I'm no one for excuses...But this newborn baby gig I've been on the past month has been...cRaZy!
Before I knew it, it was midnight and my wife gave me a look...The 'I'm going to bed and it's time for you to watch the kid' look...
I'm no dummy, so she didn't need to say a thing.
Which meant...I got to focus on something that I fell in love with doing about 15 years ago...And that is reading!
(The latest book I've been diving into...The Visual MBA by Jason Barron..And my laptop gearing up to write this post!!)
I started building my online businesses back in the early 2000's. One of the guys I was following back then gave me a piece of advice that has stuck with me all these years...
He told me..."If you want to keep growing your business, you need to keep growing yourself. That means, pick up a book!"
Reading?
Books?
I was the high school drop out...There was no way I was going to get back into reading...
But he went on to explain to me, reading is self-education. And we can CHOOSE what we want to learn about...
Perfect! I was into marketing and sales, so I asked him for some recommendations...
He recommended two...Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Bible...And Al Ries' 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
I. Was. Hooked!
After that I started to build my personal library and have become quite the book worm in the process. Every week I at least read one book and in my spare time (which I get between diaper changes these days) I'm writing down notes in my journal from everything I'm learning.
What makes this so important to my journey? And why has this addiction kept going strong after all these years?
I hope to answer that today...
1. I Get To Learn From The Experts!
Think about this for a second...Let's say you wanted to learn marketing from Seth Godin. You call him up and he says sure...That'll cost you about $10,000 an hour for my time. If you want a recent example of this, Justin Sun paid like 4 or 5 million to have lunch with Warren Buffet.
Well for about 15 bucks, I can buy either a book by Seth Godin or Warren Buffet. And sure, face to face is always best, but I can still LEARN from the experts of their field for the price of a pizza.
It's arguably, one of the best investments you will ever make!
2. I Never Want To Stop Learning!
Check out this snapshot I took from Brian Tracy's Million Dollar Habits book that I finished reading last week;
That blows my mind...One book a week, for a year...Over 50 books that would give me a massive edge in business and anything I wanted to grow in...Once again, books are a no brainer of an investment!
3. Garbage In, Garbage Out!
I like to guard my mind, meaning I pay zero attention to the news. I could care less what a President said to the media. And I turn on the TV about once a month. Garbage in, garbage out...So I choose to fill my mind with positive things. Information that will help me grow!
Reading books let's me control what goes into my mind and when I do this, I seem to get some amazing ideas on how to help my business grow...
4. Creative Thinking
I have a process when I read...I use certain tools to 'remember' the information I just digested. So it starts with the Evernote app on my phone. I will take a picture of a quote or something I want to remember from the book. I then take that image, and either print it out or write it into my journal.
O.k...So what?
This helps me remember key points but more importantly, when I write it out or print it, I get very creative from what I just read. I start doodling in my journal, writing things down...And then BAM...An idea will appear.
This is one of the more important parts of my reading journey...Journaling and writing things down. The ideas just came at you from all directions when you do this!
So in a nutshell...
I'm addicted to reading because it helps me grow!
It allows me to experience so much and improve in all aspects of my life. I'm so glad I took my mentor's advice all those years ago and started to read more books...I guarantee you, your life will change for the better when you start the habit of reading everyday!
