What if someone spent a lifetime learning about what works and what doesn’t work in building a successful career, financial wealth, a profitable business, or positive and successful relationships and then wrote a book about what they learned…about what works, what doesn’t, what to do, and what to avoid?

The book only costs $20.00. Imagine being able to save years of trial-and-error, or thousands of dollars by learning what the author shared. Wouldn’t it make sense to rush to the bookstore and buy the book and devour the contents as quickly as possible?

Seems to make sense, doesn’t it? Challenge is…too few people read enough, or at all. The average North American reads few, to no books a year, and most of those that are read have no true redeeming value…just escapes that don’t really even stimulate the mind.

Yes, they may be entertaining…but think about how much other, wonderful information there is out there just waiting to be learned. Nearly 95,000 books are published every year in North America alone. How many of them did you read last year?

We’re fortunate there are bookstores filled with ideas on every conceivable topic. Libraries filled with volumes by authors bridging centuries. A recent survey reported that the average person reads less than one book a year. Many of these same people spend a great deal of time and energy complaining about the quality of their lives.

The answers to most of life’s issues and challenges can be found on a bookshelf somewhere. You do, however have to look for the book, buy it or check it out of the library, (this is the easy part)and then read it (the hard part). Committed readers report they learn more and find better entertainment value in one good book than a week of watching television. Wouldn’t we would be better off as a society if we spent more time reading and less time sitting in front of the tube.

Read for entertainment, to learn, to unlearn, to challenge your perceptions and opinions, to grow and to discover ideas and worlds you may never get to visit. Reading is one of the most profitable activities you can do to accelerate your career and or life. It’s an investment in your future.

Devote a certain amount of money each year to buying books, and a certain amount of time each week reading the books you’ve purchased. There’s an old saying, “readers are leaders.” Readers have more to say, can contribute more to conversations, and can help others along the path of life.

Do you read enough? Do you read at all? There likely aren’t any legitimate excuses for not reading, or reading more. Yes, it takes time, but imagine the time you could save with one solid idea gained from an author who was willing to share their insight and experience with you.