When it comes to motivation, we find it best to look at examples of people among us. Listen to their stories, relate to their problems and know how they managed to get out of their tough times.
Autobiographies are an excellent way to boost your motivation level and inspire you to struggle harder for your dreams. Reading stories about how people from all around the world turned their lives around can make you believe that miracles do happen if you work hard.
So, today, we give you 10 autobiography recommendations that will inspire your inner entrepreneur.
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
In today’s world, who doesn’t know what an Iphone is? Apple is one of the most well known and established technology brands of the world. And it keeps getting better and better.
This
biography is one of the best ones yet. The author conducted interviews with Jobs
himself for three years. He had also been talking to Steve’s relatives, friends
and colleagues for an insight into the man’s personal life.
This book is great to open your mind and see how you can be innovative and
clever in a business, especially the technology industry.
Iacocca: An autobiography
Lee Iacocca is a name well known in the automobile industry. He was the 18th greatest CEO of all time and brought back Chrysler from the verge of destruction. He was born in an Italian immigrant’s house, spent his childhood in Pennsylvania and grew up to be fired from Ford. Despite this, he rebuilt Chrysler and became a business icon.
It is truly a story that teaches us to never give up no matter how tough life gets.
Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
One of the most known and loved businesses in the world is Starbucks and CEO Howard Schultz tells us exactly how it became so close to its customers’ hearts. The business runs on a customer-centered approach which makes the customers love it back. Howard shares how Starbucks was able to keep both its customers and its staff, both, happy, to create an overall positive vibe in the business. This is sadly not thought about too often in the business world and may be the key to a successful business in the 21st century.
Thrive: The Third Metric to Success (Arianna Huffington)
Founder of The Huffington Post, Arianna’s book is more than just about business strategies. According to her, the “third metric to success” is our well-being. This revelation came to her after she collapsed one night due to exhaustion, and broke her cheekbone. She wrote this book in the realization that instead of running after power and money, one should pay a majority of their attention to their own self as well. It is a beautiful, strong reminder to stop, breath and take a step back before you too, collapse.
Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire
It’s not a surprise that Gates is the richest man in the world, and it is certainly of interest to everyone to know how he got to where he is now.
The story behind his huge Microsoft Empire is truly inspiring and eye-opening. From hacking his computer lab’s computer systems to a possible allegation of fraud, it makes you realize that you need both brains and knowledge to be successful, especially in the technology industry.
The Facebook Effect: The Real Inside Story of Mark Zuckerberg and the World’s Fastest Growing Company
Again, no surprise, that Facebook is one of the fastest growing companies in the world, conquering the world of social media. What’s surprising is that Mark was only a teenager when he and a couple of his friends created Facebook in their Harvard dorm room.
This book not only explains the process of how it all happened but also the personal lives of all the founders of the company.
Chanel: A Woman of Her Own by Axel Madsen
Gabriella Bonheur Chanel used her brilliant creative skills and business acumen to build the name that is now known internationally as Chanel. This book celebrates her excellence and talks deeply about what her personality was like, how the woman suffered tragedy and, yet, managed to build such a huge brand name.
Oprah: A Biography by Kitty Kelley
This book is one of the go-tos when someone wishes to know more about the iconic Oprah Winfrey’s life. This book takes you through what her friends, relatives and colleagues have to say about the woman’s personality, who is one of America’s most successful, hardworking and humanitarian media moguls.
Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber
Ruth and her husband, Elliot co-founded and launched the iconic Barbie doll in 1959, bringing a huge wave in the toy industry. Even though this business was such a huge success for the years and decades to come, her life was not so easy. Read this book to know more about how she had to create prosthetics for women who underwent mastectomies.
On her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A’Lelia Bundles
Even though she lived a difficult life in poverty and oppression from an early age, Madam C.J. was a businesswoman and philanthropist who eventually earned the “First black female millionaire” title after she developed African-American hair care products. Her business not only provided great products to women, but also opened great career opportunities to African-American women, making it a huge part of the history of the African beauty industry.
These autobiographies not only inspire you to work hard but also make you see how everyone has a chance to turn their lives around, no matter what age, gender and background they belong to. Each and every one of these reads is time and money well spent.
So, which of these have you read or plan to read?