Why should you become a good reader?
This blog is from a set of notes taken from the CD lecture series titled, “The Art of Exceptional Living” By Jim Rohn.
There is an art to success, where you become the artist. Your life experiences and the knowledge you gain from others, determine how the final portrait of your life is displayed, for all to see, after you leave this planet.
Reading for personal development gives you more colors to paint your picture. When you work on your personal development you affect those around you. You become a better parent, a better spouse, a better worker and a better boss. Your future is still a work of art (the canvas of your life is still a work in progress) that can be started at any moment. You have a choice, so choose wisely.
One way to learn is from your own experiences. They can be either good or bad experiences. At the basic level, if you put your hand on a hot stove, you learn real quick, not to do that again. Some of the more complex issues of life, like personal relationships, bad career choices, poor life decisions take a little longer to learn.Why not take the time to read about someone else’s experiences, someone who already went through it.
Books have been written on so many subjects, of which an author may have spent a life time, working on an issue. To be able to read a book within a few weeks, could save YOU ten years of doing things the hard way. If you say, “I don’t have time to read”, then be willing to pay the price.
If someone wrote a book on how to earn a million dollars, or how to develop good social relationships, wouldn’t that be worth the effort? What should I read, is a good question? That depends on what you want to do with your life. Good ideas are all around you. But you must search for them. Books have been around for a long, long, time, now we have the internet.
Jim Rohn talked about how, and why, to study in those early years, when he was with his mentor Earl Shoaff. “Study” is the key word, for life change. If you wish to be successful in life, study success. If you wish to be happy, study happiness. He said happiness is not an accident it’s a study, then it becomes a practice.
If you want to be wealthy, then study wealth. If someone had told him about the study of wealth in school, he would have studied wealth 101 and 102. These studies are in the library under communication skills, financial investment, career planning, family relations, and leadership skills. With new technology, they are just a click away.
This is the small list of classics books I would recommend:
Law of Success – Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
The Richest Man in Babylon – George S. Clason
The Greatest Salesman in the World – Og Mandino
See You at the Top – Zig Ziglar
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
This is the small list of the CDs I would recommend:
“Challenge to Succeed” – Jim Rohn
“Take Charge of Your Life” – Jim Rohn
“The Weekend Seminar” – Jim Rohn
“The Art of Exceptional Living” – Jim Rohn
The measure of a man can be judged by his words. These were Jim’s parting words, for many of his programs: “ I wish you a life of health, wealth, and happiness, a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own personal abilities, to dream mightily and to achieve greatly. Do something exceptional.”
I consider myself a good student. Recommend you Click and read the other stories, then join in. Have you ordered anything from the Success Store yet?
H.G.M.
Internet comments
Lynn Brown
I love that Earl, when you start off by saying “Reading for personal development gives you more colors to paint your picture” … That is so true and our personal experience can be developed through learning from great mentors like Jim Rohn. Thanks for sharing.
Daphne Dobson
Powerful post Earl! I love Jim Rohn! He was a man of such wisdom. It’s been said that readers are leaders. Thanks for sharing!
X Ray Cat
Thanks Earl. First I absolutely love Jim Rohn and second; reading saved my life! At my lowest point I lost everything and saw no future and had no idea what to do, and how to go on – I turned to books. Within the first year, I got my life back on track. Second year I managed to quit the 9 – 5 slavery and become my own boss. READING was the key.
Sheena
Leaders are readers so I think being a good reader is necessary.
Stephanie Arwine
I agree with Lynn’s comment. You paint a beautiful word picture.
Earl Hackett
Thank you for the comments. For those too busy to read, they should listen to something positive (on their smart phone) to start their day. YouTube also has a library of positive motivational videos that will brighten up any one’s day.
Healthy Mind, Motivation2Study, Motivation, Team Fearless, Absolute Motivation, Red Frost Motivation, Be Phenomenal, Delon Motivation, TEDx Talks, Eric Thomas, Les Brown, Tony Robbins, and Evan Carmichael to name a few.
Hackett Global Marketing 