The 24-7 Mentor

The Cincinnati Public Library in 1874

When you commit to learning, finding a mentor can be difficult. Not only do commitments and schedules need to align, the mentor and mentored need to be compatible on a multitude of levels. Fortunately, some of the brightest and most highly esteemed mentors of all human history are available 24 hours a day seven days a week. People you could never dream of having access to have poured out their lives’ discoveries in the form of a book for less than a cheap steak. Books give you the ability to have hundreds, even thousands of advisors and victory depends on having many advisors. Proverbs 24:6

It’s been said millionaires read a book a month while billionaires read a book a week. Success and books have gone hand-in-hand throughout history. If you visit George Vanderbilt’s largest home in America, The Biltmore Estate, you will witness his collection of 23,000 books. The New York news said Vanderbilt was “The best read man in the country”, and he proudly proclaimed his favorite passion was books. Even today, the more prominent homes all have libraries making the correlation between books and increased square footage in life undeniable. Zig Zigler put it simply, “Rich people have small TVs and big libraries. Poor people have small libraries and big TVs.”

As a boy, my father would point quite passionately and say, “You’ve got to stay in those books!” In my youth I was thinking it was just a form of punishment. However, my father knew if you don’t study how the masters do things, you’ll never be a master yourself. My excuse that I did not like or was not good at reading was false; the truth was I hadn’t found the right book. If you like to succeed, then you must read. Seemingly daunting decisions can become easier by just reading a book. Relevant wisdom empowers you. Nothing levels the playing field of success like books. This is why Andrew Carnegie funded 2,500 libraries around the world. Carnegie was in essence saying anyone and everyone can achieve my success or greater, and the tools to do so are contained in these libraries.

I’m honored you read my first post. Have books played a part in your life? What are some must reads? I would love to get your thoughts, if not that’s ok too.