 The very first personal development book I read was to understand and be understood. That was about 16 years ago and from then I've been a crazy reader. I've read hundreds of books in the last 16 years and it might be good if I share with you the top 10 lessons I learned from those books. If you love this video, you will love our other channel about money and entrepreneurship. We call it Money TV and you can join it in the description box. Focus on What You Can Change I started my life on a pretty rough road. I grew up in a dark village, being raised by a poor farmer and suffering terrible sickness. Needless to say, I was destined to be average, but when I was around 18 years old, I learned from a book that I'll do better with my life if I focus on what I can change and not on what happens around me. I decided to stop criticizing the government. Yes, I know the government of my country is bad, but what can I do about that? I stopped complaining about my poverty, sickness or the economy. I focused on whatever I can do to improve my life and got busy doing just that. I couldn't change the economy, but I can learn how to build a business. So I did that. I couldn't change anything about my parents' poverty, but I can strive for financial independence. I couldn't change the fact that I was born with a terrible genotype, but I can improve my health. So I found the habits of eating lots of fruits, vegetables and water. Most people in our world today focus on what they can't change, and that's the problem. You can't change what you can't change. And the more you focus on what you can't change, the more excuses and complaints you'll have and the less zeal you have to pursue what's important to your success in life. Positive thinking isn't a cliche. Most people think that there's a magic that happens when you're optimistic about life. No, let me show you how it happens. People who are optimistic believe they can change their lives and because they have this belief, they try more things than others and because they try more things, they make more mistakes and since mistakes make you smarter, they become smarter. And then, when you become smarter, you become more successful. It's that simple. For instance, because I'm a positive thinker, I've tried many crazy things. None of my friends or family members have ever tried because I have taken much risks. I had also made more mistakes and become smarter and when you are smarter than most people, it's natural that you'll succeed more than them. So be optimistic about your future and you'll get more out of it. Humans are irrational. You, me, everyone, we hate to admit this but studies after studies show that we are emotional beings. We don't think as deep as we want to make ourselves believe and if you understand this, you'll be more conscious when you make decisions because the more rational your decisions are, the better your life will be. Think about things we purchase. Think about the partners we married. Think about the most important decisions of our lives and you'll see how irrational we are. If you know you're irrational, then you'll pause and think before you buy those new phones, clothes or shoes. Do you really need them or you're just being deceived by the advertisers? We sell every day. Every human job is selling. The earlier anyone realizes this, the better it will be. If you realize that your primary job is selling, you'll learn how to do it better. Your friends make you. My life changed around the year 2005 when I read somewhere that the closest people to me determined my future. I stopped hanging out with negative and pessimistic people and that was one of the best decisions of my life. You don't have a life. The only life you have is the life you get from others around you, whether you accept it or not. You imitate and follow people all the time. Unconsciously, you're going in the direction of your closest friends and that should make you worry about who you hang around. Some people will say, thank God I have no friends. Well, that is as worse as having bad friends because then you'll be influenced by your social media field and the media. Your friends make you. So choose your friends carefully. Difficult decisions lead to easy life. People who make difficult decisions end up having easy lives. When people who make easy decisions end up having difficult lives. It's that simple. You can't escape pains in life. If you run away from the pains of discipline, you'll get into the pains of regret. Story sales An elder friend recently asked me to review his sales page. The first thing I looked for was a story but there was none. I told him, we need some stories in this copy and it's that simple. If you sell anything including yourself, you must learn how to tell stories. Watch our videos on this channel and notice how we tell stories. The reason is because stories are the best way humans learn. Not just that, stories are the best way to get people to be emotional and then persuade them to do what you want. You get what you look for. Since I was a boy, everywhere I go, I always hear people complaining about how bad my country is. As an adult, I decided to look for the opportunities in my country and I found too many. Not easily but definitely. Believe me, you see whatever you search for in life. Look for good people and you'll find them. Believe everyone is bad and you'll see enough bad people to convince you that you're right. Look for how bad your country is and you'll see a million evidences. Look for the opportunities and you'll find many. Time is the thing life is made up of. Some recent studies show that an average American now spends about 11 hours consuming media every day. That should concern every one of us because if we waste time, we are wasting our lives. You must respect time because time is life. Time is the only thing you can never regain and so it's the most precious of all things. Life doesn't happen in nature. Every meaningful thing you can point out today actually took many hours to make and you can ever imagine. If I ask you to guess how many hours it takes to make this video, for example, most people may think it's just an hour but well, about six different people have to work on this video before you can see it. An average inventor had to spend decades alone in the laboratory before the world even knew he existed. An average entrepreneur wastes first 10 years before you see his first cars. Things don't happen the way the TV makes them seem and if you don't understand this, you think that something is wrong with you. I hope this video makes sense to you. If it does, don't forget to join other smart people like you who have subscribed to our Money and Entrepreneurship channel. We call it Money TV and you can join in the description box. We love you.