The Teacher That Everyone Can Access
Millions are waiting to help you out.
I didn’t go to college. While my friends were at college, I was starting my business. My first nights were spent sleeping on my office floor. I had no clue what the future looked like. One thing I knew was that nobody was going to work harder than me. My work ethic gave me the confidence that I could succeed.
When I was starting my business, the “I don’t know how to do that,” or “I don’t know enough about that” excuses weren’t going to fly. The success of my business was solely up to me.
I didn’t know how to hire employees or what having employees all entailed. I didn’t know how to market a business or create a marketing plan. I had to teach myself and figure out what worked and didn’t work. If I wanted to find out how other entrepreneurs became successful and what they did, I knew there was only one road.
I was going to find my teachings through books. The information I learned through reading was put to use through trial and error. It’s the only way I knew and the only way I learned. Some things didn’t work for me, other things got me to where I am today and changed my life.
Here are some of subjects that I’ve learned from books over the years; How to build a business. How to talk to and influence people. How to build and lead a team to be great. How to invest. How to pick stocks. How to invest in real estate. How to write. I learned all these topics through reading and research.
Today I have 387 books that fill the shelves in my home office. Whenever I come across a book that looks like something I want to read, I buy it. If someone recommends a book to me, I buy it. Some books are worth completing, other are not. If you aren’t learning or a book isn’t holding your interest, move onto the next.
I can’t begin to count the number of books that I’ve given to people over the years. How many of them get read? I have zero idea. Books need to viewed like you’ve just been handed the answers to an upcoming test by your teacher. People need to think of books as the answers to what they want to learn or where they want to improve.
Think you don’t have time to sit and read books? We make time for things that matter to us. I discussed this in my post, I Don’t Have Time. Find ways to listen to a book on audible while you’re commuting, walking or running. Turn off the music, invest in some AirPods and start learning.
When I was preparing to write this post, I saw a tweet from venture capitalist Andrew Wilkinson. It speaks to exactly what I’ve been trying to communicate to people for years.
I’m writing this post due to the books I read on writing. Nobody taught me how to write. I just knew it was something that I wanted to do. I researched and found the best books on writing. Since reading those books, I’ve started Spilled Coffee and completed the rough draft of my first book.
If you have a passion for or want to improve at something then find a way. Don’t make excuses. Just find a way and do it. You have millions of books or should I say teachers waiting to help you out.