“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” – Isaac Asimov|

Are you aware of the Personal MBA? It’s a concept created by Josh Kaufman (following an idea by Seth Godin). Going off the assumption that business schools don’t have a monopoly on knowledge and wisdom, he suggests that every one of us passes a personal MBA by reading a selection of the best business books that exist, around 77 published in 2008 (93 with supplements) in 12 different categories :

1.Quick Start
2.Productivity and Efficiency
3.Psychology and Communication
4.Design and Production
5.Marketing, Sales and Negotiation
6.Entrepreneurship
7.Management and Leadership
8.Strategy and Innovation
9.Finances and Analysis
10.Personal Finance
11.Supplement : Business History
12.Supplement : Business Reference

My crazy project involving the Personal MBA consists of 52 books from this list. I am approaching this project seriously, and I am preparing for it in the same way I would train for a marathon: I know that the challenge will be long and hard, especially once the initial drive – as well the enthusiasm of getting started – wear off.

How shall I undertake this task? Here are the rules of the challenge:

1) Choose 52 books from the actual list of The Personal MBA.

2) Read one a week for 52 weeks. Write a relevant summary, that includes an overall summary as well as chapter by chapter, if the book lends itself to that.

3) Sacrifice only what is useless. I don’t plan on giving up my other activities – my business, improv theater, sports, my two entrepreneur clubs, my other blogs, my leisure time, my personal life. I am going to try and organize myself better and get rid of only what is useless – casually surfing the web, video games, YouTube, everything that wastes precious time in general. I can’t cut out TV, since I hardly watch it anyway.

4) Take action. To think without doing something is just as stupid as to do something without thinking. Thought is based both on our experience – in the field – and our knowledge – acquired from books, school, in conversation with others.

I don’t plan on necessarily reading the books in this order, but I will try to read everything one category at a time so that it is easier to compare and connect my new awareness. It will be a difficult challenge, but a really interesting one !

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SCATOLOGY WARNING! This creative and diferent pop-up book is about Poop, Toilet humour, scatological humour, and that kind of weird and crazy things. If you don’t feel comfortable about this themes, don’t see the video! The Story of the Little Mole who Knew it was None of His Business PLOP-UP EDITION! :] By Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch Paper Engineer: Keith Finch 2007 Pavilion Children’s Printed in China About a little mole that is looking Who Has Done It On It’s Head! :] Much more in …

Help answer the question about Business Books

What are some good Introductory Business books?
A small part of my job is taking minutes at meetings for some of our subsidiary companies and I need some help understanding what goes on in them. Specifically, something about financial statements (statutory and GAAP) and anything about investments (conventional and alternative) may be helpful. I'm looking for a really basic book or books, to increase my own understanding. Any ideas?
I have basically no understanding of business or financial statements. I need the most basic, beginner level information.

About Author

Olivier Roland is a French Entrepreneur and the Blogger of Books that can change your life.