Look Forward

Hey team, here we are, Monday. It is Monday, and C.S. Lewis said, “There are far, far better things ahead than we leave behind.” As we’re just starting in January here, New Year, I think that’s something we need to think about. Somebody listening to this message needs to hear there are far, far better things ahead of you than what you left behind last year, in the last decade, in your life. You have better things ahead of you. They are there. You might need to work for them. You might need to tweak some things in your life to make things better for you. There are some things you might need to do. You might need to read a book.

I’ve given this recipe before. Some people have asked me about it when I talk about leadership. It’s that age-old adage. Look at a book with 300 pages in it. I tell my son, Jonathan, all the time, “How is it that I can read 40 books a year or more?” Well, it’s as simple as this. I read 10 pages a day, at a minimum.

If you take and think about this, you read more than 10 pages a day. To read 40 or 50 books, most books are somewhere in that 300-page range under most circumstances. But if you read 10 pages a day for 30 days, you’ll read 300 pages. There you go, 12 books this year. January starting here in January, you might have to catch up. But if you read 10 pages a day for 30 days, every day, you will have read at least 12 books. It’s as simple as that. I tell my son the same thing. I pay him to read.

You guys are probably sitting there going, “Man, Chad, would you pay me to read?” I wish somebody would have paid me to read when I was younger. But I have to tell you honestly, I’m trying to build my son to be a reader because leaders are readers. I believe very firmly that knowledge is power. If you want to have knowledge, you need to consume it. If you want to be something different than you are today, you need to go out there and get it. The libraries are full of knowledge and experience for you to grasp. Well, for knowledge, maybe not experience, but you can learn through others’ experiences through books. It’s a great place to start.

Leaders are readers. If you want to be a good leader of your family, of your home, read a book on marriage. Three of them usually every year. I’ve been married now, this year will be 30 years. How do you have a good marriage? Read books on marriage. I don’t want to be poor. So I read books on finance. I want to be a good tactician and good at what I do when it comes to gunplay and tactics. So I read books on tactics and gunplay. Psychology. I read books. Leadership. I read books. So, 10 pages a day. Now, if you’re like me, it might be more like 30 pages a day. All right, 30 pages a day. Chad, yeah, well then you’re going to read 30 or 40 books a year. It’s possible. It is truly possible to better yourself.

C.S. Lewis is right. I don’t care what you left behind; you’re moving forward. So, you want to move forward, advance yourself. There are far better things in your future. Again, I don’t care what your age is; you have far better things to look forward to than to look back. That’s why the front windshield is so big, and the rearview mirror is so small. Yeah, you should look from where you came. I do that from time to time. But look forward. Look forward. The windshield is much bigger, so you can see where you’re going. The rear mirror is tiny. Don’t be looking through the rearview mirror. Don’t try to drive in reverse. Go forward.

All right, Monday, we’re done. It is the ninth. It is going to be a great week, it is going to be awesome. Say that to yourself. It’s going to be an awesome week because I’ve got far better things ahead of me than I have behind me. God bless you guys, and remember to be valuable because nothing less will do. We have far better things in 23 than we had in 22. God bless you guys. I will see you next week.