Take time to read, it is the fountain of knowledge
It’s been found that the average person does not read a full book in his whole lifetime. That’s a sad reality! If it was reported of Albert Einstein that he used only 3% of his brain’s capacity, then the average person condemns himself to the use of negative percent of his brain’s capacity. If there is any skill that requires no educational qualification to acquire, it is reading.
There is so much to be gained from reading but few people have exploited them. One of the major turning points in my life was the discovery of reading. In this article, I am going to share with you five reasons why you must take possession of your reading ability. It’s been said that those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t read.
Reading Exercises Your Mind. One of the most powerful organs in the human body system is the mind. Whether you will succeed or fail in life is highly dependant on how you harness the power of the mind. In that regard, the mind works according to the information it has. Our thinking prowess also depends on the information in the mind. At the foundation of all these is reading. As the saying goes “reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Each of us knows the consequences of not exercising the body but we often overlook the dire effects of failure to exercise the mind. The truth is: No one can rise above his level of thinking. Your level of thinking cannot rise above your amount of information. And the more serious truth is that you cannot acquire relevant information without reading. If you give your mind exercise vacation, it will lead to ignorance and self-destruction.
Reading Helps Discipline Life. Purposeful readers know how to manage their time and life. They know when to do what. You see, it takes discipline to read. For instance, when you want to use your trapped time in traffic to read, you need discipline to concentrate. I have developed the continuous habit of reading in traffic. And I always battle out with distractions from everywhere. I can tell you, if you lack discipline, you will end up reading but understand nothing. Fact of life: Once you give yourself to the discipline of reading, it will give itself back to you!
Reading Connects You To Greater Possibilities. One of the secrets to Oprah Winfrey’s rise from a common African-American to become one of the most influential personalities in the world was reading. She started reading at the age of 3 years. In her own words, she said that, “Books showed me there were possibilities in life, that there were actually people like me living in a world I could not only aspire to but attain. Reading gave me hope. For me, it was the open door.” In other words, what changed her outlook in life from an ordinary person to a dreamer and an achiever was connecting to a more hopeful future through reading. Obviously, if nothing had changed in her mind, nothing would have changed in her outlook of life. Reading is one of the sure ways to a possible world.
Reading Improves Your Communication. A major problem with the education system in my country Ghana is that we are motivated to read in order to pass examinations. Thus, most of the materials we read are academically inclined. But there is more to just acquiring information to pass examinations. Indeed, every career requires candidates to have good command over written and spoken communications. You can never achieve this without reading quality publications. There is no doubt reading aids one to grasp better ways of written corporate memos, letters, and more so learn the rudiments of public speaking, marketing and selling.
Reading Mentors You For Succeed. My influential mentors in life have mostly come from books. I am where I am because of the books and other knowledge-based products I have soaked in over a period of less than two years. I have seen marked improvements in my life through reading bestselling motivational publications. I have been blessed to study the lives of some of the world’s greatest people through reading their works. I am still benefitting from years of experiences of people far and near embedded in books. I think there is no mentor more freely to relate to than found in books to shape you for success.
Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest leaders America gave to the world. He grew from a poor background. He learnt how to read and write on his own. Abe, as he was affectionately called, said that, “The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.” In other words, one of the reliable ways to make sound judgments and good decisions in leadership is through reading and understanding. Lincoln’s life is a testimony to that.
One of the things about reading is that when you study and observe to do what successful people do, you will achieve the results they achieved and even more. I suppose that I have shown in this write-up that each one of us can harness the power of reading to cause personal and professional transformations.
