I'm deeply grateful to Grant Cardone and for his book The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure.
I have a story about this book, what this book started, and why I never read it. In fact, if you want to honor Mr. Cardone and advance his vision, then maybe you shouldn't read it either. If you're like me then by not reading this fine book then maybe you'll start something worth starting.
This tentative suggestion is inspired by the same spirit that led to me to share these 3 rules that you must follow before you read any book I recommend. It may surprise you to learn that I wasn't always so cautious about books. In fact 5 years ago I would have had been upset with anyone who would have proposed similar rules.
I have a story about this book, what this book started, and why I never read it. In fact, if you want to honor Mr. Cardone and advance his vision, then maybe you shouldn't read it either. If you're like me then by not reading this fine book then maybe you'll start something worth starting.
This tentative suggestion is inspired by the same spirit that led to me to share these 3 rules that you must follow before you read any book I recommend. It may surprise you to learn that I wasn't always so cautious about books. In fact 5 years ago I would have had been upset with anyone who would have proposed similar rules.
About 6 to 7 years ago an old mentor of mine named Scott Gray put a Brian Tracy recording into my hand, the suggestion to check out Jim Collins' Good to Great and Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point into my mind, and the advice into my heart to read and learn everyday. I listen to my mentors (and so should you), and from that day onward the content of my life really changed.
This was the era when I started most of the learning disciplines I have today. These were the years when I discovered The Teaching Company and set a goal to listen or watch everyone of their courses, no matter the topic, provided that my library system had them. 6 years into this project, I'm about halfway through and completely bored with the 18th Century.
I started reading again, and I let each book lead me to the next. For example, Good to Great led me to Built to Last, which eventually led me to Tom Peters through In Search of Excellence. I leave you to experience the cool reads that the late Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits pointed me towards on your own. And, my shelves are still filled with unread quality tomes that I raided from my two local Borders Books when they went out of business.
I started reading Inc., Entrepreneur and Fast Company magazines cover-to-cover each month, streaming in Stanford Social Innovation Review podcasts, and continually listening to audio books in the car (my wife and kids don't let me have the radio anymore). I pursued learning intensive fellowships and experiences, and I won't get into the plethora of workshops I attended.
Clearly I had developed an accidental value of learning for learning's sake. As a guy who likes to give advice it pleases me that I now have an idea or a book I can share with anyone who is seeking counsel from me. And, if I haven't read an appropriate book or stumbled on an appropriate idea, then I at least have a quality suggestion for them about where to start looking. Call me right now at 608-698-6055 if you want to try it out.
But, of course, all of this learning for the sake of learning has come with a cost. First, when I'm at my worst I used to be merely a "Think-I-Know-It-All". Now when I'm at my worst I've elevated my game to full fledged "Know-It-All". I appreciate the Motivate (Beta) Fellow Carl Jefferson for pointing out this bad habit of mine to me a few years back. While I'll never be cured I can now honestly say that I'm a recovering "Smartypants". Thanks Carl.
Second, with the notable exception of "E-Mything" the Urban League of Greater Madison's workforce programming, I was terribly short on action, application and execution of this learning.
Please don't get me wrong. I still believe you should put yourself on a never-ending, intentional and intense learning regimen and I personally don't plan on breaking the habit. But today, I value action so much more.
So here's the story I promised. It was around 11:30pm on Black Friday 2011 in a Barnes and Noble. After selecting the holiday gifts I'd been sent to retrieve by beautiful wife (who was sleeping by then), but before checking out, I decided to browse my favorite sections to see what's new and to possibly buy myself an early gift. You guessed it; the book that stood out to me was Cardone's the 10X Rule.
I told myself that this book would help me start all of those things that were on my cool projects list. In fact this would be my "last book" before I took action, ignoring the fact that I was already reading the 5th book I had dubbed "the last". I told myself it would give me a key insight. My only barrier was that I would need to justify the purchase, so I decided to skim it quickly before I bought it. I'm glad I did.
I turned to a chapter that described an idea called "The Fourth Degree". Basically, this idea demands that you put in 10 times the effort and act 10 times as much as anyone around you. That is you and I just need to set aside excuses, take a deep breath and put ourselves out there by doing something we think is worthwhile. Before going on to the next book or idea, we need to at least try what the book, or blog, or podcast, or whatever, says we should do. When in doubt learn by doing, verses learn by reading (or thinking or whatever). Or, to channel Nike, we need to "Just Do It".
To be honest this wasn't the first time I ran into an idea like this and like hypocrite I'd even given this kind of advice (shame on me). But for some reason it hadn't hit home. I don't know if it was my exhaustion or the frustrations from a day like Black Friday, but this idea clicked. And, I promptly put the book back on the shelf, bought the gifts I had in hand and went home.
Before the end of December 2011, thanks to the book I never read, I started acting on that list of mine by launching two worthwhile projects: BlackPurpose Entrepreneural Bootcamp-Online and BoardTest. Make no mistake, if it wasn't for the book I never read, I wouldn't be sharing this blog, and the spin-off projects of Motivate (Beta) and the Museum of Purpose, with you.
Are these the greatest ideas ever? I can hope, but maybe not. In fact, even though I provided a link to BlackPurpose it is no longer an active project, BoardTest could be (and will be) a lot better, and Mighty Purpose is too young to tell what its future may hold. The fact that none of these projects are perfect is OK, they'll naturally get better or naturally die. Waiting for perfect will just lead me to reading another book while deluding myself that I'm living my life purposefully. Waiting for perfect means that the Army of the Dead is winning, and you and I can't let that happen.
