I’m Listening To 100 Audiobooks In 365 Days, Follow Along With Me

Hey everyone,

So as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’ve been a bit slack when it comes to blogging on my own website.

I love doing “epic” posts and “round ups” and all that long, fun, detailed stuff but to be completely honest, I just don’t have the time to write a 10,000 word behemoth on my own blog anymore (as much as I’d love to).

Am I going to stop blogging?

Hell no.

I’ve decided I’m going to adjust my blogging schedule to shorter (500-1,000) word blog posts and write more frequently on topics that are share-worthy or what I’ve wanted to share for a long time but have been putting off.

But to kick things off, another part of my life which has slowed down a lot is my reading.

I used to read about 2-5 books per month, every month at the beginning of last year.

But now, my book reading has taken the backseat and I hate it (I do still listen to podcasts regularly though).

I’ve been spending more time building playlists in Spotify and less building up the knowledge between my ears, so today I’m starting a new follow along.

My goal is to listen to 100 audiobooks over the next 365 days.

I set this goal because audiobooks are much easier to consume as I have a lot more opportunities to listen to them while I’m driving in the car, travelling etc.

The process of reading has become more of a chore to me (for now) so I’m mixing it up a bit.

One thing I don’t like though is that I can’t note take as easily, and I think retention might be slightly less, but with the efficiency to get through more books and the opportunity to actually listen to them in the first place, it’s a clear winner for me.

What Books Do I Plan On Listening To?

I recently saw Roland Fraiser and then only 1-2 days later Mike Rhodes both post great lists of books they recommend, so I’m merging them together and going to start there.

Both of these gentlemen are great marketers and strategizers in their own right so the books they’ve recommended are right up my alley.

There’s 90 here, with some I’ve already read and there may be double ups too, so I’m leaving space to pick some of my own books towards the end of the goal.

If there’s some I don’t think I’ll read I’ll make a note below and select a new one.

But here are the two lists below I’ll be using:

Roland Fraiser’s 60 Favourite Business Books

1. Bold by Peter Diamantis
2. The One Thing – (#8 – Completed)
3. Zero To One by Peter Thiel – (Currently Reading #9)
4. Blue Ocean Strategy – (#5 – Completed)
5. Business Adventures
6. 22 immutable Laws of Marketing
7. Maximum Profit In Minimum Time
8. Happy Brain Chemicals
9. Power Of Now
10. Ask And It Is Given
11. Smarter, Faster, Stronger
12. Smartcuts (#1 – Completed)
13. Four Agreements
14. Scaling Up
15. Positioning
16. The Six Month Fix
17. Dan Sullivan Question
18. Ask (Already Read)
19. How Rich People Think
20. A Passion To Win
21. Fascinate
22. Predictable Revenue
23. The Art Of Membership
24. Resilience
25. Drive
26. Traction
27. Rich Habits
28. Hooked
29. The Boron Letters
30. Robert Collier Letter Book
31. Scientific Advertising
32. James Bond Guide To Cold Reading
33. 80/20 Sales and Marketing
34. 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
35. One Sentence Persuasion Course
36. ZMOT
37. Mastery
38. The Instant Millionaire
39. The Goal
40. How To Win Friends & Influence People (Already Read)
41. I’m Okay, You’re Okay
42. The 17 Laws of Success
43. Stop Worrying & Start Living
44. Unlimited Power
45. Awaken The Giant Within (#3 – Completed)
46. The Road Less Traveled
47. Psychology of Winning
48. Built To Last
49. Who Moved My Cheese
50. Good To Great
51. Love Yourself Like Your Life Depended On It
52. Brandwashed
53. Jonathan Livingston Seagull
54. Influence
55. Emyth (Already Read)
56. Baked In
57. The Dip
58. How We Decide
59. The Richest Man In Babylon (Already Read, but want to re-read)
60. Drilling Down

Mike Rhodes‘ 30 Favourite Business Books

1. Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer)
2. How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking
3. Pure Genius : Dan Sullivan’s Lifetime Focusing System for Total Self-mastery
4. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
5. Ogilvy on Advertising
6. Who
7. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
8. Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
9. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
10. The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
11. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
12. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
13. Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
14. Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity
15. Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) *double up*
16. Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence
17. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (#2)
18. The 40 Hour Work YEAR
19. The Road to Character
20. Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts–Becoming the Person You Want to Be
21. Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
22. Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
23. Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business
24. Snapshot – Reading and Treating People Right the First Time
25. Building a Digital Analytics Organization: Create Value by Integrating Analytical Processes, Technology, and People into Business
    Operations
26. Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition)
27. Cash Copy: How to Offer Your Products and Services So Your Prospects Buy Them
28. Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
29. Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
30. The Breakthrough Principle of 16x

Stephen’s Additional Reading List

1. Built To Sell – (#4 Completed)
2. Ego Is The Enemy – (#6 Completed)
3. The Perfect Day Formula – (#7 Completed)

So this is where I’ll be starting my journey, I’m not planning on reading these in any order but I’ll bold each book and date the day it was finished being listened to.

For the first time in about a year I’m really looking forward to getting back into the habit of regular listening and reading.

Look out for a couple of podcast episodes where I might share some takeaways on the books as I run through them.

Tip For Audiobooks

A tip I use when I listen to audiobooks is listening to them at x2 speed.

I’ve been listening to podcasts like this for a couple of years now so am very used to the speed while still absorbing what’s being said throughout the episode.

I highly recommend trying it out on podcasts first and building it up to audiobooks and even videos. I actually started doing this back at university for lectures (glad something stuck with me from university, hey?).

Join Me!

If you’re joining me on this reading challenger for 2016/17 then please comment below.

You don’t need to read 100, but if you’re planning on reading some of the books above that I’ve selected from Mike and Roland then comment below and we can continue the conversation.

Look out for updates to this and future micro-content blog posts!