Reading The ENTIRE MJ's Recommended 101 Book List

[Domis]

I was watching PBD podcast yesterday and there was a challenge he put up: Read every well-rated Business, Finance, Human Relation and Psychology book you can find on Amazon.

I kind of tweaked the challenge for myself and am going to do this: Read Every single book from @MJ DeMarco 101 MUST-READ List (https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/great-little-known-books.pdf), the deadline that I give Myself is turning 18 (which is February 27, 2026)

Putting it out here as a challenge to myself, because I also remember someone (I think it was Jordan Peterson), saying that if you were serious about setting a goal, you would tell your friends about it and post it on your Facebook wall.

Wish me luck, and remind me if I try to slack

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Eurojanek]

Well.. I've been there, read over 100 books/year for a while (during Covid mostly) and here's what I think:
spend 100 days figuring out that 1 book worth reading for you (depending on what your actual situation is, and where are you aiming), the rest of the year read that book 100 times over and then act on that knowledge.

 

[rjdgreat]

Can’t find the thread

 

[Domis]

Can’t find the thread

So shouldn't I read the whole list?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Domis]

Well.. I've been there, read over 100 books/year for a while (during Covid mostly) and here's what I think:
spend 100 days figuring out that 1 book worth reading for you (depending on what your actual situation is, and where are you aiming), the rest of the year read that book 100 times over and then act on that knowledge.

How do you even manage to read a book in 3 days?

 

[SEBASTlAN]

How do you even manage to read a book in 3 days?

You can read multiple books a day if you put in enough hours. I don't recommend it unless you have a specific reason to read so many. Assuming you're going to purchase all 100 books, that's a lot of capital you could've used to start something meaningful instead.

 

[tazaxer]

Well, i’m about the same age as you and initially reading your post I thought I could give that a try too. It sounds like a great milestone and you can brag about it and stuff but at the end of the day a book won’t change your life by itself, nor will 100 of them.

As @Eurojanek said the main thing you need is knowledge that applies to your situation. Reading the Millionaire Fastlane has made this clear to me. It’s a book that overdelivers in value but right now I feel like the only thing I can do about that knowledge and value is apply it, otherwise the whole book was a waste of my life.

If you haven’t already read it I suggest you start with this. Again, all it offers is the mindset shift, you have to apply the knowledge to make wonders. After you finish it figure out a book that’s worth your time based on the situation you’ll find yourself in.

For example in my case I figured out I want to read Deep Work by Cal Newport. It’s not a book directly related to finance but the Fastlane has given me great ideas to try. In my situation things like structuring my time to support execution of my ideas is knowledge I want to have.

There’s a great thread I read yesterday about a way to read non-fiction books that doesn’t really consume your time mindlessly reading. I haven’t tried it yet but I’ll share my experience there after I do so. Nevertheless it sounds interesting, give it a read. The Ultimate Guide To Reading Non-Fiction Books

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MakeItHappen]

So shouldn't I read the whole list?

What is the point of reading 101 books if you barely apply anything you read?

Read one book that sounds most relevant to you atm, read it, take notes, and apply what you learned. Rinse and repeat.

After all the purpose of reading these books is to get you closer to your goals and this only happens by taking action.

 

[piano]

Reading MJ's 101?
More like Action-faking 101.

(seriously, don't waste your time. Read TMF and then only stuff you actually need.
"Oh, I'm stuck at sales, let's read a book about sales")

 

[Jrjohnny]

I don’t think that would be a good idea, if it takes you 1 week to finish a book on average, you’d be reading for almost 2 years.

I would buy a few books, only ones that help me with a problem im stuck on or need to learn about.

Let’s just say..

If each book costs an average of 30 bucks, your investing 3000 bucks,

Personally if I had 3000 bucks I can turn that into a lot more..


I went through this mistake, I read all 3 of MJs books and didn’t take notes, I have remembered quite a bit though.

I gave a family member MJ’s books, they’re already on the second one, they’ve been taking down notes and applying it.

Im not saying that books are useless, just saying if your just reading them for just reading them.

You should read books with areas of your life your not happy with.

Anyways, hope that helps.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Domis]

I don’t think that would be a good idea, if it takes you 1 week to finish a book on average, you’d be reading for almost 2 years.

If each book costs an average of 30 bucks, your investing 3000 bucks,

Personally if I had 3000 bucks I can turn that into a lot more..


I went through this mistake, I read all 3 of MJs books and didn’t take notes, I have remembered quite a bit though.

I gave a family member MJ’s books, they’re already on the second one, they’ve been taking down notes and applying it.

Anyways, hope that helps.

Thanks, definitely, the other members convinced me not to that already

 

[Andy Black]

Hmm.

"You can't invoice for input."
- Blaise Brosnan

In other words: Who are you going to invoice for reading all those books?

NOTABLE! - What if you already know enough?

The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer. A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free”...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

HOT! - What do you need?

I need a logo! I need a mentor! I need a website! I need more money! I need to go on a course! I need a business partner! Is it possible to run a business without all the things we think we need? Maybe we're putting all these things in our own way? To prevent us from starting? (aka...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

NOTABLE! - MEETUPS - [TFLF Call Replay] - For teens & students getting started

Hi all. @Lawtiti (who changed his forum name to @Chet Shen) created a Meetup Thread a few days ago and had a Zoom call with @ZCP who gave advice on getting started etc. I offered to do a Zoom where I'll go through some of the main things I think holds people back when getting started, and how...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[RicardoGrande]

Echoing Piano.

