You’re too young to start
a business, Son! There are no shortcuts!” my dad told me before
I started my parking lot
business outside my college campus.
“Come on! It can’t be
that difficult, Dad! I’ll figure it out!”
I failed!
“Son, hard work is not
good enough! You’ve got to work smart and stay disciplined!”
“You're telling me I’m
stupid, Dad? What’s wrong with you?”
A few months later, still during my College years, I tried my second business … I
purchased a Xerox machine to sell photocopies to students in an apartment
building.
I failed!
My dad patiently was watching me fail.
Humiliated, I finally started listening to him.
“It’s not just your hard
work, Son; It’s how smart you work!” he insisted.
What do you mean smart
work? I asked offended.
“Son, in life you either
learn from others’ mistakes or you learn from your own. It’s cheaper and faster
to learn from others’ mistakes! You need to develop the habit of
reading and listening to others!”
“Reading? That’s boring!
Listening? I can hear you, Dad! I’m NOT deaf!”
After several years I finally understood the lessons
my dad was trying to teach me.
“Never minimize the power
of a book, Son! Books give you the experience of a lifetime in just a few
hours. Imagine living 100 years in one year! What would that result in?”
“What do you mean, Dad?”
“If you develop the habit
of reading, you could read 100 books in a year! That’s 100 years of knowledge!”
For the first time, I listened to him and I never
forgot that!
Books are amazing! There may be thousands of books
in a library or a book store, but their abundance will NEVER be a commodity.
Never minimize the value of the wisdom each book contains!
1.
Wealthy people develop the habit
of reading.
2.
Wealthy people develop the habit
of listening to others, the reason they surround themselves with the
best advisers in the world.
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