I was recently reminded about the movie, The Book of Eli, which is about a man, Denzel Washington, who is trying to preserve the last Bible on Earth in a post-apocalyptic world.

Now, the antagonist, Gary Oldman, wants to steal this book, because he knows of its power to guide, lead, and from his perspective, control others.  And it reminds me of the important idea that you may have heard before that Leaders are Readers.

What reading does is that it not only expands our knowledge but it accelerates our learning curve and our success.

Because most people learn through trial and error.  Trial and error is fine, but what does it cost you?

What does it cost you that is truly the one thing you can never get back?  Time.

Trial and error takes time.

By reading and expanding our knowledge, we can model others.  Find out what they did to create a particular result and then take what we like and leave the rest.  That’s what it is all about.

A couple things to keep in mind, of course, is that not all knowledge is created equal. If you want to be successful, study success.  Find someone who did what you want and then do what they did.

The other thing to think about is speed of acquisition.  Chances are you don’t always have time to go out and interview the people you want to study, that’s why reading their books, attending their seminars, or hiring them as a coach can accelerate your results.

That’s what it is all about, producing results, more efficiently and more effectively.

Think about an area of your life in which you want to create more success.

Think for a moment about how long it might take for you to master this area of your life or your business if you do it through trial and error.

And then think about how long it would take to create success if you model someone else, through reading or by attending a seminar or by hiring a coach.

My guess is that the choice is clear.  Decide now and go for it!