What‘s common among Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Tony Robbins? Well, apart from being highly successful in their chosen fields, they were/are all voracious readers.
When it comes to reading, most of us are aware of its benefits. It enhances imagination, fosters creativity, provides motivation, makes us better writers, reduces stress, improves concentration so on and so forth. But how many of us actually make the effort to read? Not many. Surveys post a dwindling percentage of readers every year. You’d think the advent of e-books, reading apps, better access, more libraries, increased funding etc. would make an impact.
It isn’t that we don’t want to read; in fact, many of us join libraries, buy books, get e-readers and form book clubs with the honest intention of reading. However, the intention isn’t necessarily followed by action. Professional commitments, health issues, family concerns all eat up our reading time, and then there is procrastination and laxity.
The fact of the matter is – if you want to read, if you value personal growth, then you have to make a determined effort towards achieving it.
- Lock a period of time; make it non-negotiable. Set everything aside to read during that time.
- Start small; allocate shorter periods of time in the beginning and increase as you progress.
- Start easy; do not pick up heavy text. Gravitate towards uncomplicated, interesting reads to get started.
- Keep your goals in mind; remind yourself, why you are doing what you are doing.
- Reflect; mentally go over what you read, dwell upon it, savour it.
- Do not get disheartened if you miss a day.
Keep reading, you never know, your next book might just end up changing your life!
