Daily Inspiration 3-27-14

"Never begrudge the money 

you spend on your own education." 

-- Jim Rohn 

My Life Lessons 

This is a series of revelations about my life that I am sharing with others for what it may be worth. These come from a lifetime of study and experience of others and myself, and I now translate them to words. These will be numbered; however, they are not in order of importance as all are equally important. It is just a way for me to keep track of them in this series. I hope you find value in them.

Life Lesson #18 

I am a life-long learner. I highly recommend it. 

I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on books over the years in my life. I didn't even start reading books until after I was out of school and in my early twenties. While in school, except when I was in grade school, I used summaries and such to get through. Reading books cover to cover didn't exist in my mind. My education began in all seriousness after I got out of school.

Even today after having given away most of my books, I have many hundreds left of my favorites, and a large collection of them are business related and biographies. I also have two Kindles and about 150 on there. I have loved books since I was a kid, and made a decision at about 22 years old to amass a nice library. On average in the last 20 years, I've probably read about a book a week, although I do have a tendency to go in spurts, so I might do 5 in a week and then none the next. I go with the flow.

Several things are quite clear to me at my age now. One is that I am so glad that I began reading books. I've enjoyed a knowledge I would not have known otherwise. Two, I've read a diverse mix of books. This has helped give me some perspective. I've often read books for and against a subject just to see the argument. I also have a tendency to immerse myself in a subject and read until I've had my fill. I remember getting into reading about the Civil War era, and reading many different things and biographies in that realm until I felt pretty full of it.

One subject I've never filled up on is commonly called personal development, but that is too narrow really. It encompasses psychology, self-help, spirituality, business and more. Probably the majority of what I've read is in this wide range of subjects.

I remember so well growing up hearing and reading about Abraham Lincoln reading in the dark or by candlelight if he had it. How books were hard to come by and how much they helped those who reached out for them. I have become the same way and Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles has been dear friends in my pursuit. In fact, I discovered audiobooks back in 1988 and have bought and "read" many hundreds since then. My car is called my University on wheels.

In addition, I like to share books, so I've given many hundreds away over the last 15 years. Even now, my company buys a lot of books to give away to our team and to others in various ways. I'm committed to life-long learning and the benefits have been so worth it to me, that it seems silly not to share at least some of that passion. 


Learning To Read And Actively Practicing That Has Been My Greatest Gift To Myself. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Buy a book and read it!