Reading is one of the quickest ways to improve your life. 📚(This is how to maximize the impact)
Be honest. We’re all looking for easier ways to improve.
For me, that unlock comes from reading.
I love books and have the mini-library to prove it.
But the quantity of reading we complete isn’t as important as the process of how we read.
A New Way to Read
I just watched an epic, one-hour lecture by New York Times Best-Selling author Ryan Holiday at The Austin Central Library (from Oct 2022).
The focus—you guessed it—reading.
These 5 key takeaways from his workshop could change how your read forever.
1/ Don't just read. Read deeply.
Don't be satisfied just to get "the gist" of things. Engage with the text.
Highlight
Fold corners
Write down quotes
Scribble notes in the margins
Make the book yours.
2/ Read widely.
Books are opportunities to learn from the experiences of others. Books are infinitely more accessible because we don't have to live the experiences directly to learn the lessons.
"Swarm" topics to understand the nuances of your profession from many perspectives.
3/ Re-read the books that speak to you.
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -- Heraclitus
Every time you go back to a book, you'll find something different. You are not the same person as when you first read it.
4/ Read "like a spy in the enemy's camp".
Read the works of people you disagree with.
Put what they say to the test.
Give credit to the good ideas.
Challenge the ones you disagree with.
See the ideas from the other perspective.
5/ Make your own contribution.
Don't just memorize quotes or methods of thinking. Reflect on what you've read and build upon the ideas.
You don't need to be a writer to do so.
Put the ideas into practice in your actual life.
"The greatest thing you can say is what you do."
TL; DR
Read deeply.
Read widely.
Re-read what speaks to you.
Read opposing ideas to your own.
Make your own contribution.
You don't need to read 1,000 books.
Simply be selective in what you read and change the world with what you learn.
Quote of the Week
Motivation for the days ahead of you.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”
—George R.R. Martin
That's all for now.
Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!
