Do you have a personal development library?

Here is a thought I first read in my very early, early days of building our business. This simple idea had a great impact on me because I decided that the personal growth side of life was going to play a role in our future. I don't know why I kind of knew that, but I did. 

 

"You will be the same in five years as you are today,

   except for the people you meet and the books you read."

Charlie "Tremendous" Jones

 

Books especially have helped me to think and ponder ideas as well as teach me about how others became highly successful in their specific area of life. I developed the habit of reading a book with a highlighter. Always with a highlighter. Always.

Here was my routine:

• Read the book and highlight what kind of jumps out at me.
• Set the book down for a couple days
• Go back and read every highlight and star or double star what I want to keep and read again.
• Take a pad of paper and write out for my files everything I highlighted that also had a star or double star.

Those files have been very valuable for me because there were so many times when I have gone back to read what I saved and I would get re-inspired all over again. Even today for these daily messages, some mornings I sit here and pick out a couple of books I haven't read in a while and page through just looking for a word or an idea that was highlighted months or years ago. I look for what jumps out at me, and then I write a message.  

We used to recognize people in our team at our annual conference with a plaque of some kind or maybe a beautiful glass piece.  One year Faye and I decided not to give out any more plaques for recognition, but rather to give a book to each person that could be helpful to them for their life and business. I remember one time I was in the home of Bob and Bobbie Acton from Pennsylvania. Bob said he wanted to show me something so we walked to another room and there in a book case was books they had earned as recognition over a few years. I'll never forget what Bob said: "Gary, this is our library, and I want you to know that before Shaklee I had never read a book that could help me personally." Bob had 10 to 15 books in his library they earned and he was very proud of it. That memory just came to me as I wrote that simple paragraph above. Life is so good.

 

So, what have you read in the past couple years, or the last 90 days? What are you reading today? My suggestion is to read something every day that can possibly inspire you. I read one chapter out of the book of Proverbs almost every day...there are 31 chapters so I read the book of Proverbs 12 times a year.

 

Have a great week.....READ SOMETHING.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke