"In my book" , The Nature of Success, I shared how my friend Jim Cathcart became one of the top speakers in the country by applying Earl Nightingale’s philosophy of spending one hour a day pursuing your goal. If you did this, Nightingale said, you could become a national expert in five years. Jim, with no speaking experience, proved him right.
Well, sometimes we have to crawl before we walk; therefore, I’ve decided to give you the benefit of the doubt to spend only thirty minutes. The challenge is simple. Identify a goal that is important to you. It could be a dream of starting your own business. It could be improving your skills in your existing job. Or it could be more personal, such as enhancing your spiritual life, being a better parent, or being a better spouse.
In the simplest terms, use the thirty minutes a day to seek knowledge and clarity on the goal you’ve selected. Secondly, understand that knowledge and clarity are power, and will help to bring this goal to life. Once you can visualize clearly, your attitude and your confidence soar. Therefore, you chances to succeed soar, too.
As you’ve read this, I’m sure some of you have already wondered, “Where do I get thirty minute? My life is going a hundred miles an hour.” Those who immediately dismissed the thirty-minute theory might need some advice from a Greek philosopher:
A young man approached the sage and said, “I’ve come to you for knowledge.” The philosopher nodded, took the young man by the hand, and led him to a river nearby. Together they waded into the currents, and the teacher looked at the young man and said, “Hold my arm.” He then dunked the inquirer’s head under the water for about twenty seconds. When the young man came up, the teacher asked again, “What have you come here for?” The young man repeated, “I’ve come to you for knowledge.” The philosopher dunked him again and this time held him down much longer. As he came up, the sage asked yet again, “What do you want?” The young man sputtered, “Give me air! Give me air!” The philosopher then said, “When you want knowledge as much as you want air, you shall have it.”
Now that the sage has shared some of his less-than-subtle insight, you might wish to rethink your problem with finding thirty minutes for self-improvement. If you want it badly enough you can either: (a) set the alarm thirty minutes earlier or (b) sacrifice thirty minutes of television time each night. As the saying goes, “You’ll never get what you’ve never had until you’re willing to do what you’ve never done.” Discipline and commitment are key to accomplishing anything worthwhile in your life.
For example, if your goal is to start your own business, here’s some practical advice – become an amateur before you turn pro. Use your thirty minutes a day to read all you can that will prepare you for the journey. Think about it: Thirty minutes a day is over one hundred eighty hours a year. Can you imagine how much knowledge you could gain in all that time? Assume the average book takes you four hours to read; that’s about forty-five books a year. I recommend you start with the biographies of great entrepreneurs of our time – people like Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Steve Jobs (Apple), Fred Smith (Federal Express), Ray Kroc (McDonalds), Howard Shultz (Starbucks), and others. Their insights about the choices they made, their values, their commitment to hiring the best people, their passion for serving customers, and their battles to overcome adversity would help you build a foundation for entrepreneurial success.
Remember, knowledge is power. It gives you the self-confidence to make difficult choices in life and to stay positive in times of adversity.
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I heartily agree with your suggestion that even 30 minutes a day focussed on your dream will move you in the right direction. Just imagine what 2 -3 hours a day will do! Believing in a dream and investing yourself in it builds inner and outer resilience.
Suzanne Guthrie
http://www.BoldNewDirections.com
First, I want to say, Good morning! I love reading your articles, listening to your inspirational movies and everything about your site! This particular article reminded me of my father who was a natural motivator and inspirationalist. He, too, was an entrepeneur in his own right. When I was a little girl I remember my dad as a Pharmacist owning many drugstores and also working in south Miami on eighth street which was known to be “little Havannah”. In addition, after dinner he use to have men come over to the house and talk business. He eventually opened his owned business to import and export pharmaceuticals nationally and internationally in large quantities. I know that he told me that the products that were imported and exported were non-narcotics. It was very important to my father to educate my brother’s and myself the difference’s. Being a Pharmacist, businessman, entrepeneur, and self driven created a successfull business for a period of time. He taught me “If thy will it…it is no dream”! If you want something bad enough; you can have it as long as you do whatever it takes to earn it! He loved Dale Carnegiem who wrote the book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Almost everyday of his life he would give me a pep talk growing up. Later on in life when my father became ill, I received a phone call from my eldest brother during my first semester of college. He told me the I had to quit college, get a job, or figure it out and hung up the telephone. That day when I went to one of my classes another classmate noticed the look on my face and asked me what was wrong.
I told him that my father was on his way to having open heart surgery and what my brother had to say. He told me about the financial aid office at the University of Miami. I took his suggestion and helped myself succeed through college. I worked three jobs and studied to become a Speech and Language Pathologist in the Broward County Public Schools twenty seven years. Because of my father’s inspiration and how he instilled being persistent and believing in myself no matter what comes my way “don’t quit”! He was the only one that believed in me and taught my how to believe in myself to be self driven/motivated. I love to inspire other’s and help those that need help. This is just my beginning and there are other great stories that happened in my life as time passes. My father did pass away seventeen years ago. I am very grateful for all that he has shared and everything that I have learned along the way. Have a great day! Your story brought back great memories and someday I would love to inspire motivate many in different venues:)
[...] of these feeds is from SimpleTruths’ blog … this quote is from their latest post: “In the simplest terms, use the thirty minutes [...]
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