Lead from Behind.

So many seeds sown in the days and nights of reading, are reaped much later, in fruits of leadership and influence. But not everyone can recognize its fruits, even when they have it.

Few people can deny the allure that teachers of the opposite gender pose to the young student’s mind. And although I do not claim to be one of the few, I can attest to the allure of the insanely mesmerizing, and incredibly dark-skinned lady, that pulled me aside after a high-school lecture, to hand over a white hardcover book she pulled out from her black handbag.

Since I was obviously not the brightest kid in the class, I was shocked to be pulled aside, wondering what about me could possibly have caught her attention, but I nevertheless went ahead to join her with the lecturer, after all the other kids had left.

She handed me the book; “No Excuses: The Power of Self Discipline” by Brian Tracy, and although I was unable to complete it on my first reading, it went on to form a core part of my initial library of books, not because of how glamorous the book was (and trust me it was), but rather because of how glamorous its recommender was.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” she asked.

She was much older than me, I spoke with utmost confidence as I blurted out the most insane answer known to any young man. And even though I can’t recall my answer till today if asked again, I probably would have said my dream was to be able to do two things at once.

Multi-tasking.

Final Words

If you’re anything like Leonardo da Vinci, you will know just how possible it is to perform two separate tasks simultaneously. But you don’t have to be an ambidextrous artist to hold two conflicting ideas in your mind, you just have to read.

That said, one of the things that scares people the most about reading is not the fact that it is too difficult, too time-consuming, or too expensive considering the cost of books, but rather the idea of having to change their previously held beliefs in light of new information.

Change is scary.

And like words, reading has the power to alter just about any belief, idea or misconception that you may have conceived in your mind. But for those of us readers who wish to take our reading beyond the privacy of our homes, classrooms, or social media feeds, change is necessary if we want to influence our lives and the lives of those we care about.