm under stress and pressure; do not allow past trades influence your decision making of the next trade.

A self-help book that explores the potential and influence the subconscious mind can have on our lives. Another LOA book and it complements Reality Transurfing quite well. It offers techniques to harness the power of your subconscious mind for personal growth and success.
The time right before, after, and during your sleep is probably the best time for your subconscious mind to work overtime. Implementing certain methods prior can help direct our mind to certain things we want our subconscious to be working on.
If we pray correctly, our prayers will always work. When our prayers do not work it is because we don’t focus on aligning our heart and mind on one thing and using the wrong method. We need to use the right technique to increase our focus and rewire our subconscious mind to work in our advantage.

A framework for building wealth. The purpose of wealth is freedom; it’s nothing more than that. The ultimate purpose of money is so you don’t have to be in a specific place, at a specific time.
Apply your unfair advantage and leverage it to multiply its rewards. Focus on wealth not money. Be a perpetual learner. Be patient. Take risks. Embrace accountability. Choose long-term partners. Create something of value. Ignore people playing status games. Learn to sell. Choose an industry where you an play long-term games. Love to read. If you’re faced with a difficult choice, take the more difficult path.

Choose your clients carefully and cultivate long-term relationships with them. Build your business by being a lasting, valuable partner to your clients. Be honest in your advertisements and your business dealings; you’ll do better in the long run. Build a great working atmosphere by hiring proven hard workers with brains and integrity. To inspire devotion and enthusiasm in your staff, demand excellence lead by example. Your advertisements should sell products, not entertain people. To get people’s attention, use facts, intrigue and take advantage of research and data. Create ambitious campaigns and test them thoroughly. Career advice for the young: work hard, become a specialist and seize golden opportunities.

Fascinating systematic approach on how to perform at peak performance and achieve significant results through urgency and effective execution by changing the perspective of each quarter to be equivalent of a year. Each week constitutes as a month and each month as a quarter which results to being able to cram four years into a year. Having a schedule and accountability will support your “monk mode” and propel you to big results.

If I could only read one book on the topic on marketing this would be it. It is a comprehensive and systematic approach to crafting all advertisement campaigns. It touches on the campaign itself as well as branding and long-term positioning for the business. The author also shares a free one page PDF document that you can directly start using and crafting your advertisement. If you want to know how to go about positioning your company, creating marketing systems to sustain growth, and ultimately build a company that can run by itself, this is it.

O’Reily books are like the textbooks of non-academy. This is an extensive guide to search engine optimization techniques and strategies. If you want to start a journey down SEO, this would be the first book I would pick up. Google has already become an official word as in “to google something” becoming synonymous to meaning to search something on Google. Google also owns YouTube. For the majority of the world, these are the two most used platforms everyday. If you’re in the business of either creating content, followers, or exposure then understanding SEO and the dynamics of how search engines work is critical to your success in digital growth.

This year marks my second year of consistently reading one book per week on average. It seems easy enough to accomplish that it wouldn’t make sense to try to make it my goal. I expect to continue this habit of reading for the foreseeable future.

If one is to succeed in anything, they have two choices.