Read To Get Ahead In Life

We all want to get ahead in life.

Whether it be at our job or in the gym. We are all chasing something.

We stumble upon our next goal and decide to work for it. We watch, we learn, we grow.

But there are some problems that can't be solved alone. You need help.

Or you are curious about something and want to satisfy your inquisitiveness.

Whatever it may be, reading is a great way to quickly learn something valuable.

Through reading you gain knowledge that has been passed down through generations. Chances are, the thing you want to do has already been done. All you have to do is find the right material and learn.

How do you find the right material to learn?

You research.

You figure out what you want to learn and you on to the internet or the local library (if you are old school.)

Through learning you figure out what life is, and reading is one of the finest ways to learn.

People have been learning all sorts of things for centuries. They have been recoding it in the form of writing. Some of the knowledge might have lost in history but a great part of it is still available. One of my favorite books is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and it was written 2 millennia ago!

This world is so fascinating. And believe it or not, you are interested in some part of it.

Even when all you want to do is get a job to earn some money to live a comfortable life, you are a curious being.

Reading is one way you can start to satiate your curiosity and get to experience the worder of life.

You might be wondering "But reading is for nerds. I don't want to become a hermit and spend all my time reading."

Or you might be wondering why should you spend the time or the energy to slog through a 300 page book?

I am glad you asked.

Benefits Of Reading

I have been reading consistently for the last 8 years. I have noticed a few benefits that come through turning the pages.

It improves your attention span. There is a pandemic of lack of attention in today's generation. Social media and the internet have sapped the one thing that can make or break your life in today's world—attention. Reading is one way you can start to develop your attention span.

Reading exposes you to new experiences. The more experiences you gain in life, the more wisdom you will have. A book is simply a recorded experience of the author. You can experience what the author experienced by reading her work.

Reading opens up your mind. Reading exposes you to different people, different opinions, different feelings, different personalities, different cultures, and different periods of time. This exposure makes you a better judge of character, and more tolerant of what's different from you.

You have an opportunity to be in the company of the greats. You become the essence of the 5 closest people you hangout with. Choose to hangout with the greats by reading their work. You have a chance to learn what the greats have learned in the past.

Improves your vocabulary. You learn new words when you read. You also learn the different nuances of words. An English teacher of mine once told me that no two synonyms have the same exact meaning. They are different words for a reason.

A pro tip for men: learn to be articulate in your speech. Women love it. ;)

It's a great hobby. Not only is reading informative, but it can also be enjoyable. We all need some down time. Picking up and reading an interesting novel is a great way to ease up a bit.

Cultivating A Love For Reading

I think that should be enough to convince you why you should be reading more. Now let's look at a few tips that can help you with dialing down a reading routine—

Find out your Why. Why read? What's in it for you? Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of why you should be reading more. But try to find out your personal reasons.

Remove any negative association to reading. I have a theory. The reason you don't love to read is because you have been forced to read by your parents and teachers. As a result, you have associated reading with something that you have to do because an authority figure is telling you to. The solution is to acknowledge the fact and find an intrinsic motivation to read.

Follow Your Interest. Make a list of all the things you could be interested in. Maybe it's the brain or writing. Maybe you want to know more about pandemics now that you have suffered through one. Maybe you are interested in the origin story of humans. Whatever it may be, you have to start somewhere. And the best place to start with reading is to read what you love.

8 years back, I started with reading fantasy literature. That was what I was driven towards at that time. It was only after struggling for a year did I started to read non-fiction.

Start small. If you try to run for 2-3 kms on your first run, you will burnout. You will be so sour from exertion that you will have to take a break for the next few days, even for a week. It works the same way with writing. You have to have a mindset of learning for the rest of your life. Stop thinking in terms of months and start thinking in terms of years. That's the secret to establishing any beneficial habit.

Realize that you have time. Think consistency over intensity. Do less but do it daily. If it's challenging to read a 20-30 page chapter, read just 1 page at a time, and move your way up.

Read on a schedule. New habits are instilled better if we form a schedule around them. Carve out a time in your day that you will only spend reading. Make sure to remove any distractions (specially your phone) so that you can focus. Try habit bunching, where you pair a new habit with an existing one to make the process of incorporation more streamlined. People usually prefer reading first thing in the morning or the last thing before going to bed.

Read better, not faster. I used to embody a persona of someone who wanted to read as much as he can. I would find ways to read faster, not caring if I was really understanding what I was reading. I know better now. It really doesn't matter how many books you have read. What matters is if you have really understood what the author is saying and taken action to incorporate the learnings in your life. Take your time, a book is always patient.

Read great books multiple times. In the contemporary world, there are millions of books you can read from. There are so many books, that you wouldn't be able to read all of them in your lifetime. The secret to getting most out of reading is to figure out which books are the great books and read them again and again. Not all books are written the same. I have read some books which are just a blur, but there are other books which have really struck a chord in me.

Take notes. I was late to the party with this one. It's only in the last few months since I have started to write notes for the things I learn. Your brain can't keep everything you learn in your mind. It needs an outlet. Taking notes is the best way to make sure that what you learn is stored away in a systematic catalog.

I will be talking about The Commonplace Book in the future, which is a personal compilation of all the things you have learned and will keep on learning. It's like an erudite's scrapbook.

Carry your book with you. You are more likely to read a book if it's with you at all times. Bag your book wherever you go. When you find snippets of time here and there, you can take out the book and read instead of scrolling around the internet.

Make it enjoyable. You often don't read because you find it boring. You think that you might rather do something else. There is always work to be done. Why would you want to add another thing to your work list? That's when you should remember your Why. You will need discipline as you start the habit of reading. Be patient with the process. With time you will start to enjoy it. But for those who will have a hard time sticking to it, I urge you to wonder what you can do to make the process of reading more enjoyable. Can you play light music to make it more relaxing? Maybe you can grab a cup of tea of coffee as you get down with reading your first page.

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