Reading is essential to long term success.

Whether you read many books or a few key books over and over again is irrelevant. It is the habit of reading that makes an impact to your life over the long term. Developing the reading habit takes time. Without it, you can potentially leave yourself vulnerable to potential competitors for jobs, in business, etc. that do read.

Where it all begins...

We all learn to start reading at a young age. When we are in school, we begin learning to read books that have tell interesting stories, show us incredible pictures and that allow us to use our creativity and imagination. It is during this time that we begin to learn how to read and write so; it is during this time that words are simple.

Something happens after this period however. As we get older our school books begin to change from interesting stories that require imagination and creativity to stories based on facts and figures. What we once enjoyed reading starts to be replaced with textbooks that become a chore for many people to read...

Why does our interest in reading change? For many it is simply that the school system gives us a set of specific materials to read as opposed to allowing us to pick books we want to read. This prevents us from exploring avenues of life we are interested in and as a result we can often miss learning critical lessons in life that have been passed down through books and stories. On top of that, we become disinterested in reading and begin to find ourselves preferring visual alternatives (TV, games, etc.) that get us excited and thinking possibilities for our lives.


How can we undo the damage?

I just after starting high school having a friend who was a year older than me contact me. He had been seeing a counselor for being violent in school. The counselor had recommended he read the book Hatchet. He called me because he was so excited and had powered through this book in less than two days and wanted to tell me about it. He managed to convince me to go and find a copy.

For those of you who haven't read hatchet, it is a book about a boy who gets stranded in the forests after a small plane he was on crash lands due to his pilot having a heart attack. The book tells of the trials and tribulations he faced while only having a hatchet to use in the circumstances.

I'm not quite sure what my friend found so enjoyable about the book (he hadn't read a book for years) but, he really got something out of it. Perhaps it was because he saw himself facing parts of his life on his own. Whatever the case, it allowed him to read something other than text books for school while giving him the opportunity to enjoy using his imagination and creativity. He was passionate about reading the book.

The secret ingredient is...

The key to becoming a voracious reader is to find books or stories you may be potentially interested in and to read them. You may not finish them all (I'm yet to meet someone who reads who has finished every single book they ever started) but, you will finish several of them.

When I was thirteen I picked up 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' from my parents bookshelf because the book had the word 'rich' in the title and I wanted to learn how to be rich. Reading that book has opened my eyes up into a variety of other books including personal development, personal finance, business, property investing, shares, philosophy, exercise, blogging and much, much more. If I hadn't touched that first book, I wouldn't have picked up extra books based on things I was interested in learning.

What about the TV, Radio and Internet?

There are other mediums we can use other than reading books. These mediums appeal to us in different ways.   We have to ask ourselves whether the time invested in these other alternatives really reaps the dividends we need to reach our potential in life. For example: watching a documentary on blogging might not be a waste of time for me but, it would be for most people not interested in it.

The other issue is that a lot of these mediums avoid imagination. It is easier to log into Facebook because everyone is on it, watch a planned TV program that shows us what our imagination would in a book or listen to current affairs on the radio simply because they are current problems. Books on the other hand allow us to learn the skills to build our own websites, create interesting stories that could be written or turn into movies and also can help us find solutions for our problems.

So how do I cultivate the reading habit?

To be able to get into reading we need to take a few actions:

1: Determine what we are interested in: There is a saying that says 'where attention goes, energy flows'. Find subjects you are interested in and look for books related to them. For fiction, find books based on types of stories you may be interested in (crime, thriller, romance, sci-fiction, etc).

2: Don't expect to finish every book you read: No avid reader will say they have finished every book they have started. It would be a lie for them to say they have.

3: Buy books regularly: Buying books regularly will keep you learning about subjects. As your interests expand, so will your books. You will also find that a lot of books will recommend similar books you may enjoy. If you can't afford to buy them, then borrow books from your local library regularly

4: Make time to read: Most people get caught up spending time on other alternatives such as T.V. or the Internet. Spend less time on these things and be read instead. You will get no ads, less distractions and better quality results for time spent... Speaking of time spent...

