Self Improvement

Please Read

You’ll thank me later.

Want to know what it feels like to be 50 feet away from the summit of Everest and have to turn back because you lost a race against the sun?

How about how it feels to crash a car, fly through the air, and wake up weeks later in a hospital?

Pick up a book.

Learn by not doing.

It’s what we do when we read.

I’d love to take a run at Everest but that would require me to do at least three things: get in incredible shape, drop a ton of cash, and take a few months off work. Alternatively, I can read any number of books about climbing Everest from the comfort of my home (sitting next to a blazing fire).

But honestly, why read?

Experience history.

Reading lets us experience events that happened in the not-so-distant past.

And that experience can help us make sense of things that are happening today.

As an example, in the 1970’s there was an American President named Richard Nixon who exploited fear and rode it to an election victory, twice. It was labeled his ‘Southern Strategy’. The use of the term ‘Silent Majority’ appeared on placards at Nixon rallies back then as well.

Fast forward to 2016 and you will find another American President getting elected by employing what seemed to be a very similar strategy.

I only use this as an example of things that pop up 50 or so years later that seem new but they are not. We can learn so much by studying the past.

I hate politics, but I love history.

Speaking of scary history, we would be well served to read, or re-read, Night by Elie Wiesel. It will only take you a few hours, but your life will be forever changed.

Reading is an experience accelerator.

Why do some people seem to know so much?

It’s almost like they can see the future. They seem to reliably make a pretty good guess at what the outcome of an event will be.

Are they magicians? A prognosticator, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the days of Nostradamus?

Nah. Chances are they read a few more books than you.

By reading you can:

• Learn what a software project looks like when it is getting ready to go off the rails, and some ways you might be able to recover.
• What a team member who is having a hard time looks like, and what to do about it.
• How to start, grow, and sell a business without risking our own money and time.

Reading will make you more effective at work.

I met a Product Manager a few months ago for the first time. During our conversation he told me that he hates to read, and avoids it at all costs. He hasn’t picked up a book in years. It made me a little sad, and concerned.

If you’ve read any of my posts, you know I’m no rocket scientist.

I graduated high school by the skin of my teeth, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and eventually got my life on track.

Everything I am today is due to a reading habit that I developed in my early 20’s. If I wanted to know more about something, I went to the library and checked out a book on the subject.

I taught myself how to write code, how to become a better programmer, how to start and run a business, etc.

Actually doing things is obviously critical, but reading up on the topic lets you experience success and safe failure.

You know all this, right?

Then why aren’t you reading more?

It doesn’t have to cost you anything, other than your time. Make it a habit, and you will thank me later.

I promise.

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