“I didn’t go to college and get a business degree, so I read a lot of books,” said Ray, who spent years bartending and waiting tables to pay the bills while slowly building Geek Window Cleaning<\/a>. It took about seven years until he started earning enough income from his side gig to quit his service jobs.<\/p>\n Today, Ray reads at least a book a month \u2014 and he has a strategy that holds him accountable.<\/p>\n “My hack for reading is I put a $100 bill as my bookmark, and when I’m finished reading the book, I get to spend it,” he said. “It’s a good motivator.”<\/p>\n He can spend it on anything he wants, as long as it’s not work-related. Sometimes, he’ll add the bill from a book he’s just completed to his next book and save a couple of hundred dollars so that he and his wife can splurge on a fancy dinner.<\/p>\n Related stories<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n Ray, who now manages a team of employees, credits much of his business’s success to principles he’s picked up from various business and leadership books. His top picks are “Drive<\/a>” by Daniel Pink, “Dare to Lead<\/a>” by Bren\u00e9 Brown, and “Beyond the Hammer<\/a>” by Brian Gottlieb.<\/p>\n He’s most looking forward to reading Phil Gilbert’s “Irresistible Change,” which will be released in late 2025.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/placeholder.png\")
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