Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes
(part 1 of 5)
(If your mom is crazy or mean, you may have good reasons not to listen to her, but my mom is a cool, peace-loving person, so her advice tends to be constructive.)
When I was in college my mother reminded me to “do your reading” from time to time. I was more interesting in having the kind of fun that didn’t involve books. You (probably don’t) know the catch tune by the Scottish band the Proclaimers:
“Come on nature, I don’t want to read a book or talk about the world
Come on nature, I just want to spend some time being boy to the girl”
Well, those randy Scottish lads just wanted to get busy in the clover. While the group is still active and probably making money, the lads are in their late 40s now and I bet are a bit more interested in books than chasing girls.
In any case, in college I majored in English for some odd reason I’ve forgotten. I had a lot of reading to do, and much of it was long, tedious 19th century novels. To be fair, I did get exposed to some excellent old-fashioned literature but it 
Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes
(part 2 of 5)
“Poor People Have Big TVs. Rich People Have Big Libraries.”
The late Jim Rohn said that often. It sounds like a glib statement to be sure. and it might offend you if you enjoy your TV. That’s not the point. These days, many rich people do have big TVs of course. The point is that successful people continually invest in developing their minds and creative pursuits, while unsuccessful people just seek instant self-gratification, which tends to default to doing stuff like watching junk television.
A secondary point is that when you buy a TV or any other toy or new car or even a house, it won’t make you more money – in fact it will usually either decrease in value (TVs, Ipods, computers) or it will cost you money to maintain (houses, boats).
Of course with real-estate your investment may be worth more in the future, but if you buy more than you can afford, you’re investing in a liability that sucks up your monthly cash, not an asset. Of course you need a place to live, and having more space than you need can be a pleasant luxury – but the truth
