Although not strictly a financial book, I see Who Moved my Cheese? as the number one most important thing to master in times of financial change, which we will all experience in some form or another.
The book is very short. The audio is only an hour and forty minutes long, so I imagine reading it is even quicker.

Who Moved my Cheese? tells the parable of two mouse sized men in a maze. After years of working through the maze, they have learned that cheese is deposited daily within a certain section of the maze. They moved near the cheese. They based their social life on the cheese. They measured their success in life by their cheese findings. Life was centered on that cheese and it was good. Then one day, it was gone.
The two men reacted very differently.

One man continued visiting the now cheeseless site daily only to find it repeatedly empty. He would sit and complain that life had cheated him. Every day he would ask “who moved my cheese?” Every day, he was miserable.

The other man tried for a few days, but quickly deduced that the cheese they had taken for granted all of those years had moved on so he did too. He wandered the maze for days discovering things he never knew existed. He found little bits of cheese here and there, but had to keep moving on.

Eventually, after a long hunt, he found the new cheese depository. From then on, he made sure the cheese would not catch him off guard. He continued to explore and was always ready in case the cheese moved again.

Where I found it:
My husband checked out the audio version from his work’s library.

What I learned:
Success takes both hard work and some luck. Maybe God put you in the path of a wise mentor. Maybe you got great deal. Maybe you were given a chance that people don’t normally get. Whatever it is, it is never really your efforts alone. Sometimes luck moves the other way. You might get unexpectedly laid off. You might have a medical disaster. So many possibilities are out there that it would be foolish to think any occupational or financial success will last the remainder of your life. When that happens, don’t get caught up on the injustice. Instead thank God for the gift you had, then embrace the new adventure. Choose to by happy, not miserable, and keep trying.

Recommendations:
Well, I pretty much gave you the entire book, so if you are satisfied, maybe you don’t need to read it. Although, it is more powerfully told in the book. If you can afford an hour or so worth of your time to make the lessons stick, check it out. I recommend this book to anyone old enough to have cheese or seek after cheese. Mid to late teens and older? I especially recommend it to anyone who is currently in troubled times between occupations or job positions.

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