WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

Today I did something that I absolutely hate doing, I went downstairs to my basement. As I stood there looking over this vast ocean of boxes, bags, shelves, appliances, and furniture I asked myself when is enough, enough?


This started me thinking, enough of what? If all the boxes were filled with money I don’t guess I could have too many full boxes. If they were full of old shirts one box would be too many.

So now I was in the middle of all this “STUFF” and still had no answer to my question.

My next step was to start opening some of the boxes (I moved into the house in 1989, some of these boxes were moved in and never opened) The first one I opened was a box of old trophies that I had won as a competitive hand gunner. Since I haven’t been in a competition in over 30 years (when my oldest daughter was born) I guessed this one box was too many. The next box I opened was filled with some old magazines. I thought to myself I must have kept these for a reason and they had to be worth a lot of money. Unless someone reading this knows something I don’t, old Consumer Reports don’t sell for much on e-bay. Once again, one boxful was more than enough.

My box opening went the same as this for about another 5 or 6 boxes and then I hit the mother lode. I found something that I don’t think I could ever have enough of, BOOKS!

I opened a box filled with some of the first motivational books I read. The box under it was filled with the same, and I actually found my first copy of Biscuits Fleas and Pump Handles (this is what Zig Ziglar first called his book See You At The Top). I was motivated, so motivated in fact that I spent the next 2 hours in the basement opening boxes looking for more books. I found them, 14 boxes in all. As I flipped through some of the books that I haven’t looked at in decades, I realized that the book may be old, but the information was as valid today as it was when I first read the book.

So to answer my question, you can never have enough boxes filled with money or books. Then I started thinking again, if I found a box filled with money but didn’t use the money for anything, is the money doing me any good? (OK you could make a case that having it as savings gives you a cushion for hard times) The easy answer however is no. Money has no value until you use it to purchase something.

Then I thought about the books. All the books in the boxes I have read at least once. Some of these books were in my basement for the past 21 years in these boxes. Were they doing me any good? ABSOLUTELY! Who I am today, has a lot to do with the books that I have read in the past. The accumulated knowledge, the ideas and concepts they taught me are what has enabled me to do the jobs that I have done and help the people I have helped.

Too many books? NO SUCH THING! A friend of mine who passed away a few years ago, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, had a famous saying. “You will be the same person you are today, 5 years from now, except for the people you meet and the books you read”. I have heard Charlie say this hundreds of time, but sitting there going through the boxes of books in my basement I finally realized exactly what he meant.

How many books do you have? How many have you read? Let me share a funny story, a rep came into my office a few years ago and looked over my bookshelf. He saw a Jeffrey Gitomer book, “The Sales Bible”. He picked it off the shelf and in a proud voice exclaimed to me, I have this book! I got excited with him and asked, “How did you like it”? He looked me right in the eyes…and you guessed it... told me he hasn’t read it yet. I know I shouldn’t have asked, but I had to know, I asked him when he got it. His answer, A LONG TIME AGO. Needless to say I went into my speech about all the tools in the world don’t do anyone any good until they are used. (To tell the truth, I am not sure he was capable of reading that many words…LOL)

If you have boxes of books you haven’t read, you have too many books. If you have read them and they helped to form who you are and have helped you become a better person and sales rep, then like me, you can never have too many books and enough will NEVER be enough.

Lorin