The other day, I gifted a couple of books from my Best Life Book Series to a young woman who had just graduated from college and was unsure about her career plans.
As I was signing them for her, she was looking over the rest of the Best Life books and asked me a question no one had asked in a long time: “How did you learn all this stuff?”
My quick response was, “Well, 68 trips around the sun has provided me with some valuable perspective and experience. I think it’s given me insight and good judgment. You probably know that good judgment comes from experience, but did you know where experience comes from? It comes from bad judgment.”
She didn’t challenge my answer. But in thinking about it later, I realized she deserved a fuller answer to her earnest question.
The fact of the matter is I’ve been a student of success and achievement since I was a teenager. It started out with reading biographies of great men and women. I was always fascinated about how and why they accomplished so much. I later turned to studying philosophy, psychology, spirituality and a whole lot more.
Over the years, I’ve read thousands of books and listened to thousands of speeches and audio programs. I’ve asked tens of thousands of questions, interviewed hundreds of people and tried a whole lot of things.
Through it all, I’ve always asked: what worked, what didn’t and what’s next. I was always looking for the common denominators of successful men and women. And I’ve always believed what Buckminster Fuller said, “You can’t learn less.”
A lifelong thirst for knowledge and wisdom, a willingness to take risks and experiment has earned me the right to speak on and write about how to design, create and live your best life. Like Dale Carnegie wrote, “The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don’t like their rules whose would you use?”
Of course I’ve added my own stories, offered my own anecdotes, tweaked my philosophies and hopefully added my unique point of view.
I do think that this series, in particular, is encapsulated wisdom that will help anyone no matter what stage they find themselves, to live a better, more fulfilling and happy life. It’s worked for me and it’s worked for many others.
Whether the young woman I gave the books to finds one nugget or a score of nuggets, it will have been worth it. Because you truly can’t learn less and you can always improve upon your current situation.
Recommended Reading
Best Life Book Series
The path to your best life is through your Compelling Core Values, your Empowering Purpose, your Meaningful Mission, your Vital Vision and your Solid Goals. And this series has a book for each of them. Pick out individual ones or get the whole series.
