A book that I’m reading is Skip the Line by James Altucher. It has many interesting ideas, but here I’d like to share just one of them with you: reading books can give you virtual mentors. In fact, the author wrote that reading is a “superpower” because of it!
You see, we need mentors to get ahead in life. But in real life, your options are limited to those around you. Compared to the world as a whole, that is a very small circle.
Moreover, there is the danger of getting stuck in a local maximum. You could try to reach the peak of a “hill” as defined by those around you without realizing that there are other “hills” out there with higher peaks! As a result, you could spend years of your time on the wrong “hill”.
Reading books is a good solution to this situation because it allows you to learn from a much wider circle. In fact, not only can you learn from the best people in the world today, but also you can learn from masters in the past! Isn’t that great?
Though these people are virtual because they don’t physically sit in front of you, you can still learn a lot from them. Why? Because they share their decades of experience with you through their books. It’s like listening to their stories while sitting next to them. You can learn about the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them. It can save you a lot of time because you don’t have to learn things yourself the hard way.
Why should it be a book? Can’t you just read an article or watch a video instead? Well, there is something a book gives you that is difficult to achieve any other way: depth. A book gives you the depth of someone’s experience. You will get not just the lessons but also the stories behind those lessons. These stories can give you the context and inspiration you need.
One thing to note: you need to read these books carefully. Don’t just read them quickly to finish them. Take your time to take notes and absorb the lessons. You might even want to reread them after some time. To be clear, not every book deserves this kind of attention, but if it’s a book that you consider important, then do it this way. This is how you can get the most out of your virtual mentorship.
Any thoughts? Feel free to share them in the comments!
I have a lot of online mentors via blogging and have read several of their books as well along the way. I loved your point about the “localization” of people around you as mentors. Taking on mentors from around the world can be very rewarding and you certainly will learn a lot! Excellent post!
I agree that we can also learn a lot from someone through their blogs. Thanks for sharing, Lisa!
I totally agree with you Donald.
Thanks for sharing.
I make it a point to go to the library once a week. If course, nowadays we can read ebooks and if we want to know more about a certain topic, we can Google. The best part is we can learn from other people’s experience.
Going to the library is a good habit to have. It’s a great learning experience for sure. Thanks for sharing, Mary!
Books, books, books… They are truly awesome. For lack of the best word; am a living testimony of how the information therein have greatly shaped my life. I read books on: Time Management, Physical Mastery, Emotional Mastery, Relationships Mastery and Financial Mastery. Three years ago, I asked myself, ”What should I real do with ALL this KNOWLEDGE that many people seem not have?” The answer came in a DREAM. Moses, take ACTION on what you already know in one form or the other.
Am a people builder. Those who seem to have TROUBLED lives come to me for advise on relationships, finance, nutrition etc. Donald, am so much informed!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Moses! I’m glad to learn how reading books has helped you become a people builder.
Virtual mentors in their own right have set formidable direction. Names like Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Joel Osteen, Brian Tracy, John Maxwell, Robbin Sharma, the list is endless. Sites like yours; Donald, are a real shoulder to lean on in my case. Well done
Yes, there are lot of virtual mentors that we can learn from. Thanks for the kind words, Moses!
Hi,Donald, keep doing what what’s you are passionate about. You do inspire me. I await the day your capital city moves to Kalimantan. And hopes to meet you there. Didn’t realise it has been many years since I bumped into Life Optimizer blog of yours.
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I hope we can meet someday. That will be nice 🙂