Introduction

Well, we're in Toronto for a consultation with the transplant team, so I asked another friend to fill in for me. Dennis Gaskill, aka Boogie Jack, is a published author with a great newsletter. I think you'll like his article.

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One of the best things about the Internet is that you can find free information on anything you want to learn about. One of the worst things about the Internet is that you can find free information on anything you want to learn about.

Huh?

It's a well-known axiom that what you get for free, you won't value as highly as what you pay for or earn. On many different levels, the less you put into something, the less you get out of it. Those expecting to live on free informational meals will survive, but seldom thrive.

The result of this "it must be free" mind set is that too many people have stopped investing in themselves. The best investment you can make is in yourself and your personal development. All material things come and go, but an investment in yourself and your personal and professional growth lasts a lifetime, and the resulting effect of that is a more rewarding and fulfilling life.

The "free-for-all" mentality of Internet denizens not only results in people not properly valuing the information they do find online, but the information they are working with is often inferior in quality to commercial products. The producers of commercial products are usually more experienced with what they teach, have more practical knowledge about their topic, and have more incentive to produce a higher quality and more complete product. Use the Internet as a primer, but invest in commercial products when quality and authenticity matter.

I buy products that will help me along my path, and supplement what I buy by checking out print books and audio books from the library. On average, I read or listen to 3-5 books each month. I take my personal growth very seriously. If I don't learn at least one thing new every day I feel like I've wasted an opportunity to grow in one way or another, whether intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually. In one year I have taken in 36-60 books. That's 180-300 books in five years, and 360-600 in 10 years.

Suppose Joe and Jim have an equal amount of mental prowess today. Over the next 10 years, Joe doesn't read any books; but in that same time frame Jim reads 600 books. Do you think they'll have an equal amount of mental prowess at the end of those 10 years? All else being equal, I virtually guarantee Jim will be a lot smarter than Joe, not only for the actual things he learned, but because he kept exercising his brain, which stimulates the creation of new brain cells and neural pathways.

The long-term value of investing in your own growth is incalculable. Why would anyone not want to continually improve themselves? To be more than we are, we must do more than we have done. That's just common sense, isn't it? The Internet is a great starting place, but don't expect the best information available to be free. The people that create the best information have to earn a living, everyone else is just a hobbyist.

Conclusion

This article was written and copyrighted by Dennis Gaskill of www.i-webmaster.org and is reprinted here with permission. Visit www.i-webmaster.org today for the best web design help, reprintable content, graphics, inspiration, free software and much more.