Reading and Success

 

Vocabulary

further	achieve	implement
commit	translate	complacent
seek	ongoing	status quo
annual	field (2)	authority
area (2)	subscribe	executive
invest	summary	continuous
equal	capable	quality (2)
income	average	make a difference
earn	advance	recommend

 

One Hour a Day

Did you know that just one hour of study per day will place you at the top of your industry within three years?

Think about it.

Right now, you are where you are because of what you know and can do. In order to advance any further, you must learn and practice something new and different.

Commit to Lifelong Learning

A quality of leaders and high achievers in every field is a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development. They see themselves as self-made people, as “works in progress.” They never become complacent or satisfied with the status quo.

They continually seek out greater knowledge and understanding.

Get to the Top in Five Years

Here’s a secret: just one hour per day of study in your profession is all it takes.

One hour per day of study will make you an expert in your field within three years. After five years you’ll become a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the top people in the world at what you do.

Read Everything You Can

Read all you can about your industry. Subscribe to the executive book clubs and book summaries. Build your own library of important books in your area.

Never be cheap about your education.

In fact, if you invest only 3% of your annual income back into your personal and professional development, you will never have to worry about money again!

Go Through 50 Books Per Year

Reading one hour per day in your profession will translate into about one book per week. One book per week equals about 50 books per year. 50 books per year become 500 books over the next ten years.
Join the Top 1% of Money Earners

But will going through all those books really make a difference?

In a world where the average person reads only two or three books a year, this will make you one of the best educated, smartest, most capable people in your area, placing you into the top 1% of income earners.

Examples

Here are just a few examples of prolific readers.

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day. Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: “Books were my pass to personal freedom.”

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into practice.

First, ask the successful people around you for their best book recommendations. Whatever advice they give you, immediately go out and buy those books, take them home and begin reading for one hour every morning before you start work.

Second, when you read, underline and take notes when you find important ideas that you can use. Implement them immediately. Take action of some kind on good ideas.

You will be amazed at the change in your career.

 

Questions

1. If a person doesn’t learn, study or practice new things, he or she will remain where they are. True or false?

2. Are leaders and high achievers satisfied with the way things are? What is a quality or trait of high achievers?

3. Do you have to study with the same intensity and amount as a university or college student?

4. People should read books on anything: mysteries, crime, dramas, romance, adventure. Is this right or wrong?

5. What numbers were mentioned in the article? What do they represent?

6. Will reading one hour a day give a person an advantage over others?

7. What does the article recommend? Does the action exercise sound a bit obsolete or outdated?

 

A. Reading is very useful and important in my profession and industry. Yes or no?

B. Does everyone in your office, department or company read?

C. What sort of material is there in your field?

D. What information or skill do you need to rise to the top of your industry, field, area or profession?

E. Who reads the most in your company or among your friends?

F. Have things changed over the years, in terms of reading material and information?

G. What will happen in the future?