Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - What Do The Books On Your Bookshelf Say About You?...

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

If you want to know what somebody values the most, take a look at their bookshelf. Hit me up on IG! @russellbrunson Text Me! 208-231-3797 Join my newsletter at marketingsecrets.com ClubHouseWithRussell.com Magnetic Marketing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What's up, everybody? This is Russell Brunson. Welcome back to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Today, I'm streaming to you from inside of one of my many libraries, a whole bunch of books on the back shelf. I know if you're listening to the podcast, you one of my many libraries, a whole bunch of books on the back shelf. I know if you're listening to the podcast episode, you can't actually see it, but I want you to imagine this room and it's wrapped in books from the greatest minds of our time, right? People like Napoleon Hill, W. Clemens Stone, Andrew Carnegie, Dale Carnegie, Orson Sweet Martin, like all the people who came before us, who were the, they started this thing called the New the New Thought Movement, where people realize you can think and you can change your life.

This book is surrounded in not just books from them, but the first editions, old books, the very first ones they ever printed off the printing press back in the late 1800s, early 1900s. In fact, this room smells like old books, which is one of the greatest smells in the world, I think. Maybe I'm weird. I'm definitely weird. smells, smells like old books, which is one of the greatest smells in the world, I think. So maybe I'm weird. I'm definitely weird. But I'm here today because I want to talk to you guys about your library. So some of you guys know that this is one of multiple libraries I have. I'm kind of, all right, I'll say it. I'm obsessed. I've got problems. I love books. I love everything about them. I love the fact that the person who wrote that book sat down and took a decade of their

life and they sat behind a typewriter or a keyboard and they wrote out all the things I love everything about them. I love the fact that the person who wrote that book sat down and took a decade of their life and they sat behind a typewriter or a keyboard and they wrote out all the things they'd experienced, the thoughts they had, the visions, the dreams, the things they had, and they wrote them and then they left them behind for me and you, right? Most of the people, at least in this room right here, are no longer on this earth, right? They passed away. They're gone. But they left their legacy, their thoughts, their ideas, their emotions, the epiphanies,

the ahas, like everything they discovered during their time here on this planet, they left their legacy, their thoughts, their ideas, their emotions, the epiphanies, the ahas, like everything they discovered during their time here on this planet, they left behind for us. And I can grab a book, I can read through it. And in minutes, I can take a decade or two or four decades of their life and distill down the most, the things that they felt were the most vital, the most important, the things that were the most essential for them to share with the world as they left, right? I don't know about you, but I think a lot about that. It's the reason why I love books, the reason why I'm writing books in all the different topics I care about. It's interesting.

I started working on my very first wrestling book because I spent a decade and a half of my life wrestling every day, thinking about studying it, learning it, perfecting it. And what a waste if I don't leave something behind so the next generation can read and be like, oh, wow, like that thing that Russell, that big epiphany Russell was given from God, like he actually now is giving it to me and I'm getting a shortcut to success, right? It's not so I love books. I'm obsessed with them. But that's not why I'm here today. I actually want to talk to you guys today because I want you to understand that you can learn a lot about somebody by the books that are on their bookshelf. The very first time I learned, as a lot of you guys know,

I served a mission for my church. I was in New Jersey knocking on doors for two years. I had the greatest experience. I met the most fascinating, fun people. But I remember going into one person's house and I was with my companion and we taught a lesson and we left the house. I still remember this day. He said, he said, wow, those people are fascinating. And I didn't really, I was like, they seem like normal people. He's like, did you see the books they have on the bookshelf? You can tell everything about somebody by the books they have on their bookshelf. And I was like, what do you mean?

He's like, oh, well, they had, and again, I don't remember what they were, but he's like, they had, he had six books by this author and this person, and he had seen the bookshelf. And from that, he knew all of the things that that person actually valued. And he told me, he said, next time, next house we go to, he's like, look at the bookshelf and you'll learn everything about someone, everything that's important to that person, you'll know because of the books that are on their bookshelf. And I thought that was interesting. So next house we went into, we did our lesson, I looked over the bookshelf and I saw and I recognized that this person's house, there were a whole bunch of books on health and fitness and losing weight and diet and exercise and stuff.

