Billionaire Reading Habits: How (Not) To Read?
Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk all these billionaires share a common habit. They all reserve a few minutes daily to do something that makes them a better version of themselves. Before I tell you what it is, let me ask you this: How many times have you been overwhelmed or stuck when starting something new? How often have you thought, "I wish I had someone to ask for advice?"
When I started creating content for my YouTube channel, I knew literally nothing. I didn't know how to set up a camera or write a script, and I had no one to help.
But, unless we are Neil Armstrong going to take his first step on the moon, we are not alone. Many others have walked the same path from whom we can get valuable knowledge and insights. So if you want to be a great leader, you must learn from other great leaders. To be rich, you should learn from those who have made millions. But then there is a problem. We don't have easy direct access to millionaires or successful leaders. Lucky for us, there is a simple way around it: Books.
Books are not just a collection of words; they contain the life experiences of the person who wrote them, the lessons they learned, and the mistakes they made. They provide so much value at a fraction of the cost. And they have changed my life. I learned a lot about personal finance and content creation from books, and I believe reading is a habit we should prioritize and make a part of our day-to-day life, like brushing our teeth or exercising.
But I don't think I have to tell you about the benefits of reading. You probably already know them. So this blog is not about that. Most of you may have a reading list. And some of you may have started with one book but then just got stuck on it. And if I ask you why, I already know the reason what you are going to say. But I don't buy it.
Sorry. The same reason doesn't come into play when it comes to watching Netflix or scrolling on Instagram.
So why is it an exception when it comes to reading? Yes, I am talking about the common problem. Not having enough time. And I don't buy it because I believe everyone can find 15 minutes a day no matter what. It's about priorities, always about priorities. But let's not go there. I don't know about you, how busy you are with life, what you are going through. Maybe you only have a limited time in your day. But there are two other reasons why people fail to make reading a habit. Before we go to those reasons, we must talk about a well-known author, Jane Austen.
She is great, and if you search online for the best books to read, I think her books will make the list. But her works are a mix of social satire, comedy, and romance from a woman's perspective of nineteenth-century British country life. Maybe that's something that interests you. But if you start reading them based on recommendations only, then you will soon get back to Netflix or Social Media on your reading time. The thought of reading a book should excite us. Only then we will find time to read it.
I read for a fixed amount of time every day, and when I stop reading, I can't wait to get back to where I left off. This is because I read what interests me, and that keeps me wanting to read more. So, before you pick up a book, ask yourself these questions: Why am I reading it? Is it because everyone says it's a great book or because I find the topic interesting? What's the main idea presented in this book? But then, how can we know that before even reading it?
For Kindle books, you can read short samples before you actually decide to buy the book.
You can also use services such as Shortform or Blinkist, where you can read key insights from major books in the form of short summaries. Bill Gates reads 50 books annually, and I don't think "50 Shades of Grey'' is part of that. You have to find the books that strike a chord with you. But then, that's not the main reason we don't read as much as we wish.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: a friend recommends a book to you. You get it from the bookstore or buy it on Kindle. You are all excited to start reading it. Now, when you are halfway through it, you feel bored and cannot connect anymore to the content. So what will you do? Do you stop reading the book and move on to the next one on the list, or do you somehow try to finish it? For me, I couldn't start with another book unless I finished the current one because, you know, the book has feelings, and I haven't officially broken up. I have sat on books for a whole year because I didn't have the courage to quit.
The thought process goes something like this: I have invested a lot of time and effort in this book until now. If I quit now, it would all have been for nothing.This is the tendency for people to continue doing something even when leaving it would be more beneficial. It's the same thing that makes us watch crappy movies until the end, even when we find out by the halfway point that it's not what we expected. But then I came across this advice from Ali Abdaal, a YouTuber who makes videos about productivity, and that changed my reading habits.
Good reading habits are not just about what you read but also about what you don't read. Now, if a book doesn't grab my attention, I just stop reading it. My time on the planet is limited, and I don't want to spend it on things that don't interest me.
To read more, read books that interest you and stop reading the ones you cannot connect with. But then that alone won't help to make reading a lifelong habit. You need to do something else.
James Clear writes about how to build long-lasting habits in his best-seller book Atomic Habits:
Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action.
When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do. Standardize before you optimize. You can't improve a habit that doesn't exist.
