Give a Tithe to Yourself

A thousand years ago (OK, so maybe it was only 500 years) I went to a sales seminar put on by Tom Hopkins.  It was a full day event and while some of his stuff is a little old

-fashioned now, he had lots of good information.  But from the full day, there is one item he mentioned that has stayed with me forever.

Of course, Tom was selling product from the stage.  He had both video and audio cassettes available and was making the deal sound irresistible. He stopped his sales process, (although now that I look at it, it was probably a step in the process!) walked to the other side of the stage and said, "You know, if you're not spending 10% of your net income on becoming better at what you do, you're just fooling yourself."


I remember sitting there thinking about what I had earned the previous year and realizing what that number would be.  It made me easily decide to purchase his audio set, which I listened to over and over again in my car.  My W-2 the next year showed immense progress in my selling career.


Today, I still go by that rule.  While I may not spend 10%, I probably get close to it.  I like to learn so it is not a chore, but investing in myself also makes very good sense.

What are you doing this year to get better at what you do?