Over the past 12 weeks, I have written my blog series on the 12 Rules for Every One based on Michael Watkin’s HBR blog. I wrapped up last week thinking of a few more of my own. The first one is READ MORE! Some of you are like my daughter and I couldn’t pay you to read more and you have a 1000 excuses why you just didn’t get around to reading today!!! Others are like me and could read all day every day and LOVE to read! On any given day, I could have an 800 page historical fiction book, two magazines, a stack of various industry publications, at least 10 articles flagged in my RSS feed to study and share, and a couple of pages marked in a book of quotes that I am reading! That’s an average day. I get disappointed that I can’t read more. If you could add extra time to my day, my first preference would be to use it to read. Or sleep! HA!! Then there are those of you like my daughter. Too busy to read. On the list of priorities, it’s about 1007 out of 1010! To avoid reading, she would even clean her room (or you perhaps organize your desk) versus sitting down and picking up a book or publication.
But I challenge to just read more. I’m not asking you to become a book worm, just find an extra 10 minutes a day. Over time, maybe that 10 minutes will become more but start with something. Reading will help you be a better “whatever”; be it a leader, boss, employee, sales counselor, office manager, executive director, mom, dad, significant other – you get the point. Even reading the Bild Weekly Sales Memo each week will give you an advantage over those that don’t. If you don’t already, follow Traci Bild and her Get Your Girl Back movement and you will be a better mom, wife, employee, etc. by reading her blog, Notes from Your Girl and more. A great industry read is Senior Housing News and McKnight’s. You should even look for things to read where you would least expect. My daughter was reading the cereal box the other day, yes the cereal box. But hey, she was reading and there was a good little article about healthy eating choices and being active.
So whenever you have an extra 10 minutes, read. Read a magazine, read a blog, heck read your cereal box!!!! Just read because you will learn something new, turn off your mind to the crazy things we call life and do something different. If you need some suggestions on what to read, just let me know!
Until next week, happy reading…
Written by Jenn Cox, COO at Bild & Company.
