"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.