5: Consider reading an investment: Reading is not spending time and money, it's investing it. The dividends that reading has paid both in my life and the life of many others has been worth more than the money spent. Don't be afraid to invest in your own personal library.

6: Read one book at a time: This is the key that I forget from time to time. The only way to finish multiple books is to read one at a time. It also allows for focus.

7: Make the most of your books: If you bought your books don't be afraid to highlight, pencil, fold down corners or anything else you need to do to help you use it for reference later on. It is once you start this that books truly begin to become potential road maps for various aspects of your life.

For those of you who know me you know I regularly experiment with various sites and what not.

One thing that most people do is spend forever worrying about how their website looks. Personally I tend to prefer to focus on the content.

For those of you who have never had a website and want to get your own place, I would suggest doing the following.

1: Email the first content you want to put on your site to post@posterous.com

2: Setup your profile on posterous and link your new website name to your posterous site.

3: Go to the manage tab and buy a domain name for your site.

4: Fill in the details, etc. and finalise.

5: Presto! You now have your own site!

This will give you a simple little place online to call home.

Leo Babauta is one of my online inspirations.

Leo managed to grow his first blog dramatically within the first twelve months. He has also created a best selling book, two other blogs that are both growing at a rapid pace, is drafting a second book, has an ebook publishing company online and has a huge list of achievements under his belt.

There are two things that I like about Leo the most:

1. Uncopyright: Leo has given permission to copy almost all of the material for all of his sites as you see fit. This is a bold move.
2. His launch method: His second book which is titled 'The Focus Manifesto' is being released in draft phases for free. As he releases it, he obtains feedback and makes adjustments as required.

It is best to take a beta model to market and to get feedback on that. Rather than finishing the product then finding out it needs to be dramatically changed, buyers can have an input into the direction they feel the product needs to go. I have been doing this recently with a friend on a project at university. Once we have completed certain steps, we take what we have done to a lecturer/class tutor of the subject to get feedback. This has helped us to stay on track and ensure we don't get lost on wrong tangents.

No one is perfect straight away. Getting people's input on how to refine yourself, your product/service and your results is a great way to achieve in life.

1: If you don't have a few dollars for your friends, don't bother having any.

2: If you have already made plans with someone, honour that commitment first. Even if means you miss out on a better offer. Otherwise, you are showing that friend that they are second preference and also showing that you don't follow through with your commitments.

I have found both of these really useful. For example: I loaned a friend of mine a suit last year and haven't seen it since. When lending it to him I asked myself in the back of my mind 'Would I be prepared not to see this suit again?'. The answer was yes. No material thing should ever get in the way of a friendship.

The second I have found useful but still need to focus on improving. I regularly make plans last minute, often forgetting previously made plans from months ahead in the process. To help overcome this I have stopped making plans too far in advance. If someone invited me to an event in May for example, I probably won't respond until closer to the time. This prevents me from bailing on them closer to the time.

I find a lot of people overlook this simple but profoundly powerful bits of advice for building and maintaining friendships. Are you willing to invest a few dollars into your friendships, as well as honouring commitments already made with a friend even if a better offer comes along?

(Photo courtesy of mikebaird)

Below is a list of some of the progress a few people have told me they have made in the last day or so:

- Josh was giving up drugs and since reading this blog has completely given up drugs. He is also getting off cigarettes and alcohol. He has restored his relationships with his family. He has also managed to take on kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) after finding out what he was passionate about. Doing this has seem him bulk up six kilos in the last 4 weeks due to intense training regimes, which are about to be increased and will push his success even further forward.

- Ashley from Soulkreed managed to become the finalist at the most recent Pitch Club event. This success has seem him make a number of contacts that look poised to further develop his business. Soulkreed advertising is about to hit both Blitz and MMA magazines this month.

- Anita 'refreshed' her facebook friends and declutters her computer, aiming to focus on quality rather than quantity.

- Evan has realised the importance of self education, and why it is especially important for entrepreneurs.

- Readers of Anthill Online are receiving lessons from The Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill courtesy of Moore Thought. Five out of fifteen articles in this series have been published so far.

