Education

I GUARANTEE THIS ONE THING WILL IMPROVE WHATEVER YOU DO

March 5, 2008 | By: deaneparkes

Perhaps the greatest piece of advice I have had was sitting in the audience as Brian Tracey, sales training and leadership expert, told about ‘The Golden Hour’. [Thank you Brian].  He said if you want to be in the top 1%-10% in world expertise in ‘any’ subject start each day with an hour of reading on the topic. As I am fortunate to work in the health food ‘longevity’ industry I only read 30 minutes each morning as I am in not as big a rush. Heck ANYONE CAN WAKE UP 30 MINUTES EARLIER if I can.

What is it you want to best at in your business?

Customer Service – go buy 6 books on customer service. Read 30-60 minutes each morning and in a couple of months you will have read the books and I GUARANTEE you will be giving better customer service than ever before. Also, as I believe what we focus on becomes our reality, your customers and staff will notice the huge improvement.

Then get books on MARKETING, SELLING SKILLS, FINANCE, MERCHANDISING, STORE LAYOUT, NEGOTIATION, INVENTORY MANAGEMENT and whatever else you will need to be the best darn business person you were cut out to be. This is not about being better than anyone but doing whatever you can to BE YOUR BEST!

This does not need to be limited to business. You want to be the best cook read cookbooks, knitter – read knitting books, lover…well you get the idea.

If there is ONE THING I could do to help someone, especially young people, is to convince them about the power of reading. What you read and focus on you will start attracting to you.

Did you know after high school the majority of people NEVER READ a non-fiction book? They get out of school and decide they have finished learning. No wonder we only use so little of our brains..Ha. I ‘was’ one of those people too. Reading really helped turn my life around and set it in a positive direction.

There is ONE DRAWBACK. No one is going to do it for you. So you say ‘well I am not much of a reader’. Ok, so you can listen to audio books and or watch DVD’s. NO EXCUSES.

We are so blessed these days with the great knowledge being shared by many experts in their field. Many of us have our struggles at times and it is nice to read that most successful people in any field had their struggles too. Heck they lived on the same planet as us and last I saw it was not always a cakewalk

TAKE THE 30-DAY TRIAL. What is it you REALLY FEEL YOU WANT TO BE AN EXPERT? What is it you LOVE or have a STRONG INTEREST? Go out and buy 2 books you8r interest and in the next 30 days read the books 30 minutes each morning. I GUARANTEE you will be hooked. It is like EXERCISE FOR THE MIND and once you get your BRAIN IN SHAPE you will want to stay MENTALLY FIT.

Currently I am reading – Social Intelligence, The Disappearing Universe and Human Sigma. Every time I go to buy a new book it is a very special event.

Hope to see you at a bookstore some day!