Books, meditation and success

As I'm currently working on my review format for my website I figured I'd take some time and talk about things that help me stay focused and motivated. I haven't been on WA for very long but I still see noticeable progress everyday.

It was about 7 months ago my life would change forever. I've always had trouble reading books and always thought that I was not good at absorbing the information presented in books. So I've always used videos or audio to absorb information. The problem was that I always got distracted by my thoughts and keep zoning out while reading.

I don't remember exactly how and why I stumbled upon meditation, but I remember looking on YouTube and found that a lot of the people I was following that were successful in what they were doing were all meditating. When I looked in to this I found that almost ALL successful people that I came across had meditation as a morning routine.

So I started to look in to this more. I found an app (as you do these days) and tried it out. I wanted to see the benefits of meditation for myself. At first it was very difficult. My mind kept racing and I had a hard time sitting still. The instructor in the app assured me that this is normal and that I would start with just 2-3 minutes of mediation in the beginning. Then increase it to 5 minutes and so on. Eventually I got to 20 mins of meditation!

The benefits didn't come immediately but I decided to stick with it since so many people had stated how it changed their lives. It was not until about a month in I really started to notice the differences. It was not until this point I realised just how much noise and unnecessary chatter goes on in the mind. What meditation had done was to quiet the noise in my mind so to say. It was like an air conditioner being switched off... I didn't realise it was on making noise in the background until it was switched off. With this comes a great sense of peace and focus. It allows you to think clearly and therefore I would highly recommend it to someone getting in to entrepreneurship. A lot of people focus on the technical aspects of starting a business but neglect the fact that YOU ARE THE BUSINESS. If your mind is not functioning optimally you most likely will not produce the results you are looking for.

Finally I want to recommend some books that deeply and fundamentally changed the way I view the world and business. Some people are going to brush this of as a bunch of BS and not be open to the books I suggest which is absolutely fine (regardless I hope to plant a seed that someday will grown and you might consider looking in to these books). But here are some books that changed my way of thinking and which COUNTLESS successful people credit their success to.

1. The Secret is a highly controversial book. Regardless if you believe in the subconscious link with the universe and that all things you wish for will come true it teaches you something really valuable in business. YOU CAN NOT SUCCEED WITHOUT THE RIGHT MINDSET. You need to literally program your mind for success. The Secret talks about the law of attraction. I could get in to the science of law of attraction here (PM me if you are interested) but I'll just let you read it and try it out for yourself. The concept in here is free to try and you have nothing to loose.

Conor McGregor is someone that keeps mentioning the law of attraction as the reason why he is so successful and can almost always predict the outcomes of any fight! Of course hard work is a major factor in his success, but his mindset is on point! Someone else that is very open with the law of attraction is Jim Carrey, who wrote himself a check for 10 million dollars before he was famous and broke as a joke. He kept that check with him all the time and always looked at it and pretended he had that money. Then it happened, he landed a starring role in Dumb and Dumber. Can you guess how much he earned for that movie? That's right, exactly 10 million dollars!

These are just a couple of examples, I could go on, but I'll just leave you to do some research if you are interested. While the The Secret is not a business book it does teach you the right mindset you need in order to succeed in business.

2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you were to ask most millionaires or billionaires which is the ONE business book you MUST read in order to reach the success you desire, then that book most likely would be Think and Grown rich.

Napoleon Hill was a journalist with little success financially. He was approached by Andrew Carnegie, who was the richest man on the planet at the time. Carnegie gave Napoleon the challenge to spend the coming 20 years of his life to find the formula for financial success. Carnegie would provide Napoleon with contacts to the worlds most influential and wealthy people at the time and have him study the habits and behaviours that propelled them to financial success. Napoleon accepted the offer without hesitation and was not offered any money to complete this task, because if he was to find the secret of financial success, he didn't need Carnegie to pay him (people of course thought Napoleon was mad for taking this offer). Napoleon did not complete this task in 20 years, but in 25 years. He then wrote what is considered the first ever self-help book.

It's an old book but it's just as relevant today as back then. It's a must read if you are serious about reaching your goal to become financially free.

3. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Once again, not a business book, but a book on spirituality. This book teaches the value of being fully present in the now and to enjoy the journey you are on rather than focusing on a far off goal that you may or may not reach at some point in the future. It teaches you to be grateful for what you have now and realise that now is the time to take action. There is no other time than now, it all happens in the now. Even if you don't see yourself as a spiritual person it still contains a life philosophy that will drastically change your perspective on things. This book truly changed my life and it will change you life to if you decide to give it a read.

I think reading and meditating are vital in the journey for success. You need to carefully choose what information you fill your mind with as it will affect your life in ways you can't begin to imagine. Your mind is a powerful tool, so take good care of it!

I hope you found this useful. These practices and books have changed the way I see things forever and I'm no longer doubting my abilities to succeed. It gives me a comfortable feeling of knowing that I will succeed because I have succeeded already. In my mind I'm already where I want to be.

Good luck with your journey and I wish you all the success in this new year!