I’m always amazed when I interact with fellow business executives or friends of mine that people just don’t read anymore. Books have always shared my nightstand, and on some occasions I’ve been known to have two or three going at the same time, covering different subjects. Call me crazy, but I believe that investing the time and learning something new is paramount to personal growth. Others view it as boring, or worse – they stopped reading twenty years ago when they graduated from college.
On TV, I’m the guy that would rather watch the History Channel or some documentary on PBS than a reality show about whiney people or fake drama. It’s fascinating to me to learn that polar bears skin is actually black, or that JFK was the president that first officially created The Green Berets.
With my computer, instantly connecting to gems like TED (http://www.ted.com/) or any number of the blogs I subscribe to keep my ideas fresh, current and inventive. Who wouldn’t benefit from getting their assumptions challenged:
from Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/),
Dan Rockwell’s Leadership Freak (http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/),
John Spence’s Awesomely Simple (http://johnspence.com/)
or Doug Rice’s Small Business Storyteller (http://www.douglaserice.com/).
I subscribe to dozens more, but these are my favorites. I’m always finding real information, tools, and challenges to my way of thinking in their writing.
My favorite time to read has always been in the mornings when it’s quiet and I’m enjoying a cup of coffee. Lately, this has mostly been on my computer, rather than with a nose in a book. (I still haven’t made the jump to an e-reader yet – but I feel that it’s coming soon) A new hobby now is to cull through the noise that’s being automatically sent to me and find an interesting article or video to start my day. There is always at least one or two that make the cut.
Anything that I like is rebroadcast on my Twitter (https://twitter.com/atkinsontshirt/) or LinkedIn feed (www.linkedin.com/in/marshallatkinson), as I like sharing content too. If you stumbled on this blog article, connect with me and let’s share your favorites too!
