Feed Your Mind with Books

You know it’s crazy what insane thoughts get in your head when you start reading self-improvement books.  I didn’t know this at the time, but it quickly came apparent when I accidentally landed in sales for a living.

When I started working in the financial industry, I really thought I was going into a service industry to help people, not to sell people.  At the same time, I met my very first mentor, who changed my life. This mentor suggested I read books. Not just books on sales or how to manage other people’s finances, but self-improvement type books. One of the first books I fell in love with was Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, by George Leonard.

This book spoke to me, not because it was about selling, or financial planning specifically, but because it helped me to understand the concept of mastery in everything you do. If I was going to be a financial planner, I was not just going to be good at it, I was going to be the master of my trade – the best financial planner I could be.

This reminded me of the movie Drumline where the main character Devon, played by Nick Cannon, was the best drummer on the field.  He had a lot of attitude and nobody could tell him anything.  In the movie the music director discovers that Devon can’t read music.  The music director demotes him and Devon was quite upset about it.  Devon tells the music director, I am the best drummer you got!  The music director looks him dead in the eyes and tells him that if he doesn’t have the honor and discipline to master all the elements of his craft, he has no reason being there.

One of the first things I learned about being in business is to aim to be the best you can be. The first few years of my career I spent learning the ins and outs of the business.  I spent thousands of dollars on courses that taught me to be a better Financial Advisor.  I even got my CFP in 2008 to drill down on items that I needed to know when it comes to my specific field.  I would listen to Financial Planning talks in the car to constantly feed my mind about the things I should be doing in my business.

My mentor explained it like this – have you ever watched a movie for the 3^rd or 4^th time and caught something you didn’t realize before? It’s the same concept when you read a book or listen to an audio CD over and over.  Maybe the point you need to realize from listening to it, you weren’t ready to hear.  Maybe you weren’t ready to take it in yet.  But if you continue to feed your mind, even with the same content, at some point you will finally receive the information in a different light.

Feeding your mind tends to put things in perspective for you and open your mind. It allows you to see from different vantage points and gives you a whole new outlook on life. It also puts you in position to make more money and have more self-confidence, permitting you to stay within a budget.