Stay in touch with books that promised you the world but did not deliver
If you’re like me you’ve bought books that were going to change your life, make you a better employee, a better boss, a better parent, achieve great riches, become a better athlete, learn a language………do I need to go on?
And if you’re like me most of those books did not achieve those things – or at least it didn’t happen the way the book or author led you to believe. There were probably some great pearls of wi
sdom or some nuggets that helped you move forward, and your intentions were good, but alas…..things did not happen as fast or the way you had hoped.
Then there were the books that people gave me because they wanted me to promote their business or perhaps I was quoted in the book or a story/chapter included something about me. Nice, but I usually don’t run around going “Look. Look. I’m in here!”
Right now I’ve got six books sitting on my desk; these are books that have made a difference; I keep them on my desk as reference/textbooks. They do change over time. But the rest, they sit in the closet (see picture) and I look at them wondering if I will ever do anything with them. You hate to throw them out; after all you spent money on them; or someone gave them to you as a gift; or maybe the answer to life really is inside one of them.
And then I realized maybe the answer to life for someone else was in those books. Or maybe they are a great way to reconnect with a friend. Or what a way to let a client know you are thinking about them. Or an employee to engage with a customer? Or maybe you had a brief conversation with an audience member who shared some interest, dream or idea with you and in your closet is a resource or something that might be of use?
So usually two times a month I send someone a book. That’s 24 in a year. I probably won’t run out of books before I die but hey, it’s a good feeling to know I’m making room for the next book. It’s an even better feeling to know I may have just made someone else a very rich, happy or successful person.
