My goal has been to focus on timeless lessons and insights for work and life. We can do this by mastering the best of what other people have already figured out. I want to share the insights and wisdom that make things easier, not harder. I have spent years making high-stakes decisions as a CEO, advisor, and public company board member. I continue to teach, coach, and guide CEOs wanting to perform at the top of their game. I am the Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author of Clear Thinking and the founder of Farnam Street Media, Latticework Publishing, and Syrus Partners.
I wrote
Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
If you want to see how small changes can make a huge impact, pick up this book.
Atomic Habits explores the power of compounding in personal
development. Unlike the temptation of quick fixes, the book emphasizes the long game. It redefines habits as the key to success and failure, highlighting that time maximizes their impact. Even the smallest changes can accumulate into significant transformations.
This book is an eye-opening exploration of how small, consistent actions can lead to extraordinary outcomes.
The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 4 million copies sold!
Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the…
This is one of the books I give away the most. The lessons are timeless and still hold true today.
Harvey S. Firestone was one of the leaders of American industry. In a testament to his thoughtful corporate leadership, Firestone tires are still on cars everywhere. Many of the insights he shares on how to start and run a company are as relevant today as when they were originally written.
This printing of Men and Rubber: The Story of Business by Harvey S. Firestone is part of the Farnam Street Timeless Classics Series, where we continue with our goal of 'mastering the best of what other people have figured out.' This is one of the books I give away the most.
From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life.
"A timeless classic that will change how you approach life. There is a billion-dollar education inside this book."
-Shane Parrish, founder of Syrus Partners and Farnam Street
"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up," Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie's Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and…
This is a book I constantly recommend when it comes to how you think about money and growing wealth.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick guide, but a breakdown of how you view your financial position and what lenses you can apply to make the best decisions to position yourself for the best outcome. Luck and risk will always be a factor, but if you prepare for these and work them into your plan, you’ll be prepared for anything.
Doing well with money isn't necessarily about what you know. It's about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.
Money-investing, personal finance, and business decisions-is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don't make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together.
In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan…
If you want to understand what it’s like to start and run a business–the uncertainty, the sweat, the stress, the self-doubt–I’d recommend picking up this book.
It’s a memoir, so you’re certainly getting just one side of the story. But Knight doesn’t hesitate to flog himself throughout the book–he comes off as energetic, hardworking, risk-taking, and willing to enter a moral gray area to make Nike a success.
A captivating read for anyone interested in the world of business through a different lens.
'A refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like ... It's an amazing tale' Bill Gates
'The best book I read last year was Shoe Dog, by Nike's Phil Knight. Phil is a very wise, intelligent and competitive fellow who is also a gifted storyteller' Warren Buffett
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the boot of his Plymouth, Knight grossed $8000 in his first year. Today, Nike's annual…
You don’t need to be smarter than others to outperform them if you can out-position them. Anyone looks like a genius when they’re in a good position, and even the smartest person looks like an idiot when they’re in a bad one.
Clear Thinking is not just another self-help book—it’s a transformative guide that hands you the tools to master your own fate, sharpen your decision-making, and set yourself up for unparalleled success. The most effective way to enhance your decision-making is by starting from a position of strength. With a proven framework and practical strategies, Clear Thinking is your roadmap to navigating any situation with poise and intelligence.
I’m an OB/GYN, passionate about adventuring beyond what’s expected. This has led me to pivot multiple times in my career, now focusing on writing. I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives.
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.
The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their…
