Lesson 2: Sometimes You Should Do As They Say Not As They Do
 As a long time reader and student of Michael Masterson I've severely limited
the time I spend watching television. He spent countless Early to Rise newsletters and even a section in at least one of his books talking about the
negative impact television has on your success and your health and your life.
I have never bought a television set in my life. The three t.v.'s I've had were all either on loan or by hand me
down gifts.
And if it weren't for Dave's need to watch the hockey games on t.v., we probably wouldn't have had any of them
hooked to cable. And these days it's so much easier to just rent a show on DVD or watch it online that we still
don't sit in front of the t.v. to watch anything but sports.
But the decision not to watch t.v. early on was mostly based on the fact that my budget didn't allow for luxuries
like cable. I wanted to save my money for travel! Later on in life I stayed away from television because Michael
Masterson said I'd be more successful if I avoided it. And not that I did everything he said to do or not to do,
but whenever I chose to follow his advice I was better off for it.
So imagine my surprise when the dinner conversation turned to television programs and his colleagues from the UK
that we were dining with started talking about a few different shows and Michael Masterson not only knew of the
programs but had seen every single episode. He went into detail about the differences between the American version
of The Office versus the British version. He even made a comment about Vampire Diaries and a few other shows. This
was clearly a man that was watching a lot of television!
I had very little to contribute to the conversation because not only had I not seen most of the programs they were
talking about, but I hadn't even heard of one of them. At one point he looked at me and said "you haven't heard of
that show?". I couldn't help myself ... I said "No, because you advised me and the other Early to Rise readers not
to watch television so I have kept my t.v. watching to a minimum."
He smiled and said something like "If it weren't for hypocrisy I'd have no good ideas." He went on to explain why
they now have 10 television sets ... and how they didn't have any when the kids were at home but now that they've
moved out they have t.v.'s everywhere and he stays up late watching ... he wants to get rid of the t.v.'s because
he is so addicted but his wife likes watching a few programs.
Anyway, I am not about to judge him for his new t.v. addiction. I've made great use of the time I would have wasted
in front of the television, and I don't feel I've missed much even if I couldn't really contribute to the hour long
conversation we had about the different television shows that are on these days!
My point is that sometimes the advice an expert or a mentor gives us is something they are no longer
doing ... but let's face it, when one of your company's made $375+ Million last year and you've started
plenty of other successful businesses, several of which made it to over $10 Million in annual income, then I think
you've earned the right to go easy on yourself and spend your evenings pondering which is better, the British or
the American version of The Office or Little Britain.
I haven't reached that point in my life yet so I think I'll still follow his advice ... when I have multiple
companies grossing hundreds of millions of dollars each year then I will re-evaluate things. :)
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