A Day in the Life: Reading is FUNdamental. ;-)
We all know reading is important. We know that it is one of the key elements to learning, and I bet you've got a stack or four of books related to your particular niche, market and business lying around in your office even as we speak, right? Makes sense. If you want to excel in real estate, you will read books on real estate. If you want to excel in book publishing, you'll read books on that.
But here's an important tip that I take advantage of regularly:
Include books in your library that will help you expand your knowledge in other areas OTHER THAN those involved in your work. Don't just read books on real estate. Don't just read books on book publishing.
I like to read books on different markets. For example, I have in my library a book called, Making Dough: The 12 Secret Ingredients of Krispy Kreme's Sweet Success. This book is the whole story of how Krispy Kreme was started, and it's fascinating. There are many different lessons to learn from that book, even though I obviously don't sell doughnuts for a living.
Another good book is Minding The Store. It’s about Stanley Marcus and how Neiman Marcus began and grew. I mean, those are huge internationally recognized and esteemed department stores. I have books from different markets, and I suggest my students do the same.
So, if you just go into your local bookstore, or to Amazon and type in the phrase that relates to your industry, you will see how many different books come up. That demonstrates how much more you can actually learn about your own market.
If you find yourself saying, "Well, I want to make more money. I want to be able to expand myself. I want to be able to grow my business," then you need to go out there and see that there are literally thousands of books that pertain specifically to your industry.
But if you ask yourself, “Why is it I’m not growing? Why is it I’m not expanding? Why aren't I able to be as creative as I could be, or as other people are?” If you are asking yourself those questions, like the name of that book, Why Didn't I Think of That? , the reason why could be because you're not expanding your mind in one of the simplest and most ordinary and dynamic ways: reading. And not reading just in your own specific niche - reading everything you can get your hands on that might help you with your own business. Reading to comprehend, taking notes, reviewing notes, and then actually applying your new information to your own business – that’s what’s missing.