Thinking back about thirty years ago I remember little about being herded into that small auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas. There must have been twenty five other salespeople. You could hear the excitement in the loud chatter as you entered the room. Avoiding eye contact with anyone repeating to myself this is such a waste of my time. I found a seat on the last row and got comfortable. We were gathered from around the city to have a motivational speaker get us excited about selling.

Let’s be clear of my perception. I was one of the top dogs in my dealership. I did not need to be motivated, I needed a customer so that I could sell them a vehicle.

In truth as the gentleman began to speak my mind had been made up, I was ready to go. After all, what could this guy tell me I did not already know? He did not understand MY customers, he had never worked in my dealership and he had never been where I am… I can only imagine the number of employees thinking the same thoughts as they are hustled into my training each week.

My retention was minimal at best. At some point in the two hour production the speaker said, “You are the books you read and the people you meet.” This wisdom imparted at that moment would come back to me years later. I was great at meeting people. But books, reading was not for me. I was doing fine.

Fast forward thirty years, I am fifty-five. Missing the opportunity to have learned from people whom had already experienced many of the hurdles I would struggle with. Bypassing information by not reading which could have inspired, challenged, taught, and helped me avoid many of the pitfalls of every day life.

I am thankful today for the ability to read.

When I look back over thirty years had I read each day for ten minutes each of those days it would have been 1,825 hours or 109,500 minutes. How many books and how much information did I ignore by being passive. What could all of this information have done to change my life?

Pick up a book and read, what is the worst thing that could happen?

Thanks for your time, and have a great day.