What better time than now to catch up on reading all those books you “keep meaning to get around to”? Even If you’re stuck at home, it may still be tough to get up the motivation to pick up a new book (or finish an older one) so we wanted to help. You may already have books lying around the house just waiting to be read but if you’re looking to dive into some new ones, we have a great list of books on ppa.com written by Imaging USA keynote and platform speakers as well as PPAedu class instructors and we have highlighted 11 of then below! Many of these books are available for instant access through Amazon.com as Kindle ebooks or audiobooks! Did you know that you don’t need a Kindle or e-reader to access these digital versions? You can download the amazon kindle app to your phone for free! Audible also offers a 30 day free trial if you’ve been wanting to check out some new audiobooks; actually, more than half of the books listed below are free to download with Audible’s free trial!

On top of giving you a starting point for some new books to check out - call it our early “summer reading list” - we’ve also put together 4 quick tips on how to plan and set specific reading goals, stay focused on those goals and get some serious reading done.

1. First off, you need to write down the list of books you want to read. We’ve tried to make this step easy by providing you the list below (as well as more titles on ppa.com) but you can obviously change it up and choose other books for your list. 

2. Choose a date to start your first book and decide how many pages per day you want to read and WHEN you will be able to read them. If you decide you want to read 6 pages/day, you can divide the number pf pages in your first book by 6 and this will allow you to set an achievable “end goal” for finishing your first book!

3. Schedule in time for reading. Whether you choose to read right before bed, in the morning before work, or maybe during a lunch break, be sure you schedule the time in just as you schedule in other important things in your life. Set up a reminder in your phone or in your planner to help remind you!

4. Lastly, think about getting others involved! Join (or create your own) virtual book club so that you have additional support and encouragement. Another idea is to use your daily reading as prompts to write blog posts. This can really help you put the information to practical use in your own life while providing knowledge and inspiration to others! 

Now that we’ve set you up with some tips and a plan to get started, here is our early summer reading list, picked just for you:

Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards

“You need to know how people work. As a human behavior investigator, Vanessa Van Edwards studies the hidden forces that drive our behavior patterns in her lab—and she’s cracked the code. In Captivate she shares a wealth of valuable shortcuts, systems and behavior hacks for taking charge of their interactions at work, at home, and in any social situation. These aren’t the people skills you learned in school. This is the first comprehensive, science backed, real life manual on human behavior and a completely new approach to building connections. Just like knowing the right formulas to use in chemistry, or the right programming language to write code, the hacks in this book are simple ways to solve for people.” 

Limitless by Jim Kwik 

(Pre-order release date: April 28, 2020)

“Belief that you are limited might be holding you back from your biggest dreams. In Limitless, I share tools that will help you cast off your perceived limitations. You’re going to learn how to upgrade your brain and memory. What’s more, you’ll learn how to increase your focus, optimize your work time, and form healthy habits. Limitless helps you learn anything faster, and once you’ve done that, there is nothing holding you back from your dreams. You’ll unlock your exceptional life and uplevel your career, studies, business, and relationships.”

LINGO by Jeffrey Shaw  

“I wanted to write a book for success. YOUR success. What is required for success is:

• Proven marketing and branding strategies that work
• Correct mindsets that remove blocks that are in your way
• Daily practices that create a positive flow

So LINGO is not a business book or a self-help book. It’s a book that will help service-based businesses and entrepreneurs be successful.”

The Celebrity CEO: How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building a Community and a Strong Personal Brand by Ramon Ray

“The Celebrity CEO is the complete guide to creating a strong personal brand. By developing your personal brand, you will set your business apart from your competitors and become known as the expert in your industry. Written for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to make a massive impact and build a loyal fan base, The Celebrity CEO is the source for celebrity status in business. Learn from the founder of Smart Hustle Media, Ramon Ray, the mind-set of a celebrity CEO and the tools to cultivate your tribe.”

Rock n’ Roll With It: Overcoming the Challenge of Change by Brant Menswar

“There are two types of change we all face, Intentional change that we create for ourselves and Unintentional change that can be forced upon us. Brant Menswar and Jim Trick are intimately aware of both examples. Having spent 263 straight days in the hospital with his son battling cancer, Brant has experienced the ultimate unintentional change. Jim once lived his life at 430 lbs before deciding to intentionally change his future and lost 200 lbs...twice. Change, while incredibly challenging, is not impossible. We’ve just never been taught how to approach and powerfully engage it. Rock and Roll With it will provide you with a framework to understanding how change works and equip you with specific strategies to accomplishing the kind of transformational change that leads to the type of life you really want...one that bears fruit and enriches those around you.” 