And the people were very fit and healthy. And I was like, oh my gosh, like you can see that the thing they value the most is their health. And that's why their bookshelf is covered in that, right? Went to somebody else's house and I noticed something different. Like in every single house I went into,

I noticed that whatever was on their bookshelf were the things that they valued the most. And so in an instinct, in a heartbeat, I could see exactly what it was that was most valuable to that person. I started thinking about that. Like, why is that? Why is our bookshelf such a mirror into our actual soul? And the reason why is because, um, like first off, the thing you value most, people around you are going to like, Oh, they're going to like, Oh my gosh, Russell loves wrestling. Russell loves personal development. So they start sending you gifts like for Christmas or for your birthday, whatever. Like, what should I get somebody?

Oh, I'm going to give them a book about this because they like this topic, right? So even if you never read the book, the people around you who know you, who love you, who see the thing you value the most, they're going to find a book for you. They're going to send it to you, right? And that book ends up on your bookshelf. So once again, even if you never read it, that book is that bookshelf is telling you the thing you value the most, the people around you who love you, who if you never read it, that bookshelf is telling you the thing you value the most, that people around you who love you, who give you gifts to you, are going to be sending to you

because they know that that's something you value. So that's number one hint. Number two is typically buy books on the topics we care about. If I want to learn more about personal development or weight loss or dieting or juicing or sprouting or whatever the thing is you want to learn about, you're going to go buy a book on it. And so the things you care about, things you're thinking about, things you value the most are manifested on your bookshelf, which is fascinating. So this is my assignment for you guys. The next time you go into somebody's house, I don't want you just to walk in there and you'll

go to the bathroom and sneak through their medicine cabinet. Like not that I do that, but I'm sure, you know, I'm sure maybe you do. But next time is go walk to the bookshelf and look at it. And in a heartbeat, you'll know what things are most valuable, most important to those people. It's been interesting because I'm also on the other side right now where I'm buying lots of books, like tens of thousands of books. Because as you probably maybe heard me talk about before, I'm in the process of building a 20,000 square foot, I say library, but it's closer to a museum, right?

Of first editions, old books, old things. And as I'm doing this and I'm buying books from people, sometimes I'm buying onesies twosies off people but a lot of times I've been going in and I'm finding a collector who's been collecting something for a decade or two decades and I'm buying their entire collection right and it's interesting because some people like when they sell these like they want the money but you see it like I see in their eyes when they give like oh this is the thing I value most I'm giving it to somebody else for money and like I always see this like there like this, I can't explain it, but I can, I can show it to you the look in their eye where there's like, ah, like, dang it. Like, I don't like, ah, and they're

like, do I value money more of the same? It's always this hard, hard thing. Um, but I've also seen the opposite side where, um, um, because of the genres I buy in, right. I got by personal development, fitness, uh, health, um, physical cultures because of the genres I buy in, right? I got by personal development, fitness, uh, health, um, physical cultures, what he's called back in the day, physical culture, um, uh, religion, uh, business marketing. These are the genres that I buy books in, right? And it's the religion one's the most fascinating to me because, um, I will see people who, who for a lifetime or half a lifetime, um, had faith and belief in a topic. And then they go through some faith transition. And it's fascinating because one of the first things they do when they go through a faith transition is,

can you guess what it is? They go to the books on their bookshelf and they get rid of them. I've gotten some amazing, expensive, awesome books from people who no longer believe in the topic. They no longer value it. And they will just give them to me or sell them to me at very, very discounted rates because they no longer value it. And so you see from that side as well, when somebody's values shift or they change, typically one of, if not the very first thing to go are the books on the bookshelf. So I want you to understand that because the things you value the most, there's a map, there's a visual of what those things are and it's looking

at your bookshelf. So like I said, next time you go into one of your friend's houses, instead of stooping through the medicine cabinet, go look at their bookshelf and in a heartbeat, you'll know everything that's most valuable to them. The second thing I want you to do is look at your own bookshelf and what is it saying about you? Okay. Do you have a bookshelf? If you don't, it might be time to get one or two or build a library or a dozen of them

or whatever you want to do. But just understand that books are a vision of the things that you value the most. It's a vision of the things that the people you're meeting and talking to care about the most. Start looking at people's bookshelves and everything you know about that person. I hope this helps you. Thanks so much for watching this episode of the Marketing Secrets Podcast. I appreciate you guys all and I will talk to you soon. Bye, everybody.