Read Your Way To Riches by Jim Donovan

Can you really increase your income by simply reading self-help books and listening to tapes or is it just a bunch of hype designed by the people who write and record those books and tapes? Do these principles really work or is it just a lot of feel good, touchy feely rubbish?

Well, my friend, I can honestly tell you yes, you can! It does work and, in a moment, I will explain how and why. I can hear some of you more skeptical readers saying, sure, prove it. I will, I promise.

Napoleon Hill in his classic book, Think and Grow Rich, James Allen in As A Man Thinketh and Florence Scovel Shinn in The Game of Life all written in the 1920s, taught us we could use the power of our minds to become more successful. Most of you, especially if youve been in businessõ for a while, have probably been to a seminar on personal development. Seminars are great. I love going to them and I really love giving them since it gives me a way to share ideas with a live audience and meet new people, something I really enjoy doing.

The problem is, as Im sure youve experienced, that a week or two after the seminar you are right back into your less than productive habits. You left the seminar all charged up and once the excitement wore off, you slipped back into your pre-seminar behavior. Reading books and listening to self-help tapes is also a great practice but, like seminars, if it is not done on a regular basis it is not nearly as powerful. The operative word here is regular.

On-going Personal Development

The key is On-going Personal Development (OPD). The Japanese have a word, Kaizen, which means making small daily improvements in every area of your life. It is a principle taught to them by the late W. Edwards Demming who was sent by General Douglas MacArthur to help them rebuild their country after World War II. Since we have no word for this in English, I have chosen OPD, On-going Personal Development as a reminder to follow this formula for success. It is not so much what you do sometimes that makes the difference, it is what you do daily. Similar to how this applies to health and fitness, it also applies to success.

If you want to succeed and grow, make a daily habit of reading and listening to self-help and inspirational books and tapes. As little as ten minutes a day can make a major difference. For one thing, you will begin your day (assuming you do this first thing in the morning) on a more positive note and secondly, you will, over time, have assimiliated a lot of powerful, positive and thought provoking material.

Proof Positive

Several years ago, my friend John came to visit me in my home office. It had been a while since I had seen him so, of course, I asked how he had been. Great! he replied, My income went up over 15% in the last six months. Considering that John is in automobile sales and we were in the middle of the worst recession in decades, I had to learn more. I asked John how he did it and was a bit taken aback when he replied, I went to a seminar.

He went on to explain that the seminar leader suggested reading a self-help book for fifteen to thirty minutes a day. John, who had read a book since school, bought the persons book and began reading every morning before going into the dealership where he worked. He would leave for work a half an hour early each day, sit outside in his car and read the book. That was the only change he made in his daily habits and his income went up by, in his case, $1,000 a month. By the way, that works out to $100 an hour for reading!

Why this works It took me a long time to fully understand what had taken place but it finally clicked one day. Imagine John, having just finished his daily ritual of reading an inspirational book, going into the showroom. He is in a positive, uplifted state and is probably cheerful and bouncy. The other salespeople are in the corner, kicking and grumping about the recession. Youve seen the scene, everyone stands around complaining about the situation instead of taking action to change it. You, the new car buyer, enter the showroom.

One one side is the group, kicking the coffee pot and looking grumpy. Across the room is John, bouncing around happy as can be. Now, let me ask you the critical question. Who do you want to buy your car from? Who are you most likely to gravitate toward? John, of course. Positive energy attracts people to it. As a direct result of investing a little time each day on personal development (OPD), John increased his income and felt better in the process. The bonus is that this activity is cumulative. The more you do it, the better you feel.

Success leaves clues

One hundred percent of the self made millionaires (excluding people in the entertainment field) are committed to reading and listening to self help books and tapes. The most successful direct sales companies have instituted a book/tape of the month program and encourage their people to participate. How many books have you read this month? How many tapes are in your car? Do you think it is a coincidence that companies like Amway, McDonald's, Kodak, Delta Airlines, IBM, Marriott, Ford and others have a formal program of books and tapes for their peoples success? All you need to do is look at the sales figures for these companies to see the results of these programs.