It took me 18 years to learn to appreciate this

It will only take you 6 minutes to learn that reading is essential in your everyday life.

I still remember being forced to read from the age of 6 till about 8 or 9. We had this thing called ‘required reading’.

I hated it.

In fact, I never actually read any of the books. Even when I was 6 I put off reading as much as I could, pretending to read but really I would skim through the book and then say what I thought it was about — I learned to summarise long before I knew what a summary was.

I wasn’t always right. But most of the time, it worked.

I got through all the ‘required reading’ in only 3 years. Doing this way before all the rest of the kids wasn’t my goal though. I just hated reading.

I hated reading for 18 years of my life actually.

I wanted to share my story for anyone else who is struggling with finding the time for reading. Who knows, maybe I’ll even inspire a few people to finally pick up a book and get on with reading it.

Why start reading:

The most important reason to finally pick up your first book and put time into reading it and understanding it is simply because it improves your conversational skills.

Reading adds to your vocabulary and increases your knowledge of how to correctly use new words.

You won’t always find yourself using fancy words in your normal day-to-day conversations. However, you will realise once you start reading how you will form your sentences in a new way. Every so often you’ll use a word that will surprise you.

Reading improves your self-discipline

I think a lot of people in this day and age struggle with self-discipline. Simply because we’re all taught to be lazy — unintentionally.

We’re given phones, cars, the internet. All great things but all things that will make us lazy.

A phone can let you talk to your friends and family wherever you are. So you don't have to move a muscle to meet people. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing thing. Especially right now when we’re in lockdown. Although, this can usually make us lazy.

In fact, I have a friend who used to never want to go out with the rest of us. His excuse was “I can’t be bothered”. He could talk to us every day whilst sitting in bed, so what was the point.

The point is, laziness is not the answer.

Build up your self-discipline. Be a better person.

Reading needs to be consistent. Once you start a book, you want to finish it. You have to read it at least every couple of days or you will forget what has happened. Or you’ll give up on it completely.

Our attention spans get shorter and shorter each day through the constant barrage of social media. Reading forces you to focus on. Through fixating on the story, your brain forms deep connections and practices concentration — which is exactly what most of us lack nowadays.

Increase your cultural knowledge

Reading enables us to connect with cultures without the expense of travel. It provides us with knowledge of different cultures and the emotional and spiritual lives of people who live there.

I realised this instantly as I began to read “The Alchemist”. The huge following of religion and omens through the book opened my eyes to a culture completely different from the one I’m living.

But books don’t have to have their entire focus on this for you to learn about it. You pick up on these things as you keep reading.

Reduce your stress

When reading, you begin to lose yourself in the novel and it’s a fantastic way to relax. It can ease tension in your muscles and your heart, all whilst letting your mind wander through a world you couldn't imagine.

Reading is like sending your brain on vacation where you live someone else’s life.

The day I started to think about reading as something that would probably benefit me greatly, was the first time my English tutor had come round.

He’s probably read thousands of books. “3 books a week for years and years,” he told me.

The most astounding thing was that you could tell he read a lot by the way he spoke. At this point, I wanted to sound how he did when I spoke.

I wanted to start reading.

Two years later and I still wasn’t reading very much. I think the most reading I would do is when I would read the caption on Instagram photos.

So what changed?

I think being stuck in lockdown (due to Covid-19) was a major factor that initially led to me realising maybe I should finally pick up a book and intend to read it.

Not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

I wanted to feel as intellectual as my previously mentioned English tutor definitely was.

The second major thing that motivated me was the person I’ve looked up to for years (Will Smith).

A speech of his mentioned a book. When he spoke about it, it’s as if something in my mind said to me: “I can’t go without reading this book.”

The book was: “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.

So finally, the last thing that led me to discover new beauty in this world (reading) was this book.

The first page had me hooked. I read 25 pages on Google for free before I bought the book.

Find someone who motivates you and see if they have any books they would recommend. I find that most people will listen to who they look up to.

Here are some ways to finally get into reading and turn your life around:

Find a book you simply cannot put down

I think the reason it took me 18 years to finally appreciate reading was because quite simply, I wasn’t picking the right books.

I used to choose books based on the cover, or what it said on the back of them.

This is how not to choose a book:

• Only read the blurb
• Look only at the cover
• Recommendation from a friend
• How long it is

I could go into each one of those and tell you why not to do it, but I’ll just tell you how you should do it instead.

How I pick a book to read

A great way to find a book you’ll want to read is by using Google. You can usually get up to 10% of the book for free.

Usually, by the time you read that much, you’ll know if you want to keep going or not.

Pick a book by the title, or the author. Authors usually stick to one genre, that’s why I pick by author. If I like one of their books, I know I’ll like the others.

Once you have the title, read the first page and see how hooked you are. Didn’t quite get into it? Move on.

I’m currently reading 3 books this way. I like to circulate between different books each night. This way I keep things interesting and I find a book I want to buy a lot quicker.

At the moment “The Green Mile” by Stephan King, has caught my eye the most.

Books aren’t for everyone

I realise that reading a book isn’t for everyone. But there are so many ways to get some reading done.

Articles, for example. They’re the best way to sponge up information on a daily basis.

I read 3–5 articles a day probably. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

But I always read.

When I don’t have a book in my hand, I’ll be on my MacBook or phone and be on this platform to absorb some new information on a topic that interests me at the time.

Try and find some time each day, to sit down and read.

I think it will benefit you way more than you think.

I still don’t sound like an intellectual when I speak

Although my goal was to sound like my old English tutor, I don't think that’s achievable in 10 years even. Maybe 30 years will do it.

For now, I’ll stick to smaller goals.

Like reading 1 book every two weeks. Then 1 book a week. Then 2 books each week.

Once I hit 3 books a week, I think that's where I’ll peak because realistically: Not all of us have the time to read that much.

Find the time in your life to finally let books take over (Or articles even). I know that when you’re younger reading doesn’t seem like conformity, however, you create your own rules. Don’t look at other people. Do what you want to do. Live your life.

We can’t travel at the moment physically, so let your mind do the travelling as you stick your nose in a novel that will take you beyond your dreams and wildest adventures.