Can An Audiobook Change Your Life?

Curated By MTI Staff on July 4, 2013

There’s no doubt that a well-read recording of a novel can make a long car ride pass much more quickly. We’re eager to find out what happens next, and sometimes, it’s even worth sitting in the driveway just to find out.

I’m more interested, though, in non-fiction audio, particularly the kind you listen to ten or fifteen or a hundred times in a row.

When I was starting out on my own, success was not around the corner or even in sight. For years, I was flirting on the edge of failure. I was thrown out of salescalls, rejected by just about every organization I approached and was pretty stuck. More than once I considered giving up the entire entrepreneur thing.

One of the key factors in both surviving this time and figuring out how to shift gears was my exposure to (as we called them then) books on tape, particularly the work of Zig Ziglar. I listened for sometimes hours every day. I’ve been grateful to Zig every day since, and I still listen regularly.

This is a fairly modern tool, one that rewires our brains with consistent results. Of course, you need a car or some other sort of mindless commute, an mp3 player and the right material–a perfect storm of just the right sort of distraction and repetition.

I’m hard pressed to think of another form of modern media that has such consistently successful results.

People who haven’t tried it don’t want to. It feels a bit off-putting or mesmeresque to intentionally brainwash yourself with content designed to change your outlook. Here’s the simple opportunity: try it. Twenty minutes a day, every day for a month. It’s cheap and you can do it in private!

I put together a list of a few titles to get you started.

One listen isn’t going to do you any good, but if you make it a habit, you might be surprised. One thing I’ve noticed is that on a per units-sold basis, I hear from audiobook readers about five times as often as those that read my books in print. I hope it works for you.

photo credit: Matt Blaze via photopin cc

Your Thoughts & Comments:

Speaking about audio & inspirational content, what’s your favourite business podcast?

Seth Godin: Has written fourteen books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Everyone has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. There is much more to say about Seth, but as a marketer I’m sure you already know most of it.