So many people seem to have a burning desire to discover the “key” to personal significance, success or growth. As a speaker and consultant, I am often asked to recommend books that might be helpful or impactful to my audience. The books I am referring to are not novels or anything one might read for pure enjoyment, but rather books about personal growth, leadership, mental toughness, etc. With that said, here is my advice for those who want to read something that will quickly make an impact on their lives and help them climb the ladder to the personal significance, success, or growth mentioned above.
Before I make my Great Book recommendation, I have a question… To date, what is the most impactful book you have read on this subject? You might say Stephen Covey’s all time best seller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Great. This is a wonderful, powerful book. It’s on my Big 5 list.
So here is my recommendation. Read the 7 Habits again. Great books must not be read…they need to be STUDIED. I have probably asked this question to over 100,000 people in my life. How many in the audience have read Covey’s 7 Habits. Usually somewhere north of 50% raise their hands. I then pull a $100 bill from my wallet, and offer it to anyone who can stand up and recite the 7 habits… in order. To date, I have had three people step up and recite them in order. Ira Hermann, Maclane Paddock, and Akiza Zweig. Stop for a second and think about this. Most people read a wonderful book, then are in a hurry to go find another, when they haven’t really grasped most of the content that has just passed by their eyes.
Great books need to be studied.
They need to be read over and over and over again. Then they become part of you…and you can then produce amazing results.
Great books should be highlighted…one should make notes in them. They should become a textbook for your life.
Now, just in case you are wondering…
The 7 Habits, in order are:
#1. Be Proactive
#2. Begin with the end in mind
#3. Put first things first
#4. Think win win
#5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
#6. Synergize
#7. Sharpen the Saw.
If you study this and some day come to one of my speeches, you may walk away with a hundred dollar bill. So there you have it… Don’t read great books, STUDY THEM.
Which great book would you like to go back and study?
