Are You Limiting Your Thinking

The more interesting and enlightening you are, the more people will welcome you into their lives and the more opportunity will abound.

Learning is not limited to going to school or getting a degree. It's surprising that many people stop feeding their minds after a certain point. For some, that point is high school graduation; for others, it's graduating from college. A large university once took a survey of its recent graduates and found that 90 percent hadn't read a single book since they'd left the university.

Once, while traveling in France for our twenty-fifth anniversary, Marci and I met a couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. The couple were in their late seventies, retired, and traveled to someplace new in the world each month. They enrolled in courses at their local university to learn more about each country, and then they traveled to see firsthand what they had been studying.

It is important to share your hard-won knowledge with those who want to learn what you know. Once you attain a body of knowledge or understanding in a specific area, you'll be considered selfish if you only use that information for your own benefit. Share your knowledge with others and be free from that limitation.

Ignorance is expensive in all areas of life, so don't put- or keep-yourself in a box of limited thinking. If you feel that you're boxed in, decide now to think outside the box with the help of your mentors. Your Conquering Force can shatter any limitations you have put upon yourself. Whatever you heart desires can set you free.

Just before I was to conduct a segment of a financial planning seminar, the seminar leader, a brilliant man with a Ph.D. in finance, approached me. He asked me for some background information in order to introduce me properly. He knew who I was but didn't know my academic background. He asked, "Where did you go to school?"

I replied, "Monument Valley High School." Thinking I was joking, he chuckled. "No, I mean where did you go to college?" "I didn't go to college," I told him.

He was shocked. He was also worried about his reputation, since the audience was there by his personal invitation. Seeing that he was upset, I suggested that he concentrate on my accomplishments rather than my academic background.

After I completed my presentation, the man approached me and said, "I've been teaching financial principles for twenty years, and I have a doctorate in finance. You only have a high school education and you are making more money tha
I am. Something is wrong here. Will you tell me what you think it is?" He was interested in learning from me because it was his Core Desire to earn more money.

"You're not using your knowledge and credentials to create income, you're using them to teach. Teaching is an honorable profession," I told him, "but not if you're interested in making a lot of money."