• What is Copywriting?
    • Why Copywriting is One of the Most Enjoyable, Flexible Careers
    • Answers to Your Top Questions About Copywriting
  • Blog
    • Most Popular
    • Mindset & Professional Development
    • Portfolio
    • Business Development
    • Book Recommendations
    • Pitching
    • Copywriting Tips
    • Terms to Know
  • Podcast
    • Latest Episodes
    • Top Episodes for New Copywriters
    • Student Stories
  • Copywriting Course
    • Learn About the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy
    • CCA Student Sign In
    • CCA Next Level
  • CCA Reviews
    • CCA Student Wins
    • Videos: CCA Student Reviews
  • Store
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • About Nicki Krawczyk
  • Contact Us

Filthy Rich Writer

Tips, tools, & training for new and aspiring copywriters.

Tips, Tools and Training for New and Aspiring Copywriters

  • What does “Filthy Rich” mean? It means having a job you love, being good at what you do…and making great money doing it!

4 Books to Read for Inspiration and Insight

By Nicki Krawczyk 2 Comments

4 books to read for inspiration
Every few months, I like to put together a list of books that I’ve read recently and that I think will help you in your pursuit of your copywriting and general life goals. With that said, here’s today’s list!

Design the Life You Love: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Meaningful Future by Ayse Birsel

Recently, I took a solo weekend retreat to clear my head and come up with some new ideas and new possibilities. Often, I’ll bring along questions to ponder throughout the weekend. This time, instead, I brought along an entire book.

Design the Life You Love was written by an industrial engineer and suggest using design thinking to deconstruct and then reconstruct your life. (Not to be confused with the other design thinking book, Design Your Life, which was also pretty good.)

Through a series of exercises, Ayse Birsel coaches you to view aspects of your life and your values from a few different frames of reference with the end goal of configuring a new life plan and philosophy.

Considering I’ve read so many books like this, I was pleased to find several exercises that I hadn’t seen before. Also, as a writer, I like that several of the exercises involved drawing. (It’s good to force yourself to exercise a part of the brain that you rarely use.) For those of you who are ebook-lovers, I’d still recommend getting this one in print; it’s both helpful and inspiring to do the exercises right in the book.

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss is one of the original life-design gurus and probably most famous for his book, “The Four-Hour Workweek.” Since then, he’s also published several other books about optimal living. While I’m just a touch too lazy to try to actually optimize my life, I still appreciate some insightful information every once in a while.

Tribe of Mentors is compiled of short Q&As with experts and over-achievers in fields as far-ranging as skateboarding, venture capital, cooking, and outdoor survival. Each interviewee muses on things like the books they most often recommend and what habit or behavior has most improved their lives. Because each interviewee’s section is short, it’s easy to pick this book up when you have a free moment.

I found myself bookmarking multiple pages with insightful ideas, advice, or books to read. For you print book-lovers, this is one I’d actually probably recommend as an ebook; the print one (hardcover) is a massive 624 pages.

Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking by Shane Snow

Before buying this one, I read a review on Amazon that complained that the author didn’t actually tell you how to make “smartcuts” but just illustrated examples. After reading it, I can tell you that that’s kind of the point.

“Smartcuts” — as opposed to shortcuts, of course — are unusual, often lateral career moves that allow someone to advance further and faster than they would in a more conventional career path. Think: someone who slowly but surely climbs the corporate ladder to become CEO, versus someone who starts their own company, sells it, and then gets hired at another company to be the CEO. That’s a very banal example (and not one that’s in the book), but it should give you some idea.

The career trajectories of people like Michelle Phan, the SpaceX company, and even the Cuban Revolution make for interesting reads, and should inspire you to try to find a few smartcuts of your own.

The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy by Chris Bailey

I’ll admit it: I’m a junkie for productivity books and have probably spent a lot more time reading them than I should have. (The irony is not lost on me.) What makes this one different is that the author spent a year of his life testing out various productivity techniques to report back on what worked and what didn’t.

You’ll likely see a few techniques you’ve already seen before, but his method for presenting them and the exercises he offered for implanting them made it all very interesting and well worth spending some time reading.

Your turn! Have you read any good books you’d like to recommend to the Filthy Rich Writer community? Let us know in the comments below!

*FYI, these are affiliate links and you help support us and all of the work that we do via purchases made through these links.

Last Updated on November 15, 2022

Filed Under: Book Recommendations, Mindset & Professional Development Tagged With: books

Interested in Copywriting? Get our Free Video Training!

Plus, get on the list for updates, freebies, and more :) 



About Nicki Krawczyk

Nicki is a copywriter, copy coach and the founder of Filthy Rich Writer. She's been writing copy for more than 20 years.

Comments

  1. Mike McGregor says

    February 5, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    I’m currently reading a short ebook called The Secret to Selling Anything by Harry Browne. It’s an old-school book written many years ago but it covers the essence of selling and what selling is REALLY about; which isn’t the pushy, repelling methods we’re all lead to believe. There’s just a few core principles to apply which I hope to use when consulting with prospects and maybe they will be useful when writing copy too.

    The bonus is that it’s very short – only 141 pages.

    Reply
    • Nicki Krawczyk says

      August 22, 2018 at 1:22 pm

      Hi Mike,

      Thanks for mentioning that book—it’s always great to share resources and selling is definitely worth mastering. Good for you for seeking out more sources of insight!

      Thanks for commenting!
      Nicki

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Click here to subscribe

Break Into Copywriting

Sign up to get our FREE video training, special resources, and more!



Click here to subscribe

Comprehensive Copywriting Academy

Join the copywriting training program that's helping people just like you build successful copywriting careers!

Comprehensive Copywriting Academy from Filthy Rich Writer

Portfolio Tips

3 Copywriter Portfolio Examples That Wow Clients
Do You Need to List Your Copywriting Services on Your Portfolio Site?
Should I Put Prices on My Website? What Copywriters Need to Know

Orange square with text reading award winning designs and free domains Squarespace
View our Affiliate Link Disclosure here

Recent Articles

Freelance Copywriter Benefits: How to Build Your Own Benefits Package
5 Books to Read Written by Copywriters
How to Give Copywriting Feedback
Setting Boundaries as a Copywriter
Self Edit Your Copywriting: Why It’s a Must & How to Do It
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 Filthy Rich Writer | About Us | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy| Business Affiliates