18 Ladyboss Books To Help Slay Your 2018

I'm sure like myself, many of you are beginning to or have already been compiling a to-read list for the new year. Here is a list of must-read motivational books for female entrepreneurs, many of whom are on my reading list this year.

According to Fortune Magazine, nowadays successful women entrepreneurs are not only matching their male counterparts; in many ways, they’re outperforming them. A study of global entrepreneurs found that companies helmed by female entrepreneurs in 2016 had 13% higher revenues than those run by men, and finished 9% above the average for all entrepreneurs surveyed. Even with all this success, there is still SO much that we still need to learn in order to be in a position where we are effectively leading and educating others. 

These eighteen reads will keep you motivated, inspired, and aware of how ridiculous all of the excuses we make when pursuing our dreams!

one | I Am That Girl: How to Speak Your Truth, Discover Your Purpose, and #bethatgirl - Alexis Jones 
In a crazy, media distracted world, I Am That Girl explains that the important questions often get lost. Examples are of these questions are as follows: What’s your passion? What’s your purpose? Who do you want to be? With the support and avid advocacy of Hilary Duff, Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, and a handful of other famous actresses-turned-girlbosses, Alexis Jones has built a career listening to and helping girls around the world figure out those questions in order to inspire them to think for themselves, speak their truth, and discover their true purpose.

two | Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building A Life-Changing Business - Romi Neustadt 
Romi Neustadt offers you direct, anti-nonsense coaching she’s given to tens of thousands to help you acquire the skills to confidently connect with anyone about your business, create a lucrative and efficient turn-key system of operations, and manifest the power that’s already within you to build the life you’ve been wanting– all while molding your mindset so you stop over complicating it all and stop letting the negative voices in your head win.

three | Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life - Lara Casey 
Written as part encouragement anthem and part practical guide, Cultivate equips women to uncover and take action on goals that simplify life. Lara's signature “goal gardening” steps release them from the pressure to achieve and gives them the freedom to move from planning to planting. Readers will walk through each season, finding balance as they interact in fresh ways with their current life scenarios, with God, and in the communities where they are planted. "You don't have to be perfect; you just have to plant! As you open this book, you are making a decision to leave the dry soil behind. You will lean in . . . and unrush your life. And in the process, you will unearth your purpose."

four | The Sweet Life: Find Passion, Embrace Fear, and Create Success on Your Own Terms - Dulce Candy 
The Sweet Life chronicles Dulce Candy’s inspiring story, sharing her hard-won wisdom about finding your passion, answering opportunity when it knocks on your door and overcoming failure. She emphasizes the importance of inner and outer beauty and being true to yourself, embracing the things that make you unique and using them to live your dreams, including practical advice on building your career, staying focused when the going gets tough, and balancing the personal and professional.

five | Grit - Angela Duckworth 
Pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called grit. Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.
Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that, not talent or luck makes all the difference.

six | Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead - Sheryl Sandberg 
Sheryl Sandberg is the definition of a full-fledged lady boss. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world's most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale.

 
seven | The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance -What Women Should Know - Katty Kay & Claire Shipman 
Working women today are better educated and better qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence.
Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve. 

eight | High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way - Brendon Burchard 
After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s highest-paid performance coach, Brendon Burchard finally reveals the most effective habits for reaching long-term success. Based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on high performers, it turns out that just six habits move the needle the most in helping you succeed. Adopt these six habits, and you win. Neglect them, and life is a never-ending struggle.

nine | Be Obsessed or Be Average - Grant Cardone 
Grant had grown up with big dreams, but friends and family told him to be more reasonable and less demanding. If he played by the rules, they said, he could enjoy everyone else’s version of middle-class success. But when he tried it their way, he hit rock bottom.