After I had my FTE, I somehow thought that If I just read some books, listened to some podcasts, I would magically transmogrify into a shirtless millionaire.

What happened instead is that:
- I never tried anything because I was caught in a loop of reading
- I tried to ape other businesses I heard about in podcasts
- Never got anywhere because it had to be "right", like in the books
- Handed 600$ straight to Jeff Bezos in kindle/audible credits

The thing that actually got the needle moving?
- Talking to business owners, asking them about their start points
- Diving straight into things like cold calling and sales, handling web projects for businesses and solving business needs- even without knowing much myself at the start
- Skipping past the courses/books to honestly look at what businesses did and simply iterate off of that instead of sitting around for months hoping it magically falls into place

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Antifragile]

I was watching PBD podcast yesterday and there was a challenge he put up: Read every well-rated Business, Finance, Human Relation and Psychology book you can find on Amazon.

I kind of tweaked the challenge for myself and am going to do this: Read Every single book from @MJ DeMarco 101 MUST-READ List (https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/great-little-known-books.pdf), the deadline that I give Myself is turning 18 (which is February 27, 2026)

Putting it out here as a challenge to myself, because I also remember someone (I think it was Jordan Peterson), saying that if you were serious about setting a goal, you would tell your friends about it and post it on your Facebook wall.

Wish me luck, and remind me if I try to slack

Reading 101 books on swimming won’t make you a swimmer.

You need to get in the water.

Learn, practice and then read a book on how to improve your technique.

Then back in the water. Try the newly learned technique. Apply what you learned. Practice 1,000 hours. Then read a few more books to perfect your swimming.

At the same time… Start competing. Watch other great swimmers. Talk to them. Get better. Keep training. Get even better.

Start winning. Help others.


Same with business.

 

[Kak]

Personally if I had 3000 bucks I can turn that into a lot more..

 

[Kak]

I actually think reading a ton between now and your 18th birthday is a great idea.

Enter adulthood with a great business education as a foundation to build on.

Do I think it needs to be those exact 101? No. Narrow down a sector and get some focus on this process.

Books are a good investment and cheap relative to the value they provide. Don’t worry about the cost.

I have already decided. My kids can have any book they want as long as they finished the last book. Forever. I don’t care if they’re 47 years old making 6 trillion American monopoly dollars an hour, I’ve got them covered on books forever. It’s my pleasure.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Bekit]

Can’t find the thread

Here it is:

GOLD! - The absolute BEST book you MUST read!

A reader emailed me last week and asked the following question: I've read all three of your books and I can't thank you enough, you've changed my life. [Redacted] What other books do you recommend to help me get started on my Fastlane? While I appreciate the compliment, there are two mental...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[ZackerySprague]

I actually think reading a ton between now and your 18th birthday is a great idea.

Enter adulthood with a great business education as a foundation to build on.

Do I think it needs to be those exact 101? No. Narrow down a sector and get some focus on this process.

Books are a good investment and cheap relative to the value they provide. Don’t worry about the cost.

I have already decided. My kids can have any book they want as long as they finished the last book. Forever. I don’t care if they’re 47 years old making 6 trillion American monopoly dollars an hour, I’ve got them covered on books forever.

Agreed.

I've actually slowed down on the reading. Went on a frenzy last year, it's so much better to read a book about a problem you are facing. I'll always entertain and recommend the idea of reading books to my future kids in the hopes that it will educate them to better their futures. But first... I have to go on an adventure and find a girlfriend. *sigh* this may take a while. Jokes aside. I wouldn't read all 101 books.

A hard lesson I am learning:

Consuming so much is not okay when theirs no action or results to prove what you read. It's just information wasted. So, I'm slowing down. I was thinking about this for the past couple of days. Reading is great, especially autobiography books about others. But what good is to read, if you don't apply it to real life? Trying and experiencing is so much better than imagining what it's like in your head while reading.

 

[Michal__]

1) plan out for the next day, starting with the task that you DISLIKE THE MOST and the one you dislike the second most etc
2) follow the plan to the letter, no deviations (of course, if something takes longer - adjust - that should be obvious)
3) when completed, read as much as you want, as many hours as you want - as long as you have completed everything you planned out

"If you eat the biggest, ugliest frog in the morning, everything after that will be easy"

Action faking is procrastination. Not that there is actually anything wrong with reading tons of books.

I personally read one main book after work/business. Related to the problems I am currently facing.
And then listen/indulge in any audiobook I want when I make meals, eat etc

Treat reading books as a luxury that requires you to finish more important tasks first. Education is important. Using it as a front to be lazy is very tempting though.

I have actually gone both ways - just action/no education and all education/no action. Both is a trap.

Turn waiting and other forms of unproductive times (like being bored at a shitty job) to productive time by reading or listening to audiobooks.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Point of clarification: The 101 Books are NOT books I recommend, they are books OTHER Fastlaner's have recommended, and ARE NOT best-sellers.

 

[Consolation]

Know what's the book that I referenced from the most? Sports Marketing A Strategic Perspective, 5th Edition

Not a best seller. Nobody in this forum knows who the authors are. I don't think it's available on major bookstores.

But guess what? It's the most valuable information for my business.