A quote from The Millionaire Mind, by Thomas Stanley, answered my question, “Why is humility good business?” The author interviewed an entrepreneur that owns and runs an auto junkyard. He asked the owner what made him successful.
The owner replied that at first, he got a lot of pushback from his family. he said his mother asked him, “Anyone can own a junkyard. Why did you go to college—not to own junk!”
Yet, this owner was a deca-millionaire. The author noted that many people overlook opportunities because social status and concern about appearances keep many from noticing opportunities. That led to Thomas Stanley’s quote:
Lincoln was a man that valued books so much, he would walk for miles across the Indiana countryside to borrow and return them. Though his formal education was spotty, his love for reading gave him an education far beyond his backwoods upbringing.
In today’s connected world, we have no problem finding information. Rather, our challenge is sifting the wheat from the chaff. Our temptation is to only find the information we agree with, instead of a bit of knowledge that challenges us.
In Lincoln’s time, books showed that original ideas weren’t all that original. In today’s world, we can find any information to justify our thoughts. It doesn’t have to be edited or traditionally published to go out to millions. Do we forget what incredible power exists on our phones and desktops?
We like the comfort of the echo chamber. Most of us cringe when we find information that doesn’t agree with our worldview. However, do we grow if we only read, hear or view what we agree with? Are we doing ourselves a disservice when we don’t challenge our thoughts?
The Value of Printed Books
Today, printed books are still important partly because it still takes effort to publish something on paper. It gives it a physical presence that electronic media doesn’t have. Sure, we can print a blog or social media post. But how many of us actually do that? (If you dare to challenge me and print out this blog post, I’m fine with that!)
There may be a day I take my blog posts and organize them into a book. When that happens, there will be a better chance a future generation will read what I wrote. But if it stays only on the Internet, would it still live on? If I pass on tomorrow and no one chooses to pay for this site, it could disappear like a vapor.
Books and Thoughts
Books are still valuable to educate, instruct and challenge us. Let’s get out of our echo chamber, crack open a good tome, and get acquainted again with the power of books.
Cartoon of a guy holding back a bulging door. He says, “My idea is getting push-back.”
No matter what kind of business you’re in, no matter what kind of creative endeavor you have, no matter what kind of cause you are for, you are going to get push back. This is especially true if you have an idea or cause worth fighting for. Someone is going to want to fight back. That’s how you know it’s worth fighting for anyway.
I used to think if I was getting resistance to an idea, it wasn’t meant to be. Now I realize quite the opposite. Push-back is part of the process. Besides, if nobody cares about your idea, if no one get’s fired up for or against it, it must not be a very powerful idea.
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