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Lesson #1: Learn For Life

Benjamin Franklin Articles
Lesson #1: Learn For Life

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him,” said Franklin. “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

Despite having no formal education, Franklin understood the importance and set out to satisfy his insatiable appetite for knowledge on his own. While his father couldn’t afford to send him to school, he nonetheless took the young Franklin on walks to various tradesmen, teaching him about their tools and techniques. “It has been useful to me, having learnt so much by it as to be able to do little jobs myself,” recalled Franklin. His father also exposed him to politics and current affairs, having himself been an active member of his community.

By the age of 11, Franklin had taught himself English, French, and Italian and doggedly chased down any literature he could. “From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books,” he said. He had only been in grammar school for two years, but was reading the likes of Socrates before he should have even been in junior high school.

His quest to educate himself continued while working as an apprentice at his brother’s printing house. Franklin set out to improve his writing skills by studying the works of other authors, trying to emulate them and rewriting them in an attempt to improve them. He also used this time to read as much as he could and even became a vegetarian in order to avoid paying the high cost of meat and save more money for books.

“Genius without education is like silver in the mine,” said Franklin. Without the proper training, an individual’s talent would, accordingly, never be realized to its fullest potential. This is why throughout his entire life Franklin dedicated himself to self-improvement. He knew that there would never be a time when he would stop learning because there would always be something to learn. “The doors to wisdom are never shut,” he said. “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”

Books were not the only source of knowledge for Franklin. It was his desire to continually be learning new things that led to his founding of the Junto in 1727. A forum for intellectuals to discuss and explore their ideas, Junto members were committed to improving their minds, and to a larger degree, the world. He also used his newspapers to stimulate open debate and encourage discussions on the current issues of the time.

Franklin’s endless curiosity helped fuel his business pursuits and his scientific inquiries and propelled him to the forefront of America’s intellectual community. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning,” said Franklin, believing that he who was wise was the man who learned from every one and every opportunity he could. “Not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own.”





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Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

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Joe Dager
Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website

Linda Richardson
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website

Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

George Ludwig
George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website


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