One Tech Action: A Quick and Easy Guide to Getting Started Using Productivity Apps and Websites for Busy Professionals by Crystal Washington

“One Tech Action empowers non-techie, busy professionals to easily take advantage of technology to multiply their efforts at home and work, increase efficiency, and spend more time with the people who matter the most to them. Most professionals are overloaded and don’t have enough hours in the day to finish everything they need to complete. All the prioritizing in the world won’t fix that problem. The only viable option is to push things off of their plates! That’s where One Tech Action comes into play! In addition to finding that perfect time allotment between our professional and personal lives, the line separating our home and work time is both fuzzy and curvy, often having no clear demarcation. When busy people feel as though they’re not checking items off their to-do list at home, it becomes challenging to concentrate on completing tasks at work. And vice-versa when projects at the office are not properly executed, they have difficulty being attentive in their home lives. There is a solution—it’s called technology. Just as the invention of the washing machine and car saved past generations’ time, so can mobile-device technology save us time. This book provides practical solutions that allow readers to better leverage the devices they already carry with them to increase their efficiency at home, work, and all the places in-between."

Exactly What to Say by Phil M. Jones

“Every day in your business there are countless conversations happening that are impacting the success and outcomes for your business. The worst time to think about the thing that you are about to say is in the very moment in which you are saying it. Yet in almost every scenario the conversation is over before you and your teams even considered the power of their words. The potential negative impact of failing to make these conversations count is astronomical, and this giant risk to your business is probably not receiving any attention … Just imagine the difference in your business if more of your people could find confidence and competence in their conversations, learn how to utilize the magic words in their daily engagements and could influence their outcomes effortlessly with words? The good news is that you now have the ability to access a premium tailored solution, direct from Phil in which, together with you, creates an intensive, compact and instantly applicable training program that delivers you and your team the ability to know Exactly What to Say in dozens of their regular scenarios.” 

Marketing to Millennials by Jeff Fromm

“The jokes at the Millennials’ expense are aplenty, but not nearly as much as the $200 billion in buying power they now wield as they enter their peak earning and spending years. Love it or loathe it, you are doing business in their domain now, and your future depends on your ability to successfully connect with them--which goes far beyond having a Twitter account and a flashy advertising campaign. Marketing to Millennials is both an enlightening look at this generation of spend-happy consumers and a practical plan for earning their trust and loyalty.”

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

“What if you could have profit guaranteed? That was the question I asked myself after yet another year of my company’s check-to-check survival. I have become convinced that the biggest source of entrepreneurial stress (and even depression) is the lack of cash reserves. I created the Profit First system to eradicate my own financial struggles. And I am honored to say, that as of writing this, over 175,000 companies have implemented the system. The method is simple. Every time you get a deposit from sales, take a predetermined percentage of that money as profit. Of course there are a few more steps than just that. But even with the simple first step, of taking your profit first, you will become permanently profitable. Profit is not an event. Profit is a habit. This book will show you exactly how to do it.”

This is Marketing by Seth Godin

“Marketing is all around us. From your very first memories to the moment before you opened this book, you’ve been inundated by marketing. You learned to read from the logos on the side of the road, and you spend your time and your money in response to what marketers have paid to put in front of you. Marketing, more than a lake or a forest, is the landscape of our modern lives. Because marketing has been done to us for so long, we take it for granted. Like the fish who doesn’t understand water, we fail to see what’s actually happening, and don’t notice how it’s changing us. It’s time to do something else with marketing. To make things better. To cause a change you’d like to see in the world. To grow your project, sure, but mostly to serve the people you care about. The answer to just about every question about work is really the question, ‘Who can you help?’”

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

“In 2009, Simon Sinek started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn inspire their colleagues and customers. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, including more than 28 million who’ve watched his TED Talk based on Start With Why—the third most popular TED video of all time. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won’t truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. Start With Why shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.”

We hope you spend some time this year exploring some new books!