I was never a big reader. In fact I hated reading all the way through school and throughout college. I was told by my first grade teacher that I'd never learn to read because I was so slow at learning the words. Ironically, my best subject at test time was in english language skills/sentence structure. I felt cursed.
And then I found a reason to read. It would seem obvious that we read to gain wisdom and grow our minds, but I always perceived that wisdom and growth to be exclusive to scholastic achievement. (As most teens do, I suppose.) Unfortunately, it wasn't until I discovered a vehicle like Pre-Paid Legal that I began to realize the potential of personal development through reading "good books". I realized that to achieve more - in all areas of life, not just material wealth - one must become more. I regrettably admit that it's taken me 23 years to understand such an important principle, but I now treasure that knowledge as one of this life's most precious assets: A path of Personal Development.
In the home-based-business industry, we commit ourselves and our team members to read at least 10 pages of "personal development" material a day. Scriptures; training materials; biographies of such people like Henry Ford, Donald Trump, Napoleon Hill, etc.; Most people do not come with the mindset of a successful business owner/leader/builder, it is something that must be developed over time. (In most cases more time than most people have patience for.) The most painful thing for me to see is someone giving up on themselves simply because their feet haven't grown into their shoes quite yet. So refusing to grow off the shoes go, assuming they'll never fit, and somehow believing that to tread a lifetime through the weeds and thorns in bare feet the rest of their life (trying to get used to it) outweighs the temporary hastles of keeping loose shoes on their feet.
I hope that within our close group, each of us will constantly seek to learn and grow. It is the only way we will be able to accomplish our various goals in this life - whatever they may be. Well my friends, here's to keeping our heads on our shoulders, and our shoes on our feet. Good luck this week with your lives, finals/projects, the war, and other endeavors!
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Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon Dynamite...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the commentary, and for wishing me good luck with the war, that was for me wasn't it?
I apologize I am in a somewhat silly mood.
I like it! (Thanks for being silly, I do it all the time. It's good for you.)
ReplyDeleteSomething I really hope to do with my kids is to not teach them so much about what and more about why, in the hopes that they will be then motivated to go and find the what themselves. I have found that I retain information much better when I see that it is relevant to me.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, many of the books we are expected or required to read (like in high school) seem like eating sawdust because we don't understand the value they have for us. Once we find interest in a topic, though, it's hard to get enough information about it.