Then he tried the opposite approach. He said NO to the haters and naysayers and said YES to his burning, outrageous, animal obsession.Obsession made all of his wildest dreams come true. And it can help you achieve massive success too. As Grant says, we're in the middle of an epidemic of average. The conventional wisdom is to seek balance and take it easy. But that has really just given us an excuse to be unexceptional.

ten | The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success - Mark Nathan & David Anderson 
The Delusion of Passion was written to clarify truth from delusion in our commonly held beliefs about passion, and to put people in the driver’s seat, creating a life they are passionate about living. It is written for Millenials and by Millennials to help our generation tap into new levels of productivity and intentionality in everything we do and in our pursuit of personal excellence. Even those not in our generation have gained insights from this book into the Millennial mind, on how to work with Millenials effectively, and helping to clarify their own personal journeys as well.

eleven | The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the BADASS BABE You Were Meant to Be - Ann Shoket 
Millennial women are changing what it means to be powerful and successful in the world―for everyone. Forever. You want The Big Life―that delicious cocktail of passion, career, work, ambition, respect, money, and a monumental relationship. And you want it on your own terms.
For you, success only matters if it’s meaningful.
The Big Life is packed with actionable guidance combined with personal advice from high-profile millennial women who have already achieved tremendous success, plus intimate conversations with a cast of compelling characters and Shoket’s own stories on her quest for The Big Life.

 
twelve | Driven: How To Succeed In Business And In Life - Robert Herjavec
Whether you are seeking to build the next big company in communications technology, to become the most respected teacher in your educational system, or to make a lasting impact as an artist in your field, the most important decision you can make, according to Herjavec, is to reject mediocrity. In the long run, “good enough” is never good enough, whether in our personal lives or in our careers.
Drawing from his own life and from the lives of celebrity friends such as Oprah, Georges St-Pierre, and Celine Dion, Herjavec delivers valuable life lessons that promise to guide readers to greater happiness and success.
 

thirteen | Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It in Your Career. Rock Social Media - Aliza Licht
Aliza is here to tell her story, complete with The Devil Wears Prada-esque moments and insider secrets. Drawing invaluable lessons from her experience as a top fashion publicist, Licht shares advice, inspiration, and a healthy dose of real talk in Leave Your Mark. She delivers personal and professional guidance for people just starting their careers and for people who are well on their way. Aliza is your sassy, knowledgeable guide to the contemporary working world, where personal and professional lines are blurred and the most important thing you can have is a strong sense of self. 

fourteen | Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders - Lindsey Pollak
Written exclusively for Millennial readers to address their unique needs, Becoming the Boss is a brisk, tech-savvy success manual filled with real-world, actionable tips from expert author Lindsey Pollak. Pollak defines what leadership is and draws on original research, her own extensive experience, and interviews with newly-minted Gen Y managers and entrepreneurs around the world to share the secrets of what makes them successful leaders—and to show young professionals how to use that knowledge to succeed in their own careers.

fifteen | Woman Up!: Overcome the 7 Deadly Sins that Sabotage Your Success - Aimee Cohen
First off, I was immediately drawn to this books because of shoes OF COURSE! Aimee Cohen implores women to put on their big-girl panties, take control of their careers, and Woman UP! Her insights are a product of more than 20 years of experience and a nearly 100% success rate helping hundreds of clients achieve their goals. Using real-life examples, shared experiences, and Aimee’s own guilty confessions, Woman UP! delivers the sage advice every woman wishes she had at the start of her career.

 

sixteen | Settle For More - Megyn Kelly 
Deeply personal and surprising, Settle for More offers unparalleled insight into this charismatic and intriguing journalist, and inspires us all to embrace the principles—determination, honesty, and fortitude in the face of fear—that have won her fans across the political divide.Speaking candidly about her decision to "settle for more"—a motto she credits as having dramatically transformed her life at home and at work—Megyn discusses how she abandoned a thriving legal career to follow her journalism dreams.

 seventeen | Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur - Cara Alwill 
Girl Code is a roadmap for female entrepreneurs, professional women, “side hustlers,” and anyone in between who wants to become a better woman. This book will not teach you how to build a multimillion-dollar business, nor will it teach you about systems or operational processes. However, it will teach you how to build confidence in yourself, reconnect with your why, eradicate jealousy, and ultimately learn the power of connection, which at the end of the day, is what life and business are all about.

 

eighteen | Radical Self Love: A Guide to Loving Yourself and Living Your Dream - Gala Darling
In Radical Self Love, you'll begin to discover exactly what makes you so magnificent, and you'll uncover a litany of tools and techniques to help you manifest a life that bursts with magic, bliss, and adventure. When you love yourself, life is limitless. You can do anything you want. It's time to throw off the shackles of expectation, and start living from your heart. It's time to astound yourself with how beautiful your life can be. It's time to treat every single day like a celebration... Cake, candles, and confetti very much included!

What is on your reading list this new year? Do you have a favorite girlboss book?