On Thursday I read Chapter 2 of Think and Grow Rich, and I have to tell you it absolutely blew me away. It’s taken me a couple of days of thinking and pondering the topic to actually come up with a coherent post about it. And it isn’t just the step-by-step method Hill outlines for turning any definite goal into a physical reality, although I’ve already put that to use to plan my birthday giveaway and the outcome I expect from it. I think what got to me most was the fact that even though this was written in the 1930s, it is so relevant to today and what’s happening in today’s economy.

This passage really hit me in the context of internet marketing and of thinking about where I want to take my own business over the next few years:

“We who are in this race for riches should be encouraged to know that this changed world in which we live is demanding new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders, new inventions, new methods of teaching, new methods of marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the radio, new ideas for moving pictures.”

For someone like me who creates content, that statement is like a blanket validation that what I do is a good and useful thing. Believe me, there are days when I wonder if anyone is even reading what I’m writing. But I read that and I thought, “Yes! I can be that person. I can write new books. I can create new audio products. I can create new videos. I can teach people new ways of creating content.”

For the first time in years my fears of not being good enough, of being laughed at, of being told that no one likes me and why would anyone want me around have taken a back seat to thoughts of “Why not me? I have useful and valuable experiences to share with people and I can stand up and share them!” And that is a very huge step, and I am really proud of myself for not just thinking it, but being able to say it out loud.

Now, you wanna know the really cool thing about all of this? In the past two days since I read this and had those amazing thoughts I’ve had someone offer to do a teleseminar with me, another person say that my experience would be an asset to their group, and yet another person called me inspiring. I’m taking each and every one of those incidents as confirmation that yes, I can make my desire to help people a reality. And yeah, I’m blowing my own horn a little bit here, but I honestly don’t think any of that would’ve happened had I not been reading this particular book at this particular time. Sure it might have come somewhere down the road, but the odds are pretty good that for the immediate future I would still be slinking around in the shadows wanting desperately to help but being afraid of stepping up and doing it.

Hill says “No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it.” I truly believe that because I’ve always had the desire to create a business out of helping people but until now I never had the belief in myself that I could do it and be successful at it.

Now that I’ve taken the first step, I can’t wait to see where the road leads. :)

My birthday’s coming up next week and I’m already getting geared up for another new year. I like to think of my birthday as my new year’s day because it has more meaning for me than an arbitrary date on a calendar that someone else created.

I also like to think that I haven’t wasted the past year by not accomplishing everything I set out to, but I would be lying to myself if I actually believed that thought. (How’s that for honesty, eh?)

I was looking over my list of goals for this calendar year and realized that I have a lot of work left to do if I’m going to achieve everything I said I wanted to this year. I’m pretty sure that if I buckle down and focus, I will be able to get it all done. So I’m making a public statement of commitment here to really get focused on growing my business and taking care of some pretty serious loose ends that need cutting off before I can move on.

One of the things I’ve been telling myself I would do for year is read a bunch of the self help classics and blog about my thoughts as I was reading them. After all, as a personal development blogger I really should have some basic knowledge of what the masters have written. But alas, I have procrastinated on that too. Until today.

Last night I was checking out the profiles of some new twitter followers (yes, I really do visit your profile when I follow you back!) and came across a really cool article by Gregg Davison in which he talks about how so many self-improvement fanatics read voraciously and never really do anything with what they read. In All The Books You Read Wont Help A Bit! Gregg also says that “reading 1-2 books a week is counter-productive in most cases.” This really struck a chord with me because I read about 10-15 books a week when you add in all the self-help books, business books, and fiction that I read every day. And that doesn’t include magazine articles, online articles, or blog posts It’s no wonder I live in a perpetual state of information overload!

So I’ve decided to take action on the steps that Gregg suggests in his article and start reading the classics I’ve been procrastinating on. Slowly. One at a time. And blogging my thoughts about them as I read them so that the information really sinks in. I started this morning with Think and Grow Rich and read the Preface and the first chapter. I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve never taken the time to read it until now, but after reading the first few pages, it occurs to me that I probably wasn’t ready for it before now.

The message I got from reading this morning certainly fits with where I’m at in my business as well … working at defining a solid, focused purpose and direction for where I want to take things over the next year. I’m still processing my thoughts on it all, so will write more on that later. As I mentioned in my Monday update, I have some new ideas I want to put into action, and I really want to do it right this time.

And that’s all she wrote for this morning :) The PLR.me mastermind call is this afternoon and I need to go and get some lunch into me before I get on the phone for that.

If you feel so inclined, leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on Think and Grow Rich, or on Gregg’s article. I’d love to talk more about this with you!

Have an incredible, productive day :)