Congratulations to you all for your fantastic results!

(photo courtesy of B&M Photography)

It is a powerful experience because it dramatically empowers those who have supported you to continue supporting others by doing what they do best. It is humbling because we have to be willing to show a side of ourselves we may not normally show to people.

We can't have it all together all the time. We each go through difficulties and have phases where we are challenged emotionally, physically, spiritually or, intellectually. It is during these times that we need the support of others. Some of these people support us without even knowing they have done so, others know they have an influence but they never know the impact.

The other night I was at a Church service. A person who is a well known member of the Church community has been offered a paid youth pastoral position at another Church. They decided to get him up on stage to give people and opportunity to thank him for the influence he had had in their lives through both his volunteering and his willingness to help people over the years.

The response was overwhelming! A lot of people got up (they had to end it because they needed to keep progressing with the service) and many people thanked this guy for helping them to become who they were and for helping them through tough points in their lives. A number of these people said they would not have been able to overcome certain issues and obstacles if it had not been for this person's influence.

It is not very often we get a chance to thank people the way these people at the Church service had a chance to thank their friend and mentor. People do like to know that their efforts are appreciated. The person on stage was brought to tears by some of the kind words that were said about his influence.

Today is the day to call or speak to someone you know who had helped you become who you are in your life and thank them for their input. Letting them know their help has been appreciated can help give them the energy to continue helping others in their life.

(Photo courtesy of bulliver)

Our bosses expect things from us, our family and friends want us to do things for them and we generally also have expectations for ourselves. The problem is that when we have expectations we can end up being fearful or feeling down and depressed if it looks like those expectations will not come to fruition.

Let's take the following example. Many people dream of being able to retire at 65. The problem is that with increasing living costs, rapidly expanding consumerism and a decreased management and investment of money the chances of retiring at 65 is becoming less of a possibility for most people. These people usually start to worry about how they will fund their retirement and can become very fearful based on the notion that 'retirement' is the objective outcome.

The become fearful because they 'expect' to retire.

It is great to have goals and plans for what we would like to do and to be studious in approach towards their accomplishment but we should not have the expectations that these things will occur without contributing the hard work beforehand. Even then we could work hard and still not obtain our desires.

By learning to let go of expectations, we can better embrace the moment and begin to accept life as it comes. We may find that our expectations were unrealistic or, that they were holding us back from a life of true potential.

The problem is that the Joneses are not a true measure of success. Some of them will always be better than you are some will not be. This can lead to one always being either satisfied or dissatisfied depending on who he or she is keeping tabs with.

However there is a better way to avoid this and to keep track of your successes.

Compare yourself to your goals

The best way to keep tabs on your progress is to see how you are going in relation to your goals. If your goal is to have $10,000 saved by the end of the year then you can monitor your progress. Who cares if James Jones intends to save $100,000 while Pam Jones intends to save $1,000? Comparison is artificial and often will do you more harm than good.

If you have made progress towards your goals then you know that you are stepping in the right direction. The only person you have to compete with is yourself. How high you set your goals are only limited by your imagination and your ability to achieve your dreams.

When it comes to comparing your progress in life, pretend the Joneses are dead. Follow your dreams, take action daily and monitor your progress. Only then will you be able to determine if you are truly succeeding or not.

A long time ago I wrote a post about the top five business books I would recommend.

Over the last year or so however I have really started to find my passion in life. I now realise that helping people reach their potential is what I am called to do in my life. This has come through a lot of prayer, discussion with various friends and family members. I also determined this as a result of starting to read more books on personal development, philosophy and religion.

So, in light of this notion I thought I would offer my top five personal development books. These don't really cover business principles as such (although there is some of that in these) however, they do cover a lot of various aspects on life.

Here are the five books I recommend for reaching your potential:

1: The Bible

2: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

3: Dialogues and Letters by Seneca

4: Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss

5: The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent

We never know when life will end. I believe these books help you to realise the importance of making the most of today and teach you how to overcome your fears to do those things you would truly like to do but have been to afraid to take action on. Life is truly too short to live anything less than our potential.