Sometimes a person will tell me that they wish they could do what I did and real some of the cool ideas on their own bucket lists. When that happens, I tell them this story.
This was the era when I started most of the learning disciplines I have today. These were the years when I discovered The Teaching Company and set a goal to listen or watch everyone of their courses, no matter the topic, provided that my library system had them. 6 years into this project, I'm about halfway through and completely bored with the 18th Century.
I started reading again, and I let each book lead me to the next. For example, Good to Great led me to Built to Last, which eventually led me to Tom Peters through In Search of Excellence. I leave you to experience the cool reads that the late Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits pointed me towards on your own. And, my shelves are still filled with unread quality tomes that I raided from my two local Borders Books when they went out of business.
I started reading Inc., Entrepreneur and Fast Company magazines cover-to-cover each month, streaming in Stanford Social Innovation Review podcasts, and continually listening to audio books in the car (my wife and kids don't let me have the radio anymore). I pursued learning intensive fellowships and experiences, and I won't get into the plethora of workshops I attended.
Clearly I had developed an accidental value of learning for learning's sake. As a guy who likes to give advice it pleases me that I now have an idea or a book I can share with anyone who is seeking counsel from me. And, if I haven't read an appropriate book or stumbled on an appropriate idea, then I at least have a quality suggestion for them about where to start looking. Call me right now at 608-698-6055 if you want to try it out.
But, of course, all of this learning for the sake of learning has come with a cost. First, when I'm at my worst I used to be merely a "Think-I-Know-It-All". Now when I'm at my worst I've elevated my game to full fledged "Know-It-All". I appreciate the Motivate (Beta) Fellow Carl Jefferson for pointing out this bad habit of mine to me a few years back. While I'll never be cured I can now honestly say that I'm a recovering "Smartypants". Thanks Carl.
Second, with the notable exception of "E-Mything" the Urban League of Greater Madison's workforce programming, I was terribly short on action, application and execution of this learning.
Please don't get me wrong. I still believe you should put yourself on a never-ending, intentional and intense learning regimen and I personally don't plan on breaking the habit. But today, I value action so much more.
So here's the story I promised. It was around 11:30pm on Black Friday 2011 in a Barnes and Noble. After selecting the holiday gifts I'd been sent to retrieve by beautiful wife (who was sleeping by then), but before checking out, I decided to browse my favorite sections to see what's new and to possibly buy myself an early gift. You guessed it; the book that stood out to me was Cardone's the 10X Rule.
I told myself that this book would help me start all of those things that were on my cool projects list. In fact this would be my "last book" before I took action, ignoring the fact that I was already reading the 5th book I had dubbed "the last". I told myself it would give me a key insight. My only barrier was that I would need to justify the purchase, so I decided to skim it quickly before I bought it. I'm glad I did.
I turned to a chapter that described an idea called "The Fourth Degree". Basically, this idea demands that you put in 10 times the effort and act 10 times as much as anyone around you. That is you and I just need to set aside excuses, take a deep breath and put ourselves out there by doing something we think is worthwhile. Before going on to the next book or idea, we need to at least try what the book, or blog, or podcast, or whatever, says we should do. When in doubt learn by doing, verses learn by reading (or thinking or whatever). Or, to channel Nike, we need to "Just Do It".
To be honest this wasn't the first time I ran into an idea like this and like hypocrite I'd even given this kind of advice (shame on me). But for some reason it hadn't hit home. I don't know if it was my exhaustion or the frustrations from a day like Black Friday, but this idea clicked. And, I promptly put the book back on the shelf, bought the gifts I had in hand and went home.
Before the end of December 2011, thanks to the book I never read, I started acting on that list of mine by launching two worthwhile projects: BlackPurpose Entrepreneural Bootcamp-Online and BoardTest. Make no mistake, if it wasn't for the book I never read, I wouldn't be sharing this blog, and the spin-off projects of Motivate (Beta) and the Museum of Purpose, with you.
Are these the greatest ideas ever? I can hope, but maybe not. In fact, even though I provided a link to BlackPurpose it is no longer an active project, BoardTest could be (and will be) a lot better, and Mighty Purpose is too young to tell what its future may hold. The fact that none of these projects are perfect is OK, they'll naturally get better or naturally die. Waiting for perfect will just lead me to reading another book while deluding myself that I'm living my life purposefully. Waiting for perfect means that the Army of the Dead is winning, and you and I can't let that happen.
Sometimes a person will tell me that they wish they could do what I did and real some of the cool ideas on their own bucket lists. When that happens, I tell them this story.
This Week at the Museum of Purpose
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Join the discussion about a Harvard Business Review column entitled "Why We Can't See What's Right In Front of Us". Share what you think about the usefulness of the "generic parts test" to your life and work. This was shared on December 31st.
To stick with the theme of this week's post, I suggest you check out the two TED talks given by Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability and listening to shame. These powerful talks are pretty famous. They were shared on January 15th and 16th. If you enjoy these talks, share your reaction to them.
You can find all of these at www.facebook.com/mightypurpose.
Be well,
Sterling Lynk
To stick with the theme of this week's post, I suggest you check out the two TED talks given by Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability and listening to shame. These powerful talks are pretty famous. They were shared on January 15th and 16th. If you enjoy these talks, share your reaction to them.
You can find all of these at www.facebook.com/mightypurpose.
Be well,
Sterling Lynk
[Images: www.amazon.com, www.facebook.com/mightypurpose]