Much of the battle of building better habits comes down to finding ways to reduce the friction associated with our good habits and increase the friction associated with our bad ones.
We can apply these lessons to create 3 action points:
Consider defining a designated place and time to read. I suggest reserving a time slot at night before bed so you can read and wind down.
Set a reading goal for each day. It could be a fixed duration in minutes or a number of pages to read. Start small; it's okay even if you read a page or for 5 minutes. More important is to make this routine part of your life.
Keep your book or Kindle near the reading place, your reading chair, or your night table so you can pick it up and start reading.
But then, 11,000 books are published every day. Once you make it a habit, your reading list will keep growing, and you will want to read more and more. Those who read often know this. You finish one book, and 10 more get added to the list. You don't know which book will give you that next million-dollar idea or make that huge positive impact on your life. So we have to read as much as we can.
ATheodore Roosevelt read one book before breakfast and three or four more in the evening. An average person reads between 200 and 300 words per minute. That's like one page every minute.
One way to read more books is to increase your reading speed. But then, isn't reading supposed to be that relaxing, soothing thing where you are in the park with that cold breeze and slowly moving from page to page? Hmm... yeah... In some cases, and some books, yes. But that's not why most of us read. Most books these days, and I am here talking specifically about non-fiction books, revolve around a core point that will be covered in just a few chapters. The rest of the book is basically expanding on these central ideas with examples and such.
So, once you understand the main concept, then there is not much benefit in spending so much time on the book. So, by reading the remaining sections faster, we still can get the most out of the book without discarding the book as a whole.
Don't get me wrong. It's not just about reading faster. The purpose of reading is not to increase the book count. If we read so we can tell people how many books we read, we'll have nothing more than empty status. The idea here is to read more books so that we can learn more and apply that knowledge to make our life better. And this is not a talent one is born with, but it can be learned. If you understand the two major factors that slow us down.
Before we check them, let me explain briefly how we normally read. Our eyes grab the words one at a time, and our mind combines them into sentences and processes them. Let me tell you, this is not the fastest way to read. We don't have to read each and every word to understand the content because words actually convey very little meaning individually. The words around a word give it meaning. If you notice the eyes of someone reading, you can see that they don't follow an even linear motion from the beginning of a line to the end. Instead, the eyes move like steps in a cogwheel, stopping to focus in between so-called fixation points.
Let me show you an example. Read the following:
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
A normal reader reads this sentence slowly in four to six eye fixations, sometimes taking in only a single word per fixation. A fast reader can read the sentence in one or two eye fixations. So when you read a book, focus on a point halfway between the beginning of the line and the center, and then the second fixation point halfway between the middle and the end of the line. Then use your peripheral vision to read roughly half an inch from those fixation points.
Stop reading word by word, divide the text into chunks, and then read block-by-block. By practicing this, you will automatically read faster.
Now the second and the most crucial factor that slows down our reading is something programmed in our minds from childhood.
When we were in school, the teacher would have asked us to read sections from our textbooks out loud, right? This is good when trying to learn a new language, but we should have stopped doing it by fifth grade. Due to this practice, whenever we read, we keep repeating each word in our minds even if we are not reading it out loud. This is called subvocalization. And this drastically affects our reading speed. Your eyes and brain can process words much faster than your reading pace. When you subvocalize, you limit your brain's maximum word processing speed to your talking speed.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to avoid this. Just be aware of it and consciously try not to do it. Initially, it won't be easy, and your comprehension will probably suffer slightly. But like anything else, with practice, this will become secondary.
All of this won't matter if we cannot apply what we read. We could read 1000 books about swimming, but we will never learn to swim if we don't jump into the water. If we don't use the insights we've read to improve our life, it's a waste of time. Reading is a very personal activity, and always keep in mind that we are not doing this for anyone else but for ourself.
I write a summary of every book I read and action points I can take before I jump into the next book on the list. If you want to learn more about building wealth, but doesnt have the time to read personal finance books, go to this link - Wealthy Words — Srijith Kariyattil. There you can find a summary with action points for around 100 best personal finance books.
These books have all the knowledge and wisdom you need to save, invest, and build wealth. So do check it out. Finally, these are all guidelines, and it's up to you what kind of books you read or whether you prefer reading at 200 or 1000 words per minute. Just keep reading.
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