7Cs -> Learning i.e. One Book per Month

Commitment to (Lifelong) Learning. One of my Top 5 CliftonStrengths is being a Learner. Ever since I started Financial Advisory in 2011, the vast amount of knowledge and practice management literature continually amaze me. Books on Inter-Personal Skills, Management, Self-Help, Motivation, Sales, Marketing and Business Strategies particularly attracts my attention. Not necessarily aiming to become the subject-matter expert, for me, the process of learning is as important to me as the knowledge I gain.

Finding Time Is A Challenge

I have always been a hardcopy guy, as I like to have ownership of my books, underlining the key points and folding the corners to bookmark the important pages. However, as work and family commitments piled up, I found it difficult in recent years to find time to finish a book. And reading for me had always been a key catalyst for my business as I like to adapt interesting ideas into my business practice, keeping those that work even till today. Eventually, all these bite-size implementations became my system & process, which ultimately benefit my clients in the long run. Right off my mind, I can think of Strategic Coach’s Entrepreneurial Time System, Sandro Forte’s Yellow Box System, Darren Hardy’s Sunday Planning etc.

One Book per Month

Therefore I started to organize what I have done over the years, which includes summarizing key notes on the books I read, writing a book review on my social media, playing audio books off the SD Card while driving (which I converted via the CDs that accompanied some of the books purchases). My key problem was finding time to sit down to read a physical book, given the morning rush, and the logistics arrangement for the kids in the afternoon. Thankfully with some inspiration from a friend, I managed to tap recently into the world of the NLB App. Hence I designed a new learning system into my weekly schedule as such:

1. My Car Audio SD Card currently has around 17 Titles, including a 13-Part Series on Creative Destruction from Strategic Coach. I’ll play either the fixed titles, or off the NLB audiobooks below while driving.

2. Read 10 Pages every morning as part of the Miracle Morning routine (I’ll cover this commitment in a later blog post)

3. Plan a 1hr session of reading per week on top of Point #2

4. Borrowing Audiobooks from my NLB account, FOC, on titles of my interests. In January alone, I already covered 12 audiobooks, which I replayed around 2-3x each. However, in order for this to happen, one key change was taking over my wife’s AirPods which she hardly use. I had never been a earphone person, but for this purpose, this is a real game changer.

Audiobooks

Elaborating on Point #4 above, I am really thankful for the suggestion to try out the NLB App. And combining with the Libby App, listening to audiobooks on the move and during idle time really helped speed up learning a lot. And to reinforce the learning outcomes, I would search for free summary or review of the books off the internet. Some of the audiobooks I have covered include:

1. How To Be The Parents You Always Wanted To Be

2. Atomic Habits

3. The Gap & The Gain

4. The Laws of Lifetime Growth

5. 10x Is Easier Than 2x

6. Make Your Bed

7. The Leader In You

8. You Are What You Believe

9. The Undervalued Self

10. 50 Self-Help Classics

11. Tuesdays With Morris

12. How To Win Friends & Influence People

As a Learner by nature, I have never felt more revitalized lately. If the above resonates with you, do share some thoughts with me too. What are some of your best practices? Next week, I’ll cover my 2nd Commitment, to Moderate Alcohol Intake. Have a great week 🙂

Wee Khai,

Chartered Financial Consultant

“Your Journey to Financial Clarity”