JcBrown | The Canva Queen

I’ve only read two books this year, and the funny thing is that I haven’t even finished reading one of them. But the things I’ve learned from these two books have changed so much about how I approach my life and business. At the beginning of this year, I bought a book titled How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield. Before now, I used to overthink a lot of things. If I wanted to start something, I would spend so much time thinking about what people would say. How would people see me? What if I tried and it didn’t work? What if people laughed at me? I had so many things I wanted to do, but I kept allowing these thoughts to influence my decisions. Then I started reading this book, and one of the biggest lessons I took from it was the principle of taking 100% responsibility for my life. My finances, my business, my relationships, my personal growth, and the decisions I make. I had to stop waiting for circumstances to become perfect or allowing other people’s opinions to determine what I could do. And when I started looking at life this way, I realized how much I had been limiting myself. I have the ability to create the kind of life I want, but I also have to be willing to make the decisions and do the work required to get there. That was when I decided I needed to stop playing small. The second book I read was Sell Like Crazy by Sabri Suby. And that book taught me so much about sales and marketing. It changed how I think about selling, how I communicate the value of my services and offers, and how I approach getting customers. I’ve applied a lot of what I learned to my freelancing and digital business this year, and I’ve seen the results. When I look at how much has changed for me this year, from my finances to my social media presence, my business, my confidence, and even the way I think about life, I can see the impact of the things I’ve learned and actually put into practice. And here’s something I want you to understand. You don’t have to read 100 books in a year to change your life. You can read one book, take the lessons seriously, and start applying them. Because what’s the point of reading 50 books if nothing changes about the way you live or do things? I haven’t even finished reading How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, but one lesson from that book has influenced so many decisions I’ve made this year. One book taught me to take responsibility for my life. The other taught me how to become better at selling. And I’ve spent this year putting those lessons to work. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m happy with the progress I’ve made in different areas of my life. So if there’s one thing I’ll encourage you to do, it’s to stop measuring your growth by how many books you’ve read. Pay attention to how much of what you’re learning you’re actually implementing. What’s one book you’ve read that changed the way you approach life?