Reading is one of the most important things that you can do.
Far too many people read too little.
You should be voracious in your quest for knowledge, always seeking to learn and improve yourself.
Forget fiction. I mean not completely. You should read fiction its fun. And reading in general is good. But fiction is kind of like TV.
When I say “reading” I mean non-fiction. Book that can help you improve in the core areas of your life: work / business, relationships, health, wealth / investing. Perhaps hobbies, if that gives you meaning.
Don’t hesitate to spend money on books. They are investments in yourself, which is the highest form of ROI. Turn on that one-click ordering on Amazon.
If you get a recommendation from a trustworthy source – click – download. It doesn’t matter if you don’t read it straight away.
Get a kindle reader perhaps. I got one. I like it because there are no distractions. No internet, no email. Just reading. That’s good. It’s not mandatory (all smart phones have good Kindle apps). But the lack of distraction is definitely a plus.
Again. Don’t fret about spending those 10 bucks. The ROI on this could be thousands of times over.
A major fallacy that we all somehow were ingrained with is that you need to read a book from start to finish. Naval Ravikant in his interview with Tim Ferriss opened my eyes to this. Skip to the interesting bits. Don’t feel like a slave to page order. A lot of books (business books especially) are filled with fluff. So skim quickly through some sections, skip others entirely, focus on the ones that give you the juicy bits of information.
And another fallacy is that we should read one book at a time. Also, thanks to Mr Ravikant I’ve embraced the fact that I have multiple books on the go. At the moment I have about 5 or so books at various stages of digestion. And its fine. I don’t feel it detracts in any way.
Sometimes I read kindle books. Its the instant hit that it gives me. Some, especially if I have high hopes for them, I’ll order through Amazon (or more usually Book Depository, it works out cheaper for shipments to Israel usually).
I’ll highlight stuff in kindle books or underline them and scribble notes on the margins of paperbacks. Some lessons I’ll record in my journal. Sometimes (and this is new) I’ll create a summary on this blog (this could be quite helpful on processing the info). It would be good to write ONE action point that you will implement from each book (just thought of this now, but its a good one).
Summary
Buy lots of books. Invest in yourself. No hesitation.
Pick and choose section of books you read. Free yourself of the need to read a book cover to cover.
Read multiple books on the go. Give yourself permission to read multiple books at the same time.
Get a kindle. Or at least the app on your phone. Read books instead of browsing the internet (and switch off that goddamn internet!)
Write down ONE action point from each book you read. Implement it (at least test it out).
