Why Good Reading Habits are Important to Business Success
Most people aren’t raised by strong entrepreneurial parents. We didn’t learn from Donald Trump or Bill Gates how to run a company – how to sell, handle accounting, manage employees, or achieve work-life balance.
I imagine Ivanka Trump, who runs a division of Trump enterprises and her own successful fashion and lifestyle company, received business training that I will never get. I admit, I’m a little jealous. What a powerful way to learn, as a young child, teenager, and young adult, the ins and outs of the business world.
Since most of us won’t receive first hand business training during our developmental years from a millionaire or billionaire, how do we compete in that world? How do we learn those skills and use them to become millionaires or billionaires ourselves? The odds seem stacked against us. Is it possible?
Yes, it is possible. I’m not a millionaire yet, but I know it can be done because I’ve seen so many of my friends, acquaintances, and co-workers do it. First, being in network marketing helps. It’s the perfect industry to train up wanna-be entrepreneurs. You’re able to start small, with a low investment, with little skills, and get business training, a coach, and a whole industry helping you and rooting for you.
If you’ve been in this industry long enough, you know people who started with nothing, or less than nothing with a mountain of debt, and overcame those circumstances to become top earners in their companies. It can be done. If you talk to those people I guarantee you, good reading habits will be among the top 5 ways they learned the skills to excel.
Why are Good Reading Habits so Effective?
Imagine having the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, the lessons from Marcus Aurelius, and the experience of Steve Jobs, at your fingertips. You may not have grown up learning from an entrepreneur, but you have access to the same information. Successful people aren’t stingy. They freely share their stories, their plans, their wisdom, and the daily tactics that helped them succeed. All you have to do is pick up a book and read it. Soak up the wisdom. Let it affect you. Let it guide you on your journey. If you practice good reading habits, you’ll do this every day and the benefits will build up over time.
What Should You Read?
It honestly doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to start. You can find a good business book on Amazon with 4 star reviews in about 2 minutes that will teach you a new skill or mindset. Browse the business section until you find something that catches your attention. Your problem will soon become, “Which book should I read first?” or “How do I read all these amazing books?”
Start your good reading habits with the 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, anything by Gary Vaynerchuk, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, The Obstacle is The Way by Ryan Holiday, or the War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
Move on to books in the Network Marketing industry. I like Get Over Your Damn Self by Romi Neustadt or Magnetic Sponsoring by Mike Dillard.
How Much Do You Need to Read?
Again, it doesn’t really matter. Isn’t that great? Any amount of reading will improve your situation. I love reading so my goal is to read 2 business books a month. I also read fiction books before I go to bed. My goal is pretty low, only 2 non-fiction books a month. But I devour them. I savor them. I underline the best parts. I take notes in the margins. I draw pictures in them. I make lists in the back. It’s like a textbook to me.
I have a friend and fellow network marketer, Mark Hoverson, who takes a different approach. His reading habit is to take 5 books that interest him and set his phone timer for 5 minutes. He reads in one book until the timer goes off, then starts the timer over and moves on to the next book. The point is to take one good idea from each one and let it affect your day. This quick reading habit fires him up, gives him fresh ideas, motivation and energy for the morning.
Any strategy you use to start a good reading habit will work. The point is to get new knowledge into your head and become a better business person (or just a better person).
What if You Don’t Like Reading?
If you don’t like reading, * gasp! *, that’s ok. Most books are available on audiobook, like the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Listen while you’re getting ready in the morning, driving in the car, or before you go to bed. You can subscribe to a membership for a small fee. My library has a great selection of audio books, too.
Pick up a good book today and dive in. Whether it’s from your house, Amazon, or the library, start a good reading habit today. If this is challenging for you, start with 3 or 5 minutes. I promise you’ll find something you like and probably read much longer.
Please share your favorite book in the comments! I’m always looking for a good book to add to my library.
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