I’ve long held the belief that there’s no point trying to make your way in this world by trying entirely your own thing if someone has already been down the same road and succeeded.
Now I’m not saying you have to outright copy people but learning from others’ mistakes and successes just makes great sense.
Maybe you already read the odd book now and then when there’s nothing on TV but do you realise the wealth of knowledge that can be literally at your fingertips if you make the committment to setting some time aside for reading?
Can You Manage One Book A Week?
This might sound like a lot at first but start with a short book - or maybe even a report or some other document that you’ve been putting off reading. Before you know it you’ll be learning more than your competitors about marketing, the Internet, sales techniques, personal development or whatever it is you truly want to master.
But the great part is this - if you read one book a week for the next 10 years you will have read over 5000 books! Can you imagine what impact this level of knowledge and understanding will have for your business and for your life? It will be massive!
Be A Book Worm
Get into the habit of opening a book rather than turning the TV on - you will reap the rewards. And don’t forget to make notes as you go along. Capture what you learn from each book and act on it before starting the next one.
And remember - there are plenty of Internet marketing books out there that count towards your 5000 even though they’re electronic.
March 19th, 2005 at 11:25 am
Just outside on my balcony indulging in the filthy habit of smoking a cigarette (I won’t smell up my apartment with it), I was picturing the folder on my hard drive called ‘My eBooks’.
There are folders for the ones I want to “remember”, and the others are just thrown in there. There must be 5000 of them. A few executables and branders and such too.
Add to this the vast collection of actual books on my shelf that have bookmarks in them at about page 47, or 197, or 225. I LOVE my books, and I love to read; but they all exist there in my cluttered life as “unfinished projects”.
I just want to say, to add to your post there, that turning off the television is one excellent step toward a more enriching life; another would be to stop smoking cigarettes. And for some who may be in denial about their unhealthy, and unproductive habits such as pot and drinking, I say: “Why fog up your mind when there’s so much enrichment to be had from books?”
I’m finding the time to sift through all these books and eBooks because I’ve become impassioned lately to make my 50th year a memorable one, and one that releases the dreams I’ve bottled up.
Thanks for that reminder about reading.
Mitch
P.S. I intend to write about books I read and link to Amazon Associates in my blog.