Steve Gilliland - Measured Sucess

by Stephen Gilliland (son of author & professional speaker Steve Gilliland)

I remember growing up hearing my father say things like, "We are responsible for what happens to us, not anyone or anything else." I also have great memories of my father sitting on the deck in the early summer morning reading a book and me curious about what he was reading. The one thing I have never put out of my mind is the day he came home after hearing Charlie Tremendous Jones deliver a keynote speech at a meeting he attended. He was so excited that he showed me his notes and said, "Stephen, check this out!"

"You are the same today that you are going to be in five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read."

That was the first time, and not the last, I would hear my father repeat Mr. Jones' influential remarks. Years later I now marvel at my father's accomplishments, the books he has written, and the lives he has impacted.

Maybe the most extra special thing about my father is that he has never stopped reading and learning. His library at his home is amazing and includes hundreds of books, cassette tapes, CDs, and DVDs. My father's success isn't measured by the quantity of books he has read, but rather his willingness and ability to use what he learned in the books. It's one thing to be taught something, and another thing to actually use it. If reading diet books made you thin, we'd be the thinnest people in the world.

In other words, measured success is exploiting the ideology you gain knowledge of.