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Learning While Commuting

by Dustin Davis, Articles, No Comments

Car StereoI came across a good blog post by Seth Godin this morning titled “Can an audiobook change your life?”

While I am nowhere near as successful as Seth Godin, I would have to agree that audiobooks change my life in a meaningful way.

When I was in 6th grade my parents separated. I stayed with my dad while my mom, brother and sister moved away. I couldn’t stand the thought of my dad being alone.

I am very much like my dad. We are quiet people. My dad started listening to a set of audio tapes he bough called “The course in Winning”.

I remember asking my dad for a Sony Walkman for my birthday. I was tired of the cheap knockoffs. I have never really been into music much. I preferred listening to my dad’s motivational audio tapes. My favorite was a course on goal setting.

Often my dad and I would take a 2 1/2 hour drive to visit my grandpa in another town. We didn’t talk much the whole way. We didn’t really need to. We didn’t have much to say and we were OK with that. We would both just put our headphones on and swap tapes often. (Our cheap car didn’t have a tape deck).

I remember setting many goals and working to reach them while I was young. I’d like to say it became a habit that always stuck with me, but sometimes I wander aimlessly without goals.

I will say that when I set goals and have something to work toward, I generally feel more productive and more happy all around.

Yesterday I blogged about a short audio mp3 I listened to. I will plan on doing more blogs about the various audiobooks I listen to.

I have an Audible account and a 1 hour commute each day. I now spend the morning commute blogging and the afternoon commute listening to audiobooks (if I don’t spend my time on the train chatting with someone).

Of course commuting isn’t the only time you can listen to audiobooks, but it seems to be the most common time for me. Like I mentioned yesterday, I may turn one on while working on a project around the house. I also tend to listen to audiobooks while exercising.

I consider my Audible account one of my best investments in myself. I pay $15 per month which gives me 1 credit each month. 1 Credit generally buys one audiobook – no matter the price. Sometimes if an audiobook costs less that $15 I will just pay for it because I’m cheap that way.

How about you? Do yo listen to audiobooks? What are some of your favorites titles?

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