“The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” – MARK TWAIN
The average CEO reads 60 books a year..
Why?
Because they know that the key to success is constant learning.
When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article?
If you’re one of the countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out:
You should see books as a hidden treasure. Think about it.
Mentors are great in person but some of the great mentors are no longer alive- Benjamin Graham, Sam Walton, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller.
What if I say they are in my house. They are in my library. They can be in your library, too.
Talking about Sam Walton, a man who made $160 billion for himself, more than all the other billionaires, basically, combined.
He wrote a book on his death bed. How many people have read it?
It’s a tragedy that not every business person read a $5 book by a man who built an empire.
It’s because the modern education system has turned people off from books. You have to rewire your brain.
Those who read have been known to have more finely-tuned brains than those who prefer more passive activities, so anyone hoping to improve their mind psychologically might want to think about taking up the habit of regular reading.
Let me show you a few quick tricks.
First of all: stop seeing a book like a one-time event. See a book like a friend.
You read it over and over. You come back and just like friends, you pick a handful of them.
The majority of wealthy people devote at least 30 minutes a day to read books. If it works for them, it could work for you.
I recommend you find 150 books and You can read books over and over for the rest of your life.
You should read at least one book a week because remember, everybody wants a good life but not everybody is willing to read books to get it.
Related: Ultimate Guide: 52 All Time Best Books For Entrepreneurs
By the time you’ve read this post, you should be encouraged to pick up that book you’ve been meaning to finish so you can start the next one.
For the last 4 years of my life, I’ve been continuously reading books on my Amazon Kindle and this has tremendously helped me to improve my life.
If you wonder how reading books can benefit you, here’s a list of 11 good reasons why you should read books every day:
1. Gives knowledge
One of the biggest reasons why we read books is to gain knowledge. Books are a rich source of information.
Reading books on varied subjects imparts information and increases the depth of the subject as well.
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy.
The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
Remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.
2. Improves your brain
Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy.
Studies have shown that reading has strong positive effects on the brain.
By staying mentally stimulated, you can prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This is because keeping your brain active prevents it from losing power.
The brain is a muscle and like other muscles in the body, exercise keeps it strong and healthy.
Similar to solving puzzles, reading books is a great way to exercise your brain and keep it healthy.
Reading is healthy, just like orange juice or a morning run, so try to find time for it.
3. Improves focus and concentration
In our busy lifestyles, our attention is drawn in different directions each day as we try to multi-task through each day.
In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via whatsapp etc.), keeping an eye on facebook feed, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers.
All this multi-tasking can lead to high stress level and low productivity.
When you read a book, all your attention is focused on what you’re reading. Your eyes and thoughts are immersed in the details of the story.
This improves your concentration and focus. Read a book at least 20 minutes a day, and you will be amazed at how much more focused you will be.
4. Improves memory
When you read books, you have to remember the setting of the book, the characters, their backgrounds, their history, their personalities, the sub-plots and so much more.
That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease.
As your brain learns to remember all this, your memory becomes better. What’s more, with every new memory you create, you create new pathways and this strengthens the existing ones.
5. Build self-esteem
By reading many books, you communicate better and become more informed on various areas of life. All this translates into a higher self-esteem.
Since you have confidence in yourself and your ability to deliver, you become more productive and overall a much better person.
6. Reduces stress
Reading has a positive effect on the body as well. Reading a book can relieve stress better than taking a walk or listening to music. According to studies who read more tend to have lower stress levels.
No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story.
7. Sleep better
Poor sleep leads to low productivity. This is why so many experts recommend that you establish regular de-stressing routine before you sleep to help calm your mind and therefore sleep better.
Reading a book is one of the best ways to calm yourself before you go to bed.
Instead of watching television or spending too much time on your smartphone while in bed, take some time to read.
The bright lights from the electronic devices will only affect your sleep. On the other hand, a book will help you sleep better.
8. Improves creativity
The biggest difference between reading and watching television is that reading gives you the scope to unleash your creativity.
The more you read, the more you learn new things. New thoughts always stretch our minds to rediscover life in new and better ways.
We start to see the world in a different way and this way we find new creative solutions.
9. Improves writing skills
Reading a well-written book affects your ability to become a better writer.
Just like artists influence others, so do writers. Many successful authors gained their expertise by reading the works of others.
So, if you want to become a better writer, start by learning from previous masters.
10. Improves communication skills
Improving your vocabulary and writing skills goes hand in hand with developing your communication skills.
The more you read and write, the better you communicate. Increasing your ability to communicate, improves your relationships and even makes you a better manager or student.
11.Better Writing Skills
This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work.
In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.
12. Vocabulary Expansion
Reading improves your vocabulary and command on the language. As you read, you come across new words, idioms, new words, phrases and writing styles.
The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary.
This increases exponentially with the more volumes you consume, giving you a higher level of vocabulary to use in everyday life.
Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies.
Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.
13. Reading challenges your perspective.
When you experience life through the eyes of another, you encounter diverse angles on life’s most common situations.
Talented authors will naturally inspire empathy for their characters, and empathizing with viewpoints different from your own can feel uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable.
While reading doesn’t mean that you’ll agree with different perspectives, it does offer you the opportunity to understand them.
14. A fruitful hobby
Reading books keep us occupied. It also leads to a fruitful use of time.
It not only helps us get rid of worries, but also diverts our mind from monotony. Books are excellent sources of recreation.
Someone who loves to read can never get bored, as this is a perfect way to rid of boredom.
As books take you to another different world, you relax and rejuvenate.
15.Portable entertainment
Books are portable and light in weight. They are not like bulky computers and games that take too much space.
With a book, you can pack it in your handbag and easily carry it everywhere.
You can read anywhere, on a plane as you travel, in your bed before you sleep, under a shade as you relax, or even during your holiday.
Bonus Tip: Why you should read books every day:
No side effects of the digital world
Spending too much time watching television or using Facebook or playing video games can affect your eye health in the long run.
On the other hand, books are safe and easy. No one has ever gone blind from reading too many books.
There are no known side effects or dangers of reading great books. All there is are benefits.
Save money
Apart from being inexpensive, you will also save a lot of money by reading books.
Books don’t require electricity, neither do they need any form of maintenance.
When you read a book on a certain skill, such as cooking, woodwork, or simple DIY tasks, you save yourself the money you would have used to hire a contractor.
You not only learn new skills but also save yourself a lot of expenses.
Improves Skills
Reading is a fundamental skill builder. For every good course on earth, there is a matching book to go with it.
Books provide important information on various subjects and topics.
The best thing about reading is that you can go deeper than what you learn in a classroom discussion.
Whether it’s cooking, dancing, or even cleaning, you can always improve your skills if you read books.
Pick any 2 FREE AudioBooks with a 30 day trial for Audible
Happy Reading!
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