Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

What do you do with your life? Where do you want to go? No matter what stage of life you're currently in, if you're still breathing, you have a future. Whatever your goal, you need to know that someone has been there before you. Someone has probably written a book or books about exactly what you have in mind. Maybe you're already following a life plan and are involved in your chosen profession. In that case, books can help you do even better. Whereever you are, someone has been down the same path you are on. Someone has a different perspective on what you're doing. Someone who's written a book can help you see what you're doing a little differently. Why not accept the challenge to accomplish more, keep your outlook fresh, and look at life at all sides? Books can help you do all these things.

I was reading about Benjamin Carson. He mentions in one of his books (Think Big) that as a child, Ben Carson spent his primary school years in the bottom of the academic pool. By the time, he'd reached fifth grade, the nickname "Dummy' has become his permanent label. Then his mom took charge. Though she was a single parent who had been a teenager when Benjamin was born, she understood what needed to happen, and it didn't involve teachers' conferences. Ben's mom restricted his leisure time and insisted that homework and books come first. She insisted Ben and his brother read two books a week, and to make sure they were retaining what they read, she asked for book reports, to. Young Benjamin hated it, but in eighteen months, he'd gone from the bottom of the class to the top.

One day, his science teacher asked the class a question about a rock sitting on the teacher's desk. Since he had just finished reading a book on geology, Benjamin knew the answer. No one else in class did. That was the moment Benjamin Carson understood what his mother was doing. Though unable to read herself, she knew her sons would not succeed in life without books. And today, Dr. Benjamin Carson is director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins (Yay!) Hospital, and the first person to successfully separate Siamese twins connected to the head.

What you read, what you see, what you listen to truly influences your thoughts. Earl Nightingale, leading authority on success gives the critical ingredient about what makes people successful.  "You become what you think about."

Lot of people tell me , " I wish I had the time to read books." Really!..Let me tell you where I get the time...If there is one thing that characterizes the times we live in, be it America, be it India, it is waiting. We wait at stop lightsl we wait in lines at post offices, stores, movie theaters and themeparks; we wait in doctor's offices; we wait at the bus stops like Forrest Gump.

My commute to work isn't a long one, but I have learned to make use of stoplights. Since I am familiar with my route, I have studied those lights. I know their cycles, and I know just about how much time I've got when I'm waiting at one. I use that time to read. Maybe you don't feel comfortable with the idea of reading at the wheel. I can understand that.  But make time when some one else is driving. 

When I hear people say that they don't have time to read, I find myself nodding in agreement with this advice from Ralph Waldo Emerson: " Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them, and their value will never be known. Improve them, and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life. "

If you read one hour per day, it will translate into approximately 1 book a week which approximately translates to fifty books per year. If you read an hour  a day, one book per week, you will be an expert in your field within three years.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

I grew up in a home where both my parents encouraged me and Aravind to read more. During the summer, I remember Dad taking us to Higgin Bothams bookstore and always got us books as gifts. 

I am a strong believer in reading, and whenever I can, I am front and center on the importance of reading. I am glad to have had a part in improving the lives of those under my leadership.

I had never considered all the benefits of reading-like the fact that it's a safeguard against old age, or that it makes you the most interesting person at the dinner table. Reading makes your mind sharp, alive, vibrant. It keeps you on the cutting edge. Like a healthy body, a healthy mind is honed like a razor.

Reading appears to be an act of self-satisfaction, but ultimately it is a selfless endeavor. When we read, we become more interesting people. We become team players in the game of life, people with whom others want to engage. Books fill our minds with ideas and information we can pass on to others. When we read, we become excited about reading, and we can't wait to share our current favorite or just get others excited about reading.

We have a responsibility not to let knowledge we gain from books be put on hold in our minds. If we don't learn from what others have passed onto us, and than pass on what we have learned to others, our system breaks down, just as it does on the basketball court. It's critical we not let that happen.

We  live in one of the greatest eras of communication known to man, yet nearly every day, somewhere in America, headlines spell out the news that reading, as a skill, is dying. I don't know about you, but the fact alarms me..and thats the reason I am writing the next set of articles..

In a world where few people read, the vast stores of knowledge found in books are either lost or reside with a select few. Is that the future, we want.

During my summer break in 1989, I remember reading a book called Fahrenheit 451. This was published back in the 50s, but the novel had an idea that one day  all the books be banned was startling.

Mark Twain is often quoted as observing, " A person who won't read as no advantage over one who can't read."

I hope to inspire you to improve your own reading habits and than pass that passion on to those you love before you leave this world. Books can take you places you'd never get to otherwise.

Let us examine those closely..