How Many Books Have You Put Into Action?

by Bonnie Boots

Most newsletters you subscribe to subject you to a flood of messages advising you to "Buy this book!"

And when a newsletter you subscribe to is about internet marketing, that flood is really a raging tidal wave of relentless sales pitch.

I love books. I'm in favor of people buying books. I'm even more in favor of people reading books.

But before you buy one more book, I want you to read this story.

Books always were and still are my passion. I can't imagine the number of books I've read in my lifetime. But a recent incident woke me up to the fact that it doesn't matter how many books you read.

The only thing that matters is how many books you make a permanent part of your life.

By that, I do not mean "How many books have you given a permanent spot on your shelves?"

I mean how many books have you studied, taken to heart and incorporated it into the fabric of your daily life?

I recently took a critical look at my overburdened bookshelves and asked myself this question, after I returned home from a workshop by the author of a book.

I purchased the book more than a year ago, read it…or rather, quickly skimmed it, and put it on the shelf among my hundreds of other books.

I didn't give that book a second glance until I learned the California-based author would be teaching a 2-day intensive workshop just blocks from my home in Florida. Faced with this rare opportunity, I found the book, skimmed it again and decided to register for the class.

That 2-day workshop was a life-changing event. When I returned home, I had to ask myself why the workshop, which presented the same information given in the book, had such a powerful impact when the book itself had barely made a mark on my memory.

The answer was easy to see. I'd merely skimmed the book, flipping past page after page, saying to myself, "Know this. Know that, " until I'd flipped through almost the entire book

But in the workshop, the author led us through the book and instructed us in practicing every technique found there. I already knew the information. It was the DOING that made such a remarkable difference.

Back home, I looked at my overflowing bookshelves and had to admit that while I'd read every one of them, there were precious few books I had made a part of my life.

I was in the habit of skimming a book, or more often several books at once, taking a tidbit here and a morsel there and trying them out. But few books got my full attention. Even fewer got me to work through them, step by step, until I had full understanding of what was being taught and made it a permanent part of my life.

I can almost see you nodding, "Uh huh. I do that."

We all do. We do it because it's human nature to want the easy way. If we want more traffic to our web site, the easiest thing to do is shell out money for a book called, "How To Drive Massive Traffic To Your Web Site."

The mere act of buying makes us feel we've taken action.

The hardest thing to do is to then study the book, learn everything the author is teaching and put it into action.

I remember meeting someone on a forum a few years ago who complained bitterly that she'd followed a certain marketing guru, bought every one of his books and products, but after two years still hadn't made a dime on the internet. Her forum posts were equal parts anger and despair.

Moved by her despair, I offered to review her sites and give her some input on why they weren't earning their keep. I was dismayed to find that she hadn't followed her guru's advice at all. She'd ignored his step-by-step system and instead created a mishmash of things she'd half-understood from books she'd skimmed.

Because she never really learned the material, she never really understood what the guru was teaching. Because she never put the guru's "how to" into action, she didn't get the results she wanted.

I had done the same thing. I'd skimmed a book, never really learned the information and never put it into daily practice. Of course, I didn't get results.

But in the workshop, I did all that.

Lesson learned.

Before you buy one more book on "how to" anything, look at your shelves. Search your hard drive. See how many books you already have that would solve one of your problems IF you only studied it and took action.

Then ask yourself if what you really need is another book, or the dedication to study and implement what you already have.

Because the number of books you read is meaningless. All that really matters is how many books you incorporate into your life.




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Books have always been a huge part of my life. Before I could read, I drove adults crazy with my incessant pleadings to "Read this to me, PLEEEEZE!"

When I learned to read, I drove adults crazy with my incessant pleadings to "PLEEEZE take me to the library?"

Books always were and still are my passion. I can't imagine the number of books I've read in my lifetime. But a recent incident woke me up to the fact that it doesn't matter how many books you read.

The only thing that matter is how many books you live.

That is, how many books do you study, learn the information, and incorporate it into your daily life?

I took a critical look at my laden bookshelves and asked mys elf this quesiton last week, after I returned homw from a workshop by the author of a book titled Your Hands Can Heal You.

I purchased the book more than a year ago, skimmed thorugh it and put it on the shelf along with a hundred other books on bioenergy.

I didn't give that book a second glance until I learned the author, Stephen Co, would be teaching a 2-day intensive workshop just blocks from my house. Then I retrived the book, skimmed it again and decided to regsiter for the class.

That 2-day workshop was, for me and many others, a life changing event. When I returtned home, I had to ask myself why. The information presented in the workshop was the same information presented in the book. Why did the book have virtually no impact on me, while the workshop turned my world upside down?

The answer was easy to see. I'd merely skimmed the book, flipping past page after page saying to myself, "Know this. Know that, " until I'd flipped thorugh almost the entire book

But in the workshop, the author lead us through the book and instructed us in pratcicing every technique found there. I already knew the information. It was the DOING of it that made such a remarkable differnce.

Back home, I looked at my overflowing bookshsleves and had to admit that while I'd read every one of them, there were precious few books I had lived. Oh, I'd take a tidbit here and a morsel there and at least try them, but few books become a part of the fabric of my life.

I can almost see you nodding, "Uh huh. I do that."

We all do. I remember meeting someone on a forum a few years ago who complained bitterly that she'd followed a certain marketing guru, bought every one of his books and products and after two years still hadn't made a dime on the internet. Her forum posts were equal parts anger and despair.

Moved by her despiar, I offered tor eview her sites and give her some input on why they weren't working. I was dismayed to find that she hadn't followed her guru's advice at all. She's ignored his step-by-step system to create a mishmash of things she'd ha;f-understood from books she'd skimmed. Because she never really elarned the material and never put it into action, she didn't get the results her guru had gotten.

I had done the same thing with Stephen Co's book. Because I enevr rally elarned the information and never put it into daily pratcise, I didn't get the desired results. But in the workshop, I did.

Lesson learned.

The answer to almost any problem anyone can ask is somewhere in a book. And when I was a kid, that's what made me feel books were magic. But as ana dult, I know that the magic lies not in the book, not in having the information. True magic lies in putting the information into action.

Before you buy one more book, one more internet marketing course, one more report on "how to" anything, look at your shelves, search your hard drive. Se ehow many books you already have that answer oyur question and ask oyurself, "Did I merely read this book, or did I put it into action."

Because the number of books you have read is meaningless. All that really matters is how many books you have incorporated into your life.
 

 
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