A Book A Week

As we wrap up another holiday season, I'd like to share one of the best gifts I've ever received, and let me tell you, it's the gift that keeps on giving but first, some context.

I don't know about you, but I have developed a few bad habits on the other side of the pandemic.?

One of them is that I got out of my practice of reading.

Maybe it's because I was in the weeds about saving my business.?

Perhaps it's because I was mentally exhausted from reacting to all the change.?

Maybe it's because I was too busy figuring out what to do next.

Insert a million "maybes" and excuses, but the cold hard truth is this:?I lost focus, and fear loves when you lose focus!

As a writer, creator, and keynoter, reading books on life, leadership, and personal development is essential for my thought leadership.?I know this. I knew this.?But I kept putting it off.?Then, last month, one of my fellow keynoters and I were talking about our businesses, and she casually told me that she reads a book a week, sometimes two. So there?I was, making a million excuses for why I "couldn't" when she was straight-up slaying it!??

Warren Buffet was once asked, "What is the greatest investment someone could make?"?The interviewer was clearly looking for some free financial advice, yet Warren Buffet's response was epic and the most extraordinary mic drop of all time.??Buffet replied,?

"Ultimately,?one investment?supersedes all others: Invest in yourself.?Nobody can take away what you've got in yourself, and everybody has potential they haven't used yet."

Boom.?Take it from Buffet!?

Ok, so if a book a week or a book a month feels impossible, let me help you evict that excuse.?

I used to share this statistic in one of my early keynotes, and it always made a significant impact: If you read just 10 minutes a day, which for the average reader equates to about ten pages, you will have read, in one year, nineteen (19) two-hundred (200) page books?

Just imagine how much your life and business would change if you read 19 200-page books each year.?Just imagine what you could learn, what you could teach, and how you would grow.

So, I've decided to re-prioritize reading in my life and want to share what I'm doing because it's been a game changer:

• Monday - Friday, I read set a timer for 30 minutes and read from a business, leadership, or personal development book.?
• I have made it a part of my morning start-up routine and do this before any other work gets done.?
• I must earn my email or work for the day by reading first.?
• For me, 30 minutes of reading typically equates to 50 pages, so by Friday, I've read a 250-page book which is the average page count of most personal development books.?
• Boom! A book a week!

If you want to pour rocket fuel on the above, apply the same principle and do this with fiction to end your day.?

Personally, I can't read personal development or "work-related" books before bed because I won't sleep. But if I read fiction for 30 minutes before bed, I get out of my head and into a relaxed state.?And most fiction is about 250 pages as well, so in a week, I can finish a book by reading 50 pages or 30 minutes a night.

Boom, now I'm reading TWO books a week!

I've been doing this since October 1st and am?on fire! I am writing a new keynote, having more interesting conversations, creating some of my content yet, and this newsletter for you is undoubtedly better because of it. Heck, I am better because of it.?

So … maybe it's reading more books for you, like me.?OR ...?

Maybe it's fitness.

Maybe it's making sales calls.

Maybe it's writing.

Maybe it's organizing your finances.

Maybe it's getting outside.

Can you apply this same principle to something you are sleeping on in your life??

Can you take 30 minutes a day to micro-dose your way into momentum?

Daily ripples of action lead to a tsunami of success.?

When you micro-dose the hard stuff, things in your life will start to move forward. And my favorite, doors you didn't know existed, will begin to open for you.

ASSIGNMENT

The more action you take, the more results you will see.??

1. Pick one thing you want to try, do more of, or prioritize.?
2. Schedule time to do it for 30 minutes a day, 5x a week, at minimum, for the next 30 days. (I love leaving a 2-day buffer so that you don’t feel behind when life happens.)
3. Could you record your progress???I keep a table in my notes app tracking all the fiction and non-fiction books I’m reading, which has been fun to add to and watch grow.
4. Mark your calendar for the 30-day mark and take a victory lap. I love the idea of rewarding yourself for prioritizing yourself.?So book?a massage, get your nails done, buy a new round of books, and treat yourself to a new pair of tennies.?
5. Keep going!

Building any new habit isn’t easy, and it takes guts, but only the brave will survive these days.?