Famous American entrepreneur Jim Rohn once said, "You're the average of the five people you surround yourself with." And there's a lot of truth to this.
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Chances are if the five people closest to you all like to go out partying and they don't take care of themselves, you probably don't either. If they all enjoy playing video games all night and have terrible grades, your grades are probably not something your proud of too. But, if your friends love hitting the gym on a daily basis and they watch what they eat, there's a high chance you're healthier than the average joe. Of course there are exceptions to this, but the general consensus is that there is some truth to this idea.
We as human beings learn from our surroundings. We're sophisticated animals that excel at copying each other. This is largely where things like culture, slang, accents, and even traditions come from. People learn each others habits and adopt each others mindsets after spending large amounts of time with each other. I frequently catch myself using other peoples catchphrases after hanging out with them for just a short period of time. And that's why it's to no surprise that a large majority of the most successful people on this planet have attested a lot of their success to their mentors. Martin Luther King had Gandhi. Mark Zuckerberg had Steve Jobs. Drake had Lil' Wayne. And Bill Gates had Warren Buffet. People who become successful almost always have at least one person in their sphere of influence who was already massively successful. It's from them that they adopted the mindset and habits that they needed to eventually bring them to success.
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However, you might say, "Well, I don't know anyone who is successful. My friends are just average people." But this is where the benefit of reading comes into play. A book is literally the words, the ideas, the mindsets, the advice, and even the experience of another person wrapped into a convenient, portable, always available collection of papers. It's almost equivalent to having that person there speaking to you. 75% of self-made millionaires have even reporting reading at least 2 books a month. The true benefits of reading is that you can pick and choose who you want to add to your inner group of influence, that will eventually effect who you become as a person. When you read you get a glimpse into the mind of the author. There's so many books out there that are written by people who are already massively successful in different fields. Their ideas and mindsets and words are all waiting to be shared. If you wanted to goon a meditation retreat with Gandhi, talk politics with Martin Luther King, hit the studio with Lil' Wayne, or even get business advice from Warren Buffet, all you have to do is submerge yourself by reading their words and you'll get a glimpse into their world and their way of thinking. You will have essentially added a new friend to your group of friends. A friend who is most likely older, and wiser, on top of being significantly more successful. And when you do that, you start adopting some of their mindsets and their habits. Because that's what we do as humans. We copy each other. And this is what eventually brings you closer to success. So challenge yourself to read. My personal New Year's Resolution this year is to read at least 1 book a week. So expect some posts about big concepts that I may come across.