Why I Credit My Professional Success to One Subscription

I was never a strong reader growing up. Not in grade school, high school, throughout college, or throughout my 20s. I thought this would limit my potential, career-wise. After working boring, entry-level sales jobs for about 8 years, I reached my 30s and decided that I needed to make a big life change.

I always loved sports. Despite not ever being good enough to make any teams, I was an avid fan and I knew fan culture really well. My dream was to run and operate a company that connects people to the best deals on their favorite jerseys and memorabilia. Every day while I was working in sales, I imagined quitting, getting away from my boss and the office, and pursuing my dream.

The problem was, I didn't know anything about starting a business. Friends would just tell me to read books about it. They'd recommend reads by Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc. And I'd try to get into them, but I'd often find myself getting lost and not paying attention. Long reads are tough for me. I'm into quick-hitting information, and I was expressing that to a colleague one day when they recommended 12min Micro Book Library, which has a lifetime subscription on sale for $39.

A Pipeline of Valuable Information

I usually looked at my short attention span as a detriment to my well-being, but the 12min Micro Book Library subscription made me see it as a superpower—because it gave me access to hundreds of micro books. Micro books are exactly what they sound like, condensed audiobooks on hundreds of topics, and each one is only 12 minutes long, containing only the most essential parts of the original text. This style of learning clicked with me immediately.

The next thing I knew, I was listening to micro books about starting companies, entrepreneurship, leadership, and so much more that would later help me achieve my goals. I loved that these were audio-based, as I found that the act of reading was a huge blocker in my earlier attempts to self-educate.

Listening allowed me to stay active in other ways, which in turn helped my focus. I would play a book like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People while working out at the gym. And I would listen to The Power of Habit while researching different distributors of memorabilia and jerseys. The more I played from my 12min Micro Library subscription, the more I learned about starting a business—and the more steps I took towards actually doing that.

It Worked

After having my subscription for about a year, I finally felt prepared enough to quit my job in sales. I had saved up some money and even convinced some investors to help me get my first batch of inventory for the memorabilia distribution business, and from there I executed a number of project management, business leadership, and entrepreneurial tactics that I learned while studying my 12min Micro Book Library books. Some of the titles I revisited the most included Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, 10 Days to Faster Reading (the irony, I know), and The Power of Now.

I've Never Looked Back

In the time since launching my business, my life has changed immensely. I've been able to create a reliable and steady stream of income that's centered around one of my true passions. In building the brand, I've made loads of friends with similar interests and have started to attend a lot more baseball card trading shows and memorabilia-related events, which has been a pure joy.

I've also found a new passion — books! Even beyond just reading to learn more strategies to keep my business alive, I've found that I love to explore the 12min Library for books that pertain to personal development, science, technology, and other areas that I find personally interesting as a form of entertainment.

How Micro Book Library Works

The Micro Book Library features nearly 2,000 micro books that stretch across 24 categories. These are real, full-length books. When you choose one that you want to take in faster than normal, the 12min team will synthesize it into a short and comprehensive micro book. So, if you do have an appetite for longer books, you can use the condensed micro books as telling previews.

An Unexpected Delight

I never thought that I would run my own business. But after a year spent teaching myself, I figured out how to get something off the ground and that eventually became a thriving business. I also never thought that I would like reading, but weirdly, 12min Micro Book Library has also done that for me. The micro book version of The Power of Now introduced me to its author Eckhart Tolle, whose work I found so fascinating that I actually ended up buying his full-length, physical books to read. I finally found joy in something that stumped me for my entire life.

Micro Books Can Help You Too

Now that I can take in micro books while I'm on the run and read fuller texts when I have time, I feel like a totally different person than who I was before subscribing. Taking in information is a joy as opposed to the chore that it felt like before. I learned how to get things done by listening to Getting Things Done. I learned how to make more efficient use of my time by listening to The 4-Hour Workweek, and I've found a number of ways to grow my business, fund new ones, and grow into the successful entrepreneur I always dreamed of becoming.

I owe it all to this one subscription. If you've felt like you're just out of reach of realizing your true potential, then I promise taking in more books will help. If you struggle with reading for any number of reasons from time to desire, then you should take advantage of this sale on the 4.5-star 12min Micro Book Library: Lifetime Premium Subscription, which is available for just $39 ($399).

Prices subject to change. 

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