How To Take Control Of Your Life In 2013 (5)

This is the fifth in my series on How to Make Your Life Count in 2012. I am very excited about the level of interest already generated by the previous  four articles. A  large number of perceptive readers of this column have gone ahead to download the resource I offered to them (My Best Kept Secret). We are on a journey together . Don’t miss any of the steps.

As I am writing this message, I am filled with gratitude to my first financial coach for introducing me to the value of reading books. In my study, where I am writing you this article, I am surrounded by thousands of books most of which I have studied over and over again in these past few years. It was one of  my mentors who introduced me to authors such as Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Ewen Chia, Janet Switzer, Dan Kennedy, Bob Bly and many more great authors I will get to share with you later.

What has made my encounters with my coach valuable is that the books he recommended were the ones he had used himself. So I have always been buying books that solve specific problems in my life. Mind you, I had been buying and reading books before I met him but what changed the pattern of things was that I now started to buy books on purpose and for immediate application.

I was with him one morning and decided to engage him on an issue that had always bogged my mind: I was concerned that I was just buying books and I could not see the impact on my life. In one of my visits, my coach asked me a series of questions: “Are you satisfied with your life? Which aspect are you not satisfied with? Who do you see around that has made progress on those areas of dissatisfaction? Which books have you located that have solutions to those problems? Who have read the books with good results?” He kept on asking but I was just looking at him because I never pondered on any of those questions while buying the books.

I was totally taken unawares by his approach. Shortly after exchanging pleasantries and having directed my attention to the new quotation on the board, he threw a series of questions at me on the books I claimed to have read. “What did you learn? What excited you most? How have you applied the lessons you learnt? He just kept bombarding me with questions. But I believed he was satisfied with my responses as he proceeded to share the lesson for the day with me.

By the way the scripture he put on the board: “Bring the cloak I left with Carpus at Troas when you come-and the books, especially the parchments(notes)” was an instruction by Paul in the Christian Bible (2 Timothy 4:13) to his protégé, Timothy.

My mentor started off: “I have a very interesting topic to share with you today which I have titled: Treat Your Mind as Your Most Important Asset. “Your mind is the only thing that I consider indispensable in your quest for wealth. As one author puts it: “Monuments can fall, properties can be destroyed, cars can be stolen, businesses can go bankrupt, beauty can fade, but once your mind is intact and sound, you have everything it takes to make money. Mental excellence is permanent.”

“I am amazed by what we attach value to in this part of the world. Let me illustrate this with a personal experience. Some years back, some heavily armed men invaded my house and ransacked everywhere. They carted away everything in sight –televisions, cars, jewellery, money and any other thing they fancied. They went to my study and took all the fanciful things there. They even carried away my reading lamp! You know what? They left all my books intact. How stupid! To me, my books are my most prized possessions. I would have been greatly upset if they had stolen my books and left my other possessions”.

“But today, every single item they stole has been replaced. Informed millionaires spend a large part of their time reading and analysing good books because they know that books are the best sources of insights and creative money ideas. Read, read, and read everything in sight, you will find it useful one day. I am amazed when I hear some people say they over-read. There is nothing like that. You cannot over-read! Do you know that this wonderful machine called brain has  billion of  cells? I have not come across any computer that can perform the task a brain can perform. Your brain is elastic. Just like you go to the gym to exercise your muscle, insightful reading helps to stretch your brain and renew your mind. Try to meditate on what the Bible says: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

“I believe very sincerely that anybody can become whatever he wants to become by insightful learning. As one author  said, “reading is the solution to racial prejudice”. I agree with that view absolutely. Even if you come from a poor background, once you have superior insights into a problem, people must listen to you. This is guaranteed.”

You cannot be wealthy beyond your level of mental illumination. “The mystery about good wealth is that you can only have it in proportion to the level of development that has taken place inside. In wealth acquisition, you can’t travel faster outside than the speed of your race inside. God knows that if you get wealth that is more than your mental and intellectual capacity, you are going to mess everything up. A fool and his money would soon be parted. If you want to acquire lasting riches, work on your inside. Read the books millionaires and billionaires have written, listen to audio and video cassettes they have put together, attend seminars and workshops on personal financial management and investment.

By doing this, you are investing in your most important asset, that is, your mind. I see people walk into restaurants and spend up to N3,000 on a meal. Six hours later, everything is out of their system. Amazingly, these same people are not willing to invest N2,000 on good books that can change their lives forever. My advice to you as I close this lesson is: Do everything possible to read at least one book per week or at worst one per month and cut off from friends who are averse to reading. If you must starve to read, do so. If you must let go momentary pleasure to read, do so. If you must withdraw from your savings to buy good books, please do so. You can’t be an insightful reader and not stand out from the crowd. Besides, a life of abundance is just around the corner if you persist in reading. “Enough for today,” my mentor said as he brought the discussion to a close.

My encounter with him that day changed my attitude towards reading. He  shared some tips with me which I have since turned into an ebook titled: “How To Get the Best From That Book”  (This is one of the documents you will get FREE once you have downloaded My Best Kept Secret  and followed the instructions there). My coach advised that I should never buy books that are not recommended by someone I respect who has read the same book. Every time I go to his house, I always ask for the current books he is reading which he willingly shares with me.

I am excited that in the course of our journey together on this series I will be sharing some of these life changing books with you .With a good coach, everything is possible!

NUGGETs

•Make a fresh commitment to read at least one book once a month.

•Set aside a percentage of your monthly income ( I recommend between 5% and 10%) and channel it strictly for  workshops and seminars ( on recommendation pls)  relevant to your plans and to buy books.

•Make another commitment to implement whatever you learnt.

PS: If you would want me to alert you on the tool needed to get to unlock the personal powers within you  in 2013, text this information in the format below to 07054638883

PMMONEY*Your Name*Email*Status*Location 07054638883

E.g: PMMONEY*Dele Taiwo*[email protected]*biz owner* Abuja to 07054638883

PPS: If you had already sent in your details in the past, do not bother to resend; you will still be alerted