Self help books are great. How to books are great. Blogs are great.
In fact there is probably no better way to learn how to do anything, improve our life and achieve our goals. But at some point we need to put the books down, and resist the temptation to buy another one when next browsing through the local bookstore.
We have to implement instead.
Every book on entrepreneurship, finance (insert topic here) has a slightly different spin – the next big idea. One which could change our thinking and even tempt us to re-do our plans. It’s at this point we need to test things in the real world. The only thing more valuable than planning and learning is doing. If things don’t work, then we can go back and look at another theory or method.
So let’s all turn off our computers, stop reading (writing) this blog and get out there and implement our vision. Good bye, and good luck.
Meet a man who had dropped the books and is doing. In many ways he has said screw the books and theorizing completely and lets just act. You can find him at http://equineventure.bravehost.com/
I’m atttempting to do something like that. In what I’m trying to accomplish I have to read up on various website database systems. Never did anything like this before so I still have to hold a book I guess I’m reading and doing.
http://www.startuptofinish.com
They ARE addictive, I have a few and I have thrown a few away. It’s really difficult to set a rule on Self-Help books especially since they all give a variety of advice. I would suggest buying a few and then looking through them to get an idea of what they’re about. After a read, either throw them out or set them on fire because you are obviously a person w/ an addictive personality – I am. Anyway, keep one or two but only when you really need them, like when you’re really stuck, take them out of the shoebox under the bed and flip through a few pages, just to calm those shakes and the feeling of coldness. Read a little bit but have someone in the room to pull you away from the books. Think about something else, go outside for a bike ride or go to rehab. I’m sorry, what were we talking about? Oh, self-help books, yeah, they’re good, don’t buy too many, just buy 1 or 2 and stick w/ the advice.
Or, one could borrow self-help books from http://www.rentoid.com or lend them out…
They keep coming and people follow them word for word, I don’t know how that helps anyone. Here’s a good article from DailyCents.com
http://blogs.dailycents.com/?p=782