I was struck this morning by a LinkedIn posting by my friend and colleague Eileen McDargh. Here’s what she wrote:

Get in control by reading only what matters. And what matters concerns your business, your future, your soul.

Another friend and colleague of mine, the late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, was famous for saying:

You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.

Reading is becoming a lost art. What used to be “reading time” has now been taken over by television, Facebook, Words with Friends (BTW, I just played “civet” for 57 points!), and aimless Internet browsing. And this is a shame, because time spent reading great books—books about your business, your future, your soul—is like time spent digging in a vein of pure gold. Biography, history, great fiction—these can all pay rich dividends.

So why aren’t we doing it? Why, instead, do we find ourselves saying things like:

“I’m so behind on my reading.”
“I’ve got a stack of books I’ve been meaning to get to.”
“I’d love to read more if I could just find the time.”

Really, would you ever say, “I’d love to dig in a vein of pure gold if I could just find the time”? Of course not. You’d find the time!

So why not make reading a priority? Instead of saving it until everything else is done (which, by the way, will never happen), make it an appointment. “I can’t play Words with Friends right now—this is my reading time.”

I encourage you (and by “you” I mean “me” as well) to schedule reading time every day. Another friend and colleague, Randy Gage, begins and ends each day by reading something motivational and uplifting. That’s not a bad practice.

Finally, I’d like to invite you to share your insights with other readers. What are the books that have made—or are currently making—a positive difference in your life? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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I was at an event recently where one business speaker asserted that there were four words you should never tell a customer: “I can’t do that.” And he had some very good reasons for this assertion:

Your competitors love it when you tell a customer, “I can’t do that.”

It’s music to their ears.

When you tell a customer, “I can’t do that,” you’re giving them an excuse to look elsewhere, and you’re opening a window of opportunity for your competition. This is a bad thing.

Except when it’s not.

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Last night I heard a television commentator say that the Republican nomination is going to come down to “who wants it more.”

I sincerely hope that this is not the case.

Republican or Democrat, I sincerely hope that we’re not going to choose our leaders on the basis of who wants it more. I mean, really, would you make any other choice that way?

“Honey, where would you like to eat tonight?”

“Well, the Mexican place is always great. The Italian place is kind of grimy and the food’s not that good, but I think they want it more.”

“Italian it is, then!”

Or:

“Which one of these guys should we pick for the basketball team?”

“Well, the guy on the left is seven foot six, lightning fast, and can dunk the ball without leaving the ground. On the other hand, that little fellow next to him—the one who comes up to his waist—really, really wants it.”

“Welcome to the big leagues, little guy!”

Sounds kind of preposterous, doesn’t it? That’s because in the real world (which apparently excludes the world of politics) we reward performance, not wishes.

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Would you hire you?

A friend and I were talking recently about Michael Gerber’s seminal book, The E-Myth Revisited, and that got us talking about the by-now-almost-cliched concept of “working on the business” rather than “working in the business.” The basic idea is that a baker (to use Gerber’s example) decides to open a bake shop, and then spends all her time baking rather than running a baking business. To grossly oversimplify, Gerber is saying that, as business owners, we need to step back from being a “technician” within the business and look at it from a larger, more entrepreneurial perspective.

I propose we step back even further, and look at our businesses not as technicians, not as entrepreneurs, but as customers.

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See that guy on the left? The one at the Steinway? That’s Andras Schiff, one of the greatest concert pianists alive today. Andras and I have a few things in common: 1) we both play the piano; 2) we both play Steinways (although his preferred instrument is a Bosendorfer); 3) we’ve both had dinner with my sister (but not at the same time; I’ve never met Mr. Schiff, whereas I’ve met my sister several times).

I want to talk about #1. We both play the piano. We have that in common. Here’s where we differ:

I play notes; Andras Schiff plays music.

I enjoy playing the piano. I’ve played in a few bands, and I can play well enough to entertain myself, and—on a good day—others. But I’m not a master. Unlike Andras Shiff, my playing doesn’t rise to the level of award-winning performance.

Here’s the difference.

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Seth Godin wrote an interesting blog today pondering whether there will ever be a time when being uninformed is cause for shame. It’s a good question, particularly in a culture that seems to equate “uninformed” with “real.” A culture that thinks having an “elite education” is a bad thing (and it’s especially galling when these invectives come from graduates of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale). A culture that watches only Fox News or only MSNBC and considers itself informed. Here’s a secret:

If you’re only informed about one side of an issue, you aren’t informed.

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You don’t need an award to have award-winning performance.

A couple of friends and I went to a little jazz club in Seattle on Saturday night. The quartet, led by vocalist Greta Matassa, was outstanding. My friends and I had a wonderful time, but here’s the thing that really struck me:

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What will your one thing be today?

Back when I was producing my sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live!, I had one cardinal rule that I followed, for each and every show, during the entire 15-year run. That rule was this:

For each show, there had to be at least one element that would make the audience think, at the end, “Now that was worth watching!”

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What decision will you make today?

Every movement—forward, backward, or sideways—begins with a decision. The quality of that movement is determined, to a large degree, by the quality of the decision. Making a decision is like putting your car in “drive.” You’re not going to go anywhere until you step on the gas, but by shifting into “drive,” you’re making a declaration of intent.

That’s what a decision is, really—a declaration of intent. You’re saying to the world (or, at least, to your world) that this is where you’re going to go, this is what you’re going to achieve, this is who you’re going to be on the planet. Ideally, it’s a promise that you make to yourself. You may or may not share that promise with others (family, employees, colleagues), but you have to make it to yourself first.

A decision is, by definition, exclusionary. It sets things in motion down a particular path, to the exclusion of other paths. Once you decide to turn right, you cannot also turn left. Once you decide—truly decide—to commit to award-winning performance in your business, you can no longer phone it in. Decisions are not for those who want it both ways. But then, neither is success.

A leader can be defined as “one who decides” (George W. Bush’s infamous “I’m the decider” statement notwithstanding). So my question to you today is a simple one:

What decision will you make today? Consciously. Intentionally.

All too often we go through our days on autopilot, not making any conscious decisions that will move us forward. We fill our hours with activities that keep us where we are. We tread water, but we don’t swim.

I invite you to break that pattern today. I invite you to take a stand for something. I invite you to move forward in your business and in your life.

I invite you to make a decision.

What decision will you make today?

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I just finished co-chairing (with the truly amazing Ruby Newell-Legner) a major conference for my professional organization, the National Speakers Association (NSA). By all accounts, it was a huge success (which translates, of course, into huge relief for me!). In the three days since the event ended, I’ve spent some time trying to discern what it was that made the conference so successful.

Yes, we had some truly great speakers and presenters. Yes, the format flowed well and was easy to navigate. Yes, the food was good. But you and I have both been to events that had all these elements—and more—and yet they didn’t quite click. So what was it that set this conference apart?

I think it comes down to one word:

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