I remember like it was yesterday...
I had just gotten back from the local bookstore and had in my possession a few new titles. I'm guessing this was around the year 2003 or so....So yeah, it's been a while since this story took place!
Not really sure what made me go to the bookstore that day, but here I was...A fledgling entrepreneur with huge dreams and big time goals. I might have been convinced by my mother or father to take a trip to the bookstore that day, but you see....This was a rare thing for me in 2003.
I had not yet fallen in love with reading and building my personal library.
So I checked the books I had in my possession...
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries
and The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer
I cannot begin to describe you how these two books changed my life.
And don't get me wrong...They were both jammed packed with some of the best sales and marketing advice I've ever read in my life.
But it was what happened because I read these books that really changed me. You see, after reading these two books, I became a fiend for information. I fell in love with reading after I devoured these books.
And thus began my never ending journey in self-education.
I bring this up today because my co-worker asked me how did I fall in love with reading....And I mentioned that it was because I didn't have the money to go to school back in the early 2000's but I wanted to become a marketer.
So I did the next best thing, or some may argue the BEST thing...I let the experts become my professors and teachers.
You see, for around 20-30 bucks, I can have John C. Maxwell teach me about leadership. For the price of a pizza dinner, I can let Jeffrey Gitomer instruct me on the best sales practices. If I want to learn about marketing and branding, Al Ries costs me 25 bucks or so for a copy of his best sellers.
This is the biggest piece of advice I can give any entrepreneur....You have no excuse to not become an expert in your niche. Find a thought leader, and devour their books!
If you don't want to spend the money (which is peanuts when you think about the value you are receiving) you can find their TED talks, their blog posts and their speeches all over social media for no cost.
There truly is no excuse!
And when you fall in love with reading, your world completely changes. You don't want to spend time endlessly scrolling social media, you want to learn. You don't want Netflix playing in the background, you want to dive into the brand new book you just got from Amazon.
This will change your entrepreneurial journey in so many ways.
Want to become an expert in any niche you choose...Spending the next year, learning everything you can by reading and soaking up all the information you can on a particular topic....It will separate you from the competition!
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Back in 2003, books weren't so easily available in digital formats; they needed to be purchased on physical media (paper, audio tape, video tape, CD/DVD, etc.). Now it's possible to find those books as PDF files-- if you know where to look, sometimes for free!
When your education is a continuing one (which it should be for all of us here), time off is more rewarding. When people ask what you did over the weekend and they tell you they attended a playoff game or a big-time concert, you can say you got to hang out with people like Oprah Winfrey and Tony Robbins and Grant Cardone and even Marcus Aurelius and Sun-Tzu!--
"??? ... !!!"
-- thanks to the wonders of the written (or transcribed) word. Both ways beat social media (even LeoThreads and InLeo), but the book path is more enriching and productive in the long run. As great as it is to watch your team hoist the Stanley Cup or Vince Lombardi Trophy, it pales in comparison to the wealth of knowledge you receive as you follow in the path of people who have been where you are and who are where you want to be in life.
These days people do not even need to buy too many books. So much content is on the internet virtually for free because of the advertising and sponsors of videos etc.
It all comes down now, to willpower. There are a lot of distractions online. Filled to the brim with entertainment, surrounded my consumer targeted advertising.
Same with discipline on Hive. I have dozens of people tell me that they do not have the time to write and engage on Hive... but they watch a lot of series than me... they play a lot more PC games than me... etc etc.
So I have to choose to either read this post and write this comment... or watch Youtube shorts and Netflix...
It definitely sounds like a good reason to read and learn in the past, but I think Youtube or the internet has probably replaced it to an extent. Then again, the information there might not be as good or structured though.
Some forms of knowledge need to exist in some physical form. Blackouts still occur, and natural disasters continue to take place. It's the same reason we need wealth available in both cryptocurrency and precious metals formats.
There is absolutely no stopping to learning . Investing in learning from thought leaders can indeed provide valuable insights and knowledge, which can significantly impact one's entrepreneurial journey.
Continuous learning and immersing oneself in the expertise of others can be a powerful way to stay ahead in any field.
It is crucial to absorb as much knowledge as possible from the intellectual leaders in your niche.
Thanks for reminding me.
!HUG
I sent 1.0 HUG on behalf of @edgerik.
(1/3)
Reading is a immutable part of my life too. 🙌🏻
I don’t read books but these days, I’ve got to realize how important books are to us. Thanks for sharing and I hope I check these books out
Interesting story mate. I haven't read any book for a while and I think I should back reading soon!
Gracias por la información, se ven muy interesantes estos libros..contenido de calidad.
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