Built From the Field by Chris Momongan
🗓️ Posted: @June 2, 2025
✍️ Category: → Mindset & Motivation
This isn’t just a list of good reads. These are the books that punched me in the gut, lit a fire under me, and reshaped how I think, build, and lead.
1. The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene
I picked this up in college when I was insecure in relationships and clashing with authority. I didn’t date much in high school, and suddenly I’m dating someone who made me feel like I wasn’t enough. This book didn’t give me confidence overnight—it gave me strategy.
It showed me how power really moves: subtly, intentionally, and often without words. It introduced me to game theory before I knew what that was. And it helped me stop reacting, and start playing chess instead of checkers.
2. Awaken the Giant Within – Tony Robbins
I read this shortly after watching Inception, so I was already on my “what even is reality?” kick. What hit me hardest was the pain/pleasure principle. I realized I kept going to a job I hated simply because the pain of quitting felt bigger than the pain of staying.
That flipped a switch. I started applying this principle everywhere: jobs, habits, relationships. Around that time I also read about Epicurus, and it connected ancient philosophy to modern mindset. If it drains me, I exit. If it builds me, I double down.
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
My sister gave me this, along with Atlas Shrugged (solid capitalist starter pack). I didn’t fully get it at first. “Buy assets not liabilities” sounded good, but I didn’t know what that actually looked like.
I remember wanting to buy a condo but thinking I needed 20% down and a paid-off car first. I just didn’t know what was possible. It wasn’t until I found BiggerPockets that this book really clicked. It cracked the door. The podcast and forums showed me how to walk through it.
4. Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey
I thought this would be just good vibes and cowboy wisdom. Instead, it hit me with a whole new way of seeing setbacks. McConaughey made me realize the people we look up to also face red lights. They just keep moving through them.
This book sparked my journaling habit. It made storytelling feel powerful and necessary. And honestly, you can probably blame McConaughey for my content creation resurgence.
5. The Charisma Myth – Olivia Fox Cabane
I picked this up while working in a call center supporting active traders. I was on the phone all day talking to people handing over big accounts to be managed. It was my first foray into pseudo-sales—and I hated the typical pushy techniques. I always felt like people could smell that from a mile away.
At the same time, I wanted to be better at conversations in general. I was super antisocial in high school and the classic introvert. I didn’t want charisma to feel fake—I wanted it to feel natural.
This book taught me it wasn’t just nature. It could be nurtured. Presence, power, and warmth—those things can be learned. This one gave me social cheat codes I still use today.
6. How to Win at the Sport of Business – Mark Cuban
I read this one recently, right when I needed it. I was displaced after a hurricane, still recovering from the year before when we had to gut and rebuild our house after an insurance claim. It felt like back-to-back hardship.
This book gave me the entrepreneurial fuel I needed to keep pushing. Cuban's story about working in a computer shop—without being all that technical—and still building a major tech company reminded me that passion and people skills can be just as powerful as credentials.
It helped me reframe my own journey. Even when the universe feels like it’s telling me I don’t belong in this real estate game, I keep showing up. Keep building. Keep proving it wrong.
It reminded me that you don’t need a fancy title to win—you just need obsession, urgency, and willingness to outlearn everyone.
7. Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
I read this right after college, deep in a quarter-life crisis. I was working in finance and wondering, “Is this it?”—just clocking in, building wealth for someone else, and pretending that’s what fulfillment looks like?
I started watching and rewatching movies like Fight Club and The Matrix—anything that questioned the default path. Then I saw this book. Didn’t know much about it. Just liked the title.
And it wrecked me in the best way.
Viktor Frankl survived the Holocaust and still came out with purpose. He didn't pretend the suffering was okay—he found meaning inside of it.
That perspective changed me. I realized maybe my own discomfort wasn’t random.
Maybe it's pointing to something. Maybe it becomes meaningful if I take something from it... and act.
Now I read this one every year to stay grounded and remember that struggle can be sacred—if you’re willing to grow through it.
8. Total Recall – Arnold Schwarzenegger
What first hooked me on Arnold were the movies—Commando, Total Recall, the over-the-top action, and that unmistakable accent jammed into the most random roles. It always gave me a chuckle. But that’s what made it so wild: how did he break through?
There are plenty of guys with muscles. Trust me—I worked in the fitness industry.
But Arnold wasn’t just a bodybuilder. He was a builder, period. He built a new identity, a new life, and a legacy—one bold, intentional move at a time.
His story about escaping a small Austrian town and navigating a strained relationship with his father really pulled me in. I related to that. That feeling of needing to get out—to go build something that didn’t exist where you came from.
And then he gets to the U.S., starts laying bricks in Venice Beach, invests in real estate, becomes a millionaire before becoming an actor... like, what? He already won the game before he even hit the big screen.
This book reminded me that reinvention is a choice. That stacking skills, staying obsessed, and being relentless can break through any barrier—including accents and typecasting.
Arnold didn’t just become a star. He engineered it. And that blueprint stuck with me.
9. Open – Andre Agassi
This might be the most brutally honest memoir I’ve ever read. Agassi hated tennis—but kept playing, kept winning, and kept performing for a world that never asked if he actually wanted any of it.
What hit me hardest was his relationship with his dad. The pressure. The lack of choice. The way love got tangled up with expectation and control. It made me reflect on how much of my own ambition started from trying to prove something—to family, to bosses, even to myself.
I read this during a time when I was battling burnout and navigating toxic relationships. Agassi gave me language for all of it. For the guilt of wanting to walk away. For the exhaustion of performing. For the weight of chasing something that started from someone else’s vision, not your own.
This book reminded me that leaving something doesn’t mean you failed. It means you finally listened to your own voice.
Sometimes the thing you're best at isn’t the thing you love. But it can still teach you who you really are—and what you’re willing to reclaim.
10. Set for Life – Scott Trench
This was my entry point into FIRE. It broke down financial freedom in a way that felt achievable. House hacking, frugality, high savings rate—all laid out clearly.
I found this after being furloughed in 2020 and trying to figure out how to make work optional. This book showed me the roadmap.
Final Thought:
These books didn’t just inspire me—they helped build the systems, mindset, and identity I have today. Books are leverage. Stack enough of them, and you’ll build something solid.
đź”— Follow the Journey
More stories like this—honest and in real time—are coming soon.
→ @builtfromthefield (brand)
→ @chrismomongan (personal)
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