Chapter 8
Read Every Day
In order to stay on top of your job, you should read in your field at least one hour per day, underlining and taking good notes. Anything less than one hour per day will put you in danger of being passed by your competitors.
At the very least, you should get up every morning and read 30 to 60 minutes in something educational. Take careful notes. Review your notes on a regular basis. Reflect on what you have learned, and think about how you could apply the new ideas in your daily life.
Action Exercises
1. Begin today to create your own personal library of books in your field. Read 30 to 60 minutes each day, underline, and take careful notes.
2. Examine your recent unexpected successes and failures in your business. Could they be indicative of a trend that you can take advantage of?
3. Approach each problem in your life systematically. Imagine that the solution is exactly the opposite of what you are currently doing.
4. Continually expose your mind to new ideas and viewpoints. Ask lots of questions. Consider the possibility that you could be wrong.
5. Listen to educational audio programs in your car. Turn your car into a mobile classroom, a “university on wheels.”
6. Select an area where expertise can help you to move ahead in your career. Develop a plan to study and learn everything you possibly can in that area. Be the best at what you do.
7. Associate only with positive, optimistic, creative, happy people who are going somewhere with their lives. Get around winners if you want to be one.