The truth is that I always go broke when I stop reading.

Before I started my first business I was obsessed with reading everything I could. Fiction (because I wanted to write novels) and non-fiction (because I loved technology and something called “The Internet” was just starting).

And then I started reading books about business because the Internet and entertainment and my life all seemed to be merging with business.

My first business was creating websites for people. My second business was creating “mobile websites” for people, which really didn’t exist then.

In between the first and second business I played poker for 365 days. Even the day my daughter was born. I couldn’t help myself.

My accountant finally said the worst thing he can ever say to me. He said, “you should be starting another business”. I wish I had just kept playing poker.

I love everything in that second business. Here’s what happened.

I stopped reading. I separated from my wife. I had no clue what my business did. I fell in love. I started drinking a lot. I went broke. Lost my house. Lost my family. Blah blah.

I’m sick of “failure porn”. Ok, we get it.

People fail. Then they come back from it and somehow they turn into Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is this generation’s mythical “phoenix”.

So now I get to listen to music on my phone and my teenage daughter probably sends nude pictures to boys on her iphone.

When I was playing poker I read every book ever written about poker. I watched every video. I was still reading a lot.

But something got to my head. Something bad when I started my second business.

I was really unhappy in a lot of ways. I can’t even tell you why I was so unhappy. My dad was always going broke so I thought I was finally going beyond where he went. I thought I was superior to him. I thought I didn’t need to do what he did. 

And since he was a big reader, I no longer needed to read. And since he stayed with his wife, I no longer needed to.

I know now: investing in your mind is the best investment you can make. Investing in your relationships is right next to investing in your mind.

But forget about failure porn. Don’t fail. Try to succeed. Reading is succeeding.

This is advice often given writers: write the book YOU would want to read.

But really the advice should be for readers: READ the book you would want to write.

This is what I do. 

Here’s advice for movie writers: if you put a gun in the first scene, make sure it’s fired by the end.

That’s like reading. When you read something good (e.g. something YOU would want to write) you’re going to use it in your life to make your life better.

At some point.

Maybe not tomorrow…

But eventually.

Here are five books that helped me from going broke in the last year: