52 Books in 52-Weeks: More from my 30-Day Experiment
In The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale illustrates a sad reality, he explains:
“We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.
However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.
But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke — depending on others for life’s necessities.
Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?
He continues …
“We learn to read by the time we’re seven. We learn to make a living by the time we’re 30. Often by that time we’re not only making a living, we’re supporting a family. And yet by the time we’re 65, we haven’t learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform! Most of us are acting like the wrong percentage group — the 95 who don’t succeed.”
Now there are several habits that the 95% who don’t succeed have in common. One habit, I believe, that contributes to their “depending on others for life’s necessities” is revealed in a study conducted by the American Booksellers Association.
In the study, the ABA discovered that 58% of American adults never read a book after graduating from high school; college graduates don’t fare much better. 42% of college graduates never read a book after graduating. This is an example of the Chinese Proverb, “Those who do not read are no better off than those who cannot.”
How does this tie in with my 30-day experiment? Well, there’s another famous saying, maybe you’ve heard it, “Not all readers are writers, but all writers are readers.” With that in mind, I’ve included reading as part of my goal statement for my 30-day experiment. It reads:
“I will continue to grow and improve my writing through self-directed study and working with my mastermind group.”
My “self-directed study” involves a lot of reading – and writing of course. What do I mean by “a lot of reading?” Several months ago I came across a blog post by Steve Pavlina, Read a Book a Week. As is obvious from the title, Steve advocates reading a book a week and he goes on to explain the many benefits of developing this habit – I recommend you read his post.
Not only do I intend to implement this habit in my 30-day experiment, and I recommend you give it serious consideration, I plan to do it for the next year; 52 books in 52-weeks. I can only begin to imagine the influence that that amount of reading will have on the achievement of my goals.
As the late Charles T. Jones often said, “We will be the same person in 5 years that we are today except for two things: the people we meet and the books we read.”
I’d be interested in learning what are you’re currently reading, just leave a comment. Also, is there a book that has positively influenced your life? Please share it in a comment. Until next time …
Never a day without a line.
Bill
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