A burglar broke into the home of a very wealthy woman few days after she went on a trip. He broke into her house at exactly 9pm and since nobody was at home he decided to take his time.

He thoroughly searched the house for money and any other valuable property he could find. He literally tore the entire house apart in his desperate search for gold. And after everything, he was only able to steal a few thousand naira and some costly jewelries.

When this rich lady returned from her trip, she saw her house totally ripped apart and immediately she knew she had been robbed. Slowly, she walked through all the mess and entered into her study room. There, she found some of her books all scattered on the floor of her personal library. She soon walked into her bedroom, where some of her clothes were lying scattered on the bed. The burglar had stolen some cash she left at the drawer and some expensive jewelries.

Suddenly she paused, took a deep breath and smiled. Looking straight to the silent crowd she was narrating the experience to, including myself; she then went ahead to make a very important statement I would never forget. She said, “If it was possible to rob myself, I would neither take money nor jewelries. If i had the opportunity to rob someone as rich as myself, I would steal the books they read and the tapes they listen to. Why you may ask? “You see, In just a few months time” she continued. “that poor burglar would go broke again and would probably need to rob someone else to survive. The litte sum of money he stole from me would never make him rich because his mind is still at the same level of development (Steal and consume). But if he had gone away with the books I read and the audio tapes I listen to, then he would have given himself access to the very information I built my wealth with. And In just a short time, he could have become truly rich and never have to steal again. By only stealing my money, that burglar had not really stolen from me since I can easily replace the money he had stolen because of what I know. What that burglar has done is that he has only succeeded in robbing himself!”

If you were that burglar, what would you have taken - the cash, jewelries, or books? Be honest with yourself. You see, in the end we only rob ourselves when we fail to read those books that could really add value to our lives. Jim Rohn advised, “We must not permit anything to stand between us and the books that could change our lives”.

Ignorance is costing you far more than you think and it has cost me a fortune. So lets stop robbing ourselves by failing to invest time, money and energy on our personal growth. Any money we spend on personal development is always a money well spent, so lets read, learn and apply what we learn because no matter how tall your father is, you must do your own stretching.

Start today to invest in your education. Who knows — the next book you read may just be the key to your success!


#InvestInYourself

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