You Are What You READ!

By: Mike Potillo, Director of Sales

Feed your mind & watch your business grow! 

I’ll admit I wasn’t the best student during school. I was the guy who was looking at the clock, ready for class to dismiss so I could go have fun after all this “learning” stuff was over. 

It’s amazing how much we would have been willing to learn when we were young if only we knew the impact it could have on the rest of our lives. The great news: It’s never too late to start learning!

That fateful day, in 1998, when I saw an infomercial on television, which lead me to immediately quit college as a junior and dive right into the life of an entrepreneur, taught me a very valuable and, unfortunately for me, costly lesson:

Your business will never grow larger than you do. Repeat that line a few times.

Two years after I became an “entrepreneur,” I was broke and living in my parents’ basement. I hadn’t read a book or listened to a positive audio recording in a year and a half.

That’s when I decided to look at business differently, and it completely changed my life overnight. My mentor told me that to make the big changes in my business, I needed to make one small change daily. I committed to that goal and started immediately.

Thirty minutes per day of personal development was all it took—reading a good book or listening to an inspirational audio. Ask yourself, is the sacrifice of getting up 30 minutes earlier or staying up later each day worth it to potentially explode your It Works! business? It is truly that easy! Are you up for the challenge? I dove right in and, to this day, it remains a habit that is part of who I am.

If you are starting the journey of personal growth with us and want to learn more about what inspiration and personal development can do for your business, start with the book The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. It’s an easy read and starts you on the path to understanding what the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. It’s important that you understand why developing yourself personally should be a priority and how it can impact your life in all areas.

Next, I learned that I enjoy reading, but I really enjoy listening to the wisdom of the ages from people who have come before me and created monumental success. My favorite audio recordings are from Jim Rohn. If you haven’t heard Jim, you are in for a treat. When I first heard his dry, monotone voice I was turned off, but I got past that quickly and began listening daily and internalized the life lessons that he shared in every breath. Get your hands on anything and everything Jim Rohn has created. His words, when internalized and put into action, will change your life.

Once you are well on your way to becoming a better you, the next book for you to read is Shad Helmstetters’, What to Say When You Talk to Yourself. It’s a more advanced read and some of it may fly right over your head, but the general principle of the book is to help you understand that your biggest critic is you.

Most people talk to themselves daily, hourly, or even by the minute. The words we are speaking (and thinking) about ourselves can be the most helpful or, in many cases, the most destructive to our lives. Believe it or not, we are the biggest influence in our lives; we just don’t typically recognize that we are doing things to ourselves.

Whatever you do, don’t wait to grow yourself personally. Start this journey to a better you! Pick up any book or audio recording that gets you motivated. It works every time. Don’t procrastinate and question it, just do it.

For those who may be thinking they are already in the right mindset and don’t need daily personal development, I would suggest this: You don’t have to bathe daily either, but I highly recommend it!

P.S. For a great, month-long personal development program, read a Proverb every day.