Why I Read a Book Every Week
And why the world’s authorities do the same.
Reading is a time-tested, tried, and true way to become an authority. The greatest men and women of history and the multi-billionaires of today have all read their way to the top. More importantly, they continue to read even after amassing their fortunes.
In today’s society, it’s the necessitous and penniless that choose not to read. It is the people that claim to have “no luck” in life and the ones that settle for mediocrity.
Like Jim Rohn once said, “Poor people have a big TV. Rich people have a big library.”
The Power of Reading
The most successful people in the world choose to read every day
I just finished a course on Udemy that was about reading 300 books in a year. This would require reading almost a book a day, which the author of the course had done. He claims it is the reason for his success. He cites the knowledge gained as indispensable.
I realized that everything I want to learn and all of the information I desire is already available. Books are how the smartest people in the world, the authorities in their field, choose to share their information. They have already solved the problem, then they sat down and wrote about it. Why spend time trying to figure it out on your own when you can get the answers directly from the best?
The path to success is in the continuous pursuit of knowledge.
Reading shapes your thoughts. Instead of spending all day pondering about the next episode of some zombie series, you will be thinking about the words that you just read. Your mind will be stimulated and you will start to visualize positive outcomes and generate productive ideas.
Readers are often stoked about life and its possibilities because they know that other successful people have excelled in much tougher circumstances.
There is nothing more inspiring than reading the first-hand account of someone that started with nothing and went on to make millions of dollars. They will talk about the risks they had to take. They will describe in detail the hours they spent visualizing, hustling, and grinding and how they circumvented the low expectations of today’s society. They will talk about how they put it all on the line.
They will give you the answers to the questions you are asking. They will give you the motivation you need to get moving and the source of inspiration necessary to push past the naysayers. These naysayers are the ones saying you can’t make it because you’re not smart enough or educated enough or rich enough. Naysayers don’t write books and they aren’t authorities.
“If I would have listened to the naysayers, I would still be in the Austrian Alps yodeling.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
Why a Book a Week?
The main reason that I read a book a week is that I want to become an authority. I want my words to mean something and I want what I say to make a difference. I already have more degrees than anyone would need. I already have life experience. I’ve spent most of my life overweight, and middle class and I come from a small place where everyone mostly does the same thing. I have been mediocre and I have fought my way out of it.
I may or may not already have something to say, but that is simply not enough. I want to rise above the expectations I have set for myself. I want to learn more, know more, and be more.
It is in this daily practice that I fine-tune my skillset, craft my message, and take action against everything that holds me back.
I conclude with this quote from Galileo, who once claimed reading to be a conduit to superhuman powers, like time travel and telepathy.
With what admiration the reading of excellent poets fills anyone who attentively studies the invention of interpretation of concepts! And what shall I say of architecture? What of the art of navigation? By surpassing all stupendous inventions, what sublimity of mind was his who dreamed of finding means to communicate his deepest thoughts to any other person, though distant by mighty intervals of place and time! Of talking with those who are in India; of speaking to those who are not yet born and will not be born for a thousand or ten thousand years; and with what facility, by the different arrangements of twenty characters upon a page! Let this be the seal of all the admirable inventions of mankind. — Galileo
In today’s instant fix society, the habit of reading can quickly become a competitive advantage. Direct it towards a singular purpose or passion and watch it transform your life.
If you are interested in similar stories about reading and books, check out my publication on high-performance where I write about non-fiction books that can make an impact in how you think, feel, and perform.