The-Slight-Edge

invest in Yourself 143
I’m not picking on bowling, or any other form of recreation. We need
balance in our lives, and taking time at the bowling alley can also serve you in all
sorts of ways—your fitness, your relationships with your friends, your ability to
let work go, to relax and have fun. All good things ... but the question is, are you
developing yourself? Are you building your dream or only your boss’s?
Read just one chapter of an information-rich, inspiring book every day.
Listen to fifteen minutes of a life-transforming CD or audio download. Take a
course or seminar every few weeks or months.
Are these things easy to do? Sure. And those simple disciplines compounded
over time, like a penny doubled every day for a month, will send you up to
the top. Are they easy not to do? No question. And if you don’t do them, will
you destroy your life today? Of course not. But that simple error in judgment,
compounded over time, will pull you down the curve of failure and take away
everything you’ve hoped for and dreamed about ... forever!
“Book Smarts” vs. “Street Smarts”
Q: Five frogs sat on a lily pad. One decided to jump off. How many were left?
A: Five ... all of them are still sitting there. The one frog only decided to jump.
The famous Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with
a single step”—another wonderful example of traditional Slight Edge wisdom. But
note: The journey starts with a single step—not with thinking about taking a step!
Plenty of people accumulate knowledge but still dwell on the failure curve. It’s
not only the quantity of knowledge that sets and keeps your course, but also the
quality of knowledge. There are different types of knowledge and different avenues
of learning; if you want to stay grounded and move ahead at the same time, you
need a balance.
There are three principle kinds of learning. The first is learning by study,
which includes reading, listening to CDs and audio downloads, and attending
classes and seminars. The second type is learning by doing.
As passionate as I am about improving yourself by studying with great
teachers, through great books, CDs and other media, I also know that all the study
in the world won’t build your business, establish your health, or create a happy,
fulfilling family life. That takes your getting up and doing it. Book smarts is not
enough: all true success is built from a foundation of study plus street smarts.
Life is not a spectator sport—it is a contact sport; there is no practice session.
You’ve been immersed in it from day one; life lives in the right-here, rightnow.
That’s why Emerson, who was an exceptionally well-educated man in the
traditional book-smarts sense, advised, Do the thing, and you shall have the power.