A David Creation

I have heard from several business leaders and from a few Christian pastors time and time again that one of the ways a person can be successful in his or her field or life is by reading good books. One man, a CEO of a successful hospital in San Diego, told me to read at least 1 good business book per month. If you are like me, you love learning new things but find that reading a book from cover to cover can be quite difficult to do while running a small business. There are times you’ll find me having 3-4 good books by my bedside but will stay there for months! I get through the first few chapters, get distracted by another good book and add that to my stack of books “I’m currently reading.” Before I know it, I’m reading 12 books a year like I was told but have only tapped into the first few chapters of all 12 books!!!!

Why is it that I cannot finish these books? You can call it laziness if you’d like. Maybe I’m too easily distracted or find some books boring. I would say that my number one reason or excuse is simply, “I don’t have the time!” Can you relate?

So, how can I (and you) overcome such a hurdle and read good books? Last week, I heard an online sermon from author and pastor John Piper that told his hearers how to read 20 books in a year!

The facts

• Lets say the average person can read 250 words per minute, which is around 2 normal-size paragraphs.
• The average book is around 200 pages.

The solution

• Important: Read 15 minutes per day.
• Don’t read more than 15 minutes a day or you’ll burn out!
• Reading for 15 minutes a day will result in reading a minimum of 3,750 words
• Reading for 15 minutes a day for 365 days will result in having read at least 1,368,750 words
• If an average book as around 350 words per page, you will have read 3,910 pages or 20 (2oo page) books

So, can you read 20 books a year? Will you take the challenge? If you are a fast reader, read for no more than 15 minutes a day, you might be able to read 30-40 books a year! You can even accomplish this task even easier by listening to audiobooks! Give it a try. I am!

• The average book

Blackberry recently came out with another new Blackberry for Verizon customers. It is called the Blackberry 9630 Tour. You are probably wondering why they would introduce a new non touch-screen when they came out with the beautiful looking Blackberry Storm late last year. The main feature of the Blackberry Tour is that it is a “world” phone. (This means you can travel in over 100 countries and use this phone to make calls, send emails, search the web and text.) I believe it is replacing the 2 year old “World Edition” Blackberry from Verizon. That too was a wonderful device but lacked the camera feature.

The Blackberry Tour also looks very similar to ATT’s Blackberry Bold. The bold is a little easier to type on and has a better quality screen than Verizon’s World Edition and Curve. The new Tour device has a really nice look and feel to it and has a similar interface as the touch-screen Storm. The screen quality is far superior than the BB Curve too. If you own a Curve or World Edition from Verizon, it will be very tempting to break your contract and buy the new Tour once you get your hands on it. The typing is easier, the screen quality and has a 3.2 Mega Pixel camera!

The only downside I can see to the Tour is the size! Why is the world would Blackberry build a new phone this late in the game that is so heavy and bulky? It is almost the same size as the Blackberry Storm, which has always looked way to big to me. Why do I think it is big? Because the iPhone’s thickness is half the size! If Research in Motion can cut their thickness in half, they will have a phone that might get closer to competing with the appearance of the iPhone. However, the applications on the iPhone are still far easier to use and don’t lock up as much as the Blackberry. The Blackberry still has a rough time with its browser, while the iPhone loads with ease.

If you are a small business owner and need help with your mobile devices, I’m hear to help. I can help decide what device might be best for you and your staff.