Paradigm Shift

By Reynor Buenaflor

Paradigm shift.... Heard about this word?

Typically cahracterized by exclamations of "Now I get it !"

"Men, my eyes were opened."

"Awesome, How could I miss this one before?"

"Why did I only realize these things now! "

Moving to the next level. Defining moments. Eye-opener. Awakening. Enlightening. A great aha!

Call it in any name you want but the experience is always characterized with a realization... some awe and grandeur...

followed by a desire of change.

A desire to do things in a different way. Simply stated... a change in perspective.

I got some trivias (might be a common sense to some....)

Do you know that you can learn literally hundred years worth of wisdom by reading the life of other people?

Do you have someone you look up to? Want to learn how he thinks and how he lives his life?

Just read their biography or auto-biography.

Do you know that you can speed up your growing curve by learning from other people's goofs?

Business? Read Business stories and be inspired by entrepreneurs who rise up after failures and triumph.

Learn from their wisdom and save yourself from lots of pain and lost of money.

Career? Learn from people who make it big time... What about Jack Welch from GE.

Family? There are lots and lots of bits and pieces about family.

Do you know that your future 5 to 10 years from now is determined by the sum total of the books you read and the people you are with?

Wow! What a claim. What a truth plainly stated! "Any proof guys?", you might ask.

Try it for yourself!

For the next 5 years. Change your closest friends and the books you read. Garbage in, garbage out.

Make sure you apply all the things that you read.

It is that simple.

I am saying it again.... Your life 5 to 10 years from now is determined by the sum total of the books you read and the people you are with.

How's that for a start.

Want to improve your life?

Change your mind. Change what you feed your mind. Change the books that you read and the people you are with.

Take it from Jim Ronh, "If you don't like how things are, change it! You are not a tree."

Paradigm shift...perspective shift...can spark a big "life shift".

Make sure you shift your life to the better side.

It is your choice.

Now do something! Choose what you feed on!

How to get the most from your books (part 2)

By Reynor Buenaflor --> trulyrichreynor.bookwormonline@blogger.com



-- Continued from previous article



*Discontentment Stage*



"Is this all there is? How come I keep on reading financial literacy books

and self-development books but nothing seems to change? I am the same me".

If this sounds familiar to you, Congratulations!



You are now on the second stage of book lovers. This is when we finally

realize that reading books per se though entertaining is never beneficial if

what we read is just an added fact, an added information but never applied.

It is more of an FYI without any action item from us.



This is the time when the book lover realizes that books without action will

bring no noticeable change. Read and read and read without doing anything is

equal to someone who reads a lot of books without growth…well, at least you

have learned something and improve your speed in reading. Haha.



Life is fun, isn't it?



We never learn to ride a bicycle by just reading a book on how to ride a

bicycle nor learn to swim without putting down the book on how to swim.



We learn as we do… Apply and grow.







*Deeper Love Stage*



"Now it makes sense. This is what the book is saying. I get it."



We began to see some illumination. We applied what we learned and voila we

appreciate more the book we were previously reading. This is how I feel when

I reread some of my business books after launching my first business.



This is the stage when book lovers discover and mine additional related

golden truths. This is the stage where the book reader has some testimonials

to share. The reader gets additional body of knowledge that enhances his

understanding of the topic. This is the time when the book lover can

evaluate more accurately the soundness of the materials that he has

previously read.



We may hear ourselves talking like this – "This part of the book makes

sense. I experience the same thing when I did it. This on the other hand is

an exaggeration. Hmm. Maybe true for him but not for me."





*Sharing Stage*



This is the stage when the book lover realizes that he has something to

share. Something that his fellow book lovers or the rest of humanity can

learn and enjoy from. This is the time when he begins to draw from the

wealth of his readings and life experiences and share it to others. This is

the most fulfilling part and could be a scary part.



We are in different stages. The pace of the process to go from getting to

know stage to sharing stage is not same to everyone. We can also be in

different stages in the different areas of our life. It can be a cycle for

some. Some people may never complete the whole cycle and never reach the

sharing stage due to fear of criticism or simply hoarding the knowledge

within him. Regardless of what stage we are, regardless of our pace, it is

noteworthy to point out that reading book is one of the most productive,

enjoyable and worth-doing experiences we can have.



You are what you read. Feed your mind!

How to get the most from your books

How to get the most from your books (part 1)

By Reynor Buenaflor --> trulyrichreynor.bookwormonline@blogger.com

Hello there.

Life is understood better when we look at it backward.

I was contemplating and trying to figure out things myself how my journey to blogging world began.

What rush into my mind in a split of a second are the following body of thoughts:

….. stages. growth. journey. process.

Indeed, where I am now did not happen in an instant. It never accidentally happen. Day in and day out was the evolution of this journey and I am here to share with you some insights that I have realized along my journey.

Believe it or not there are STAGES in the life of a book lover !!!!

Getting to Know Stage:

This is our first encounter with books. The first aha. The first time when we say, now I know... books are indeed good.

This is the time when our hunger for knowledge or hunger for some wholesome fun and entertainment, hunger for information is satisfied.

Hmmm. This is the stage where we begin to "fall in love" with books (weird... don't have the right term for that) for different reasons we can ever think of... We begin to love books for fun, for knowledge or wisdom, for the joy of being considered as learned or geek (some people love to be called as one), for an effective "don’t-bother-me" thing to do when we are seated in the plane and we want to have our precious space (this works for some but not all the time especially if someone at your side is as persistent as the best salesman. hahaha).

This is the time when we make a decision that whatever happens... whether the sun won't shine... we will make reading the book a part of our everyday routine (just make sure you have some lights turned on).

How do you know if you are in this stage?

When you rather read than go shopping... rather read than watch movie... rather read than eat (I love food, this never happened to me)….or rather read than ______ (kindly fill in the blank with whatever usual activity of people around you).

... More to come (to be continued)

The Bookworm