Follow The Advice

I once had coffee with a very successful real estate investor. I asked him how he went from bagging groceries to becoming a multi millionaire. He said he was tried of being poor so he went to his local bookstore, found a book on real estate investing, and followed the advice in the book. Exactly. To the letter.

I once listened to an Academy Award winning actress in a post-screening interview, discuss how she gave the incredible performance we all just witnessed. She said she just trusted the material and the director and did everything that he asked. That was it. Nothing profound.

Thousands upon thousands of “how-to” and personal development books are sold every year. I’ll bet most of them offer sound advice for whatever one wants to accomplish.

But first, consider how few people buy books. Then consider that less than 10 percent of those who buy books, read past the first two chapters. Let alone read the entire book. And of the few people who do read the book, how many actually take action and implement the advice that’s offered?

Information is a commodity.

Desire and a willingness to take action are not.