The Warrior Project Reading List

Research shows that the #1 element of successful entrepreneurs is: GRIT - the "complete the mission at any cost" mindset which you, as a veteran, have in abundance. Any entrepreneur who has succeeded read a lot of books to get to the top of the mountain. The moto list below contains books on history, grit and business skills. Read biographies on successful business people to see how they overcame their hurdles and kept moving forward.

If you've read a book that helped you complete your mission, inspired you to continue through a tough time or just taught you a critical skill, please let us know so we can add it to the evolving list.

  • Anything in Guerilla Marketing series, particularly Guerilla Marketing with Technology and The Guerilla Way by Jay Conrad Levinson - Great easy-to-use tips on all aspects of marketing your business inexpensively and effectively.
  • 301 Great Management Ideas by Bradford Ketchum Jr., Time, Inc. Magazine - One-page nuggets of management concepts to help you succeed. This book is so well-read, Amazon has a copy for $707! (But you can get one for about $3 - best $3 you'll ever spend)
  • The Art of Being Unmistakable by Srinivas Rao (#1 Amazon Bestseller) - How to tap into and revel in your uniqueness. Intense moto! "Loss (any kind- job, relationship, buddy, dog) creates an opening in your life. But if you fill it with panic, anxiety, fear and all sorts of other bullshit, you can't create anything new in that space." Very quick read.
  • Semper Fi! Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way by Carrison/Walsh (best mgmt book I ever read!) - About how to develop a training and management culture that brings out the best in everyone on your team, just like the Marine Corps does, and shows you how to encourage loyalty, inspire initiative and build high performance standards into your team.
  • The Art of the Deal by President Donald Trump - How he assesses intel and acts on it. His advice? Think BIG, protect your flank at all times, know your market, use your leverage, deliver the goods and be willing to fight back.
  • US Constitution for Beginners by Bachmann (it's a book you can read with your kids! - very educational and entertaining) You took an Oath to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States - have you read it?
  • Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - The classic elites vs. the common man. Very long, but riveting book on the nature of winning. Wish I could find Galt's Gulch!!
  • Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins - A great series example of grit, determination, skill-building, being prepared for "your moment" when it comes and victory, as well as being an exciting adventure story.
  • Master Motivator - Secrets of Inspiring Leadership by Mark Victor Hansen - How to motivate yourself and others, complete with action steps to build better self awareness. "The greatest statement of motivation ever uttered is, "Follow me." "Motivating and leading people to become all they can be is one of the greatest thrills that exists." Complete with a list of must-read books, must-watch movies, must-hear audio tapes to keep you juiced to succeed.
  • Facing your Giants by Max Lucado - The story of David and Goliath as you've never heard it before and what it means to each of us today. Highly motivational. Slaying Goliath was the beginning of a long road of deprivation, suffering and calamity until David finally emerged as heroic King David.
  • Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman - Amazing story about how America rose from the ashes of the Great Depression, Dust Bowl and Pearl Harbor to build the greatest military the world has ever seen and it took all of us to do it.
  • Dave's Way - A New Approach to Old-Fashioned Success by Wendy's founder R. David Thomas, Army vet (Ch. 3 is titled "Join the Army and Become an Entrepreneur!") - From adopted child to a man who built a $3 billion business from scratch. Dave is the one who put Col. Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken on the map before starting his own business.
  • The 5,000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen - The 28 great ideas that changed the world. Basically the story of us - and our never-before-seen Constitution with the principles of freedom that made America what it is. "The Founders opened the floodgates of human ingenuity so that in merely two centuries, mankind advanced from transportation by lumbering ox-carts to being propelled by rockets to the moon." This book should be in every American home, with worn pages from much use.
  • Being George Washington by Glenn Beck - Fun, fun book about a self-made man who changed the destiny of a nation and the world as horses got shot out from under him, spies and double agents tried to destroy him, famine and disease assailed him, and his teeth always hurt - but he never quit.
  • GRIT - The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth - A recent study on why people succeed. The talent vs. tenacity argument. Guess what! Grit wins every time over talent alone. Starts out with research done at West Point with surprising results.
  • Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - A World War II story of unbelievable survival, resilience and grit of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini. After all he endured and survived, his life was circling the drain once back in civilian life, until a chance encounter saved him.
  • Negotiating 101 by Peter Sander, MBA. - A very entertaining crash course on planning your strategy to finding common ground in negotiations, reading body language/facial expressions and voice tone (all skills military personnel have). It's a book Donald Trump could have written and certainly lives by!