I was reading a good book one day and a great light flashed on me, my brain opened up and uncommon ideas began to flow. It made me remember Daniel in the Bible, “And I Daniel understood by books”.
I have always had this deep desire for access to light and revelation in life. I never imagined they will come through books. I just enjoyed reading inspiring and self-help books. One special day, I had the most significant encounter of my life while reading a book. It was beautiful and meaningful. I began to think about the general impact of books and it’s significance to gaining mastery in various fields of endeavors, especially towards growth and personal development.
Reading can truly transform your life. It can renew your mind and set you up for success. It can make you wise and brilliant than what you already are. It’s one of the most consistent ways to improve yourself. I have never read a good book and remained the same – may be because I have a thing for words. I believe words are very powerful to the subconscious mind and this makes me careful with the words I speak and listen to.
If you’ve been finding it hard to read and you’re currently struggling to read more books than before, then you need this. I am sharing what helped me prioritize reading over the years despite having lot of responsibilities. It’s quite simple and they are right here for you.
Create a reading schedule or timetable
Every month, I have my reading outline and goals already planned out and timed. Sometimes, I complete the book before the end of the month and other sometimes, I move the unfinished book to the next month. It has a lot to do with being intentional and carving out necessary time to read, gain knowledge, and develop capacity.
Find an accountability partner or join a book club
During my high school days, I had this book club I always visited every Friday. It’s always fun being there, we were quite few in number but we had similar interests and reading goals. We will pick a book and discuss everything about it including the lessons we got from there. We even turned some story books into songs, haha! Book clubs makes reading more interesting but it really takes discipline. Sometimes I’m up in the night with my sleepy eyes trying to complete a book just because of my reading goals and the people I don’t want to let down by being lazy. Nowadays, the online space is there. Make good use of it!
Read what interests you
Don’t read a book because everybody is reading it. Read what you like and what you can benefit from especially if you’re the type that hate reading. If you can’t learn something from a book, of what use is reading it? Except you may be reading for fun, it may appear boring to you and discourage you from reading another one.
Carry the book everywhere you go
Books are the new complementary cards now, it tells a lot about who you are as a person and makes people hold you in high esteem. It also attracts you to like minds and great men of influence. Personally, if I see someone reading a book I have read or love to read, I connect easily with the person. It gives our conversation a beautiful start and makes it easy to make friends. So, while waiting for that important person at the waiting room or during your break hour – reading one chapter here and there wouldn’t be a bad idea. In fact, it makes a good difference and increases your knowledge by every minute. Even if you don’t like reading but you decide to take your book along with you everywhere, you will see it in your handbag and be reminded to open it.
Read 30 minutes per day
Reading 30 minutes per day in a week totals 3.5 hours. An average sized book will probably take you 2 weeks to read. Given there are 52 weeks in a year, you would end up reading 25 books in one year. Five years down the track, you would have read 125 books. The more you read, the more you you get involved in reading and the better you will become.
Tell me, what do you do when you don’t feel like reading? Have you tried any of these tips before? What has worked for you? I like to know. Share below!
