“No one ever learned to swim by reading a book.”—James C. Hunter, The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle
I am a proponent of reading daily (at least 30 minutes of focused reading a day), but I don’t expect that change is going to come simply by reading a book. Change comes only through action. Reading expands our thinking and gives ideas. Reading inspires growth, but it does not produce anything.
In the late 1970s, James O. Prochaska and Carlo Di Clemente developed the basis for the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavioral change. TTM suggests that the processes of change guide one through five stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Obviously, the keys to lasting change lie in action and maintenance. Wishing to change only lands us in the contemplation stage. Reading a book, which certainly beneficial, brings one to the preparation stage. Reading can give us the tools and the information necessary to change, but change does not come without action.
James C. Hunter writes about Servant Leadership when he makes the statement about learning to swim. Leadership comes in leading. Change comes in changing.
In the Prologue to his book, The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle, Hunter asks three questions that require consideration before continuing (and I would suggest need to be asked before pursuing any change):
“1. Are you truly committed to personal continuous improvement…? ….
2. Can your ego handle receiving feedback, even emotionally painful feedback, from others….
3. Are you willing to do the necessary work, take the necessary risks, and suffer the necessary pain in order to close the gaps between where you currently are… and where your need to be…?” (p. 24).
A mistake in reading Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is that all one needs to do is will for the benefits to come. The title alone makes me think of Rodin’s “The Thinker” in the movie, Night at the Museum—“I’m thinking. I’m thinking….” The thinking part is only the essential beginning. Preparation and Action must follow, and, as experience tells us, Maintenance of the behavior takes effort, as well.
Anything of value in life takes effort. It takes work. Growth and change are never easy, but always worth it. Hunter also makes a point in the aforementioned book that growth requires change. If we aren’t willing to change, we are unwilling to grow.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento.