The Binder System

tip-o-the-morning

Tom Corley boats - crop

I’ve been using something I call the Binder System since I discovered it during my Rich Habits Study. The Binder System helps you in your quest for success. Each binder is a tool in your success tool belt.

Fact Binder

In my research, I found that self-made millionaires were dedicated to daily growth and daily self-improvement. Each day, they sought to increase their knowledge through reading, listening to audio books, listening to podcasts, watching educational video, attending seminars, webinars, tele-seminars, participating in formal or informal mastermind groups and asking questions of others to gain more insight and expertise. This enabled them to grow their knowledge each day to help them evolve into the person they needed to become in order to realize success.

While reading is important, retaining important information uncovered in your reading is critical to learning new facts and information. One strategy to do this is the Fact Binder. In your Fact Binder create various topic sections that are meaningful to you. Each day, after reading, add any new facts or information to your Fact Binder. You can even add a section titled: “New Words” where you add any new words you come across in your reading. Writing down what you read has a way of reinforcing what you just read. Abraham Lincoln would write things down 3 times in order to commit them to memory. The physical act of writing somehow acts to create a new neural pathway that allows the new facts or information to stick. Once a week go over the new information you added. That will help reinforce the learning.

Mistake Binder

The Mistake Binder is a running list of every mistake you make in life. Each mistake is documented on one page. You want to document four things on that one page: WHAT went wrong WHY did it go wrong HOW to avoid repeating it in the future LESSON you learned The goal is to get into the habit of filling your Mistake Binder with page after page of mistakes that you make. Then spend a few minutes every other week reviewing your Mistake Binder. This helps make the learning stick and will also keep the mistakes in working memory, acting like a radar system, alerting them when you are about to repeat a mistake. The Mistake Binder will take the taboo out of making mistakes and will change your negative perception regarding mistakes. You’ll soon find yourself embracing your mistakes and the lessons they teach.

Book Binder

This is a binder where, in 1-2 pages, you summarize the key points of every book you read. This binder gives you immediate access to these key points at any time.

Vision Binder

The Vision Binder includes a picture of every dream that you one day hope to realize. It gives you instant access to each dream, allowing you to easily document and review each dream. By periodically  reviewing each dream, you help consolidate it into long-term memory, allowing your subconscious to go to work behind the scenes to help you make your dream a reality.

Goal Binder

In this binder you list every one of the goals you want to accomplish in order to help you realize each one of your dreams. In my Goal Binder I put at the top of each page one dream. Then, on the same page, I list all of the goals I will need to achieve in order for that dream to be realized. In the Goal Binder each dream is your destination and the goals are your GPS – how you get there.

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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Comments

  1. Vanessa S. Lewis says:

    As a writer and reader, I do like the book binder idea for recapping each book we read, but the Mistake binder is a brave and smart idea. Entrepreneurs are out to succeed, sure, but they want to admit, forgive, learn and reference their mistakes if they aspire excellence. There are other great and useful binder ideas mentioned here as well. I really like this idea, thank you Tom!

  2. Hi,

    Just a quick marketing tip for you – take it for what it is worth…

    Instead of your same profile picture every day, it would be awesome to see a picture of what you are talking about for the day. It creates interest. For example, today, I would be totally lit up to see a binder system, your binder system, an example of a binder system.

    Cheers!

  3. Excellent article Tom. Thank you for your imput to share your knowledge. Well done.

  4. A goal binder sounds like a smart way to tackle your dreams. Staying organized and on task in this area may be key to success.

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