Now more than ever knowledge is a determining factor in one’s success.  We live in the information age.  This is an exciting era where intellectual property is often more valuable than physical assets; an epoch where the wages of well educated individuals are multiple times higher than those of manual laborers; a time when the most influential companies are not the ones that once wielded an unshakable hold over their industries, but instead are the smaller, smarter companies from different corners of the world.

 

A college education, despite of its shortcomings and increasing costs, is still one of the best investments one can make.  Getting a college degree will highly impact your ability to find a good job, earn a good salary and live a comfortable life.  Even if you are an entrepreneurial type who prefers to have your own business instead of working for an employer, a college education will benefit you by allowing you to get your feet wet in your field of preference.

 

Most successful people are avid readers.  While many people think of beach towels and sun tan lotion as essential items to pack on a vacation, Bill Gates is known for having a pile of books ready to take with him every time he takes some time off.  The habit of reading regularly is very important for your personal development.  At a minimum you should read a newspaper daily, subscribe to a few magazines or periodicals, subscribe to a few RSS feeds of interesting sites, and always have a book in your briefcase.  It goes without saying that if you are interested in success you must read the Worldwide Success site on a regular basis, or better yet, subscribe to our RSS feed.

 

As discussed in the article Introducing Self Improvement Magazine, successful people take their personal development education very seriously.  There are many wonderful books related to personal development and success that you should have on your list of must reads.  If you don’t know where to start, we suggest looking at our book reviews.  We also have many great books in the Worldwide Success Store that you ought to consider adding to your library.  One great way to get into the habit of reading books on a regular basis is to join a book club.  You can find many cheap books in book clubs that cater to different topics.

 

As the American writer and broadcaster Garrison Keillor once said:

 

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

 

Besides books, there are many other excellent sources of personal development material online, on print and on other media that you can leverage to help you achieve success.  One great site containing a variety of such material is Your Success Store.   You should also check out the directory page of SynergyInstituteOnline.com.

 

As we approach the end of the year a great New Year’s resolution that you may want to consider for 2009 is reading more often and investing more in your personal development education.  We can’t think of a better way to start your new year than to invest your time and resources in your future success.