Here are 8 Lessons I've Learned from Reading Books...
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Reading books is one of the best ways to gain knowledge. There are millions and millions of books out there. Each one is a passport to a different world. They can teach you about topics you’ve never learned about. And they can teach you more about topics you enjoy.
Reading is one of the best habits you can build. The knowledge, wisdom, and enjoyment you can gain from them are limitless.
People overlook the value of books. Myself included. Until a year ago… When I started reading books consistently.
I learned 8 lessons about the value of reading books during this time. Let’s dive into them.
Reading is fun
Many people loathe reading, and I don’t blame them. Reading books in school felt like a chore at best. Most books you read in school are boring and unenjoyable. Especially when you have to read them as assigned homework. Being forced to do things isn’t fun…
But reading books by your own choice is a completely different experience. Contrary to popular belief, reading is fun! Reading books that you choose to read ensures that you’ll read something you enjoy.
If you don’t enjoy the book you read, you can move on to a different one! There’s no need to keep reading something that you find boring and dreadful. Hanging on to finish these types of books only makes reading less enjoyable for you.
New books are being written every day. The “library” of books on the market is only growing! There are books written on nearly every topic you can think of! There’s a book for you out there!
Whether you want to read a fiction novel for your enjoyment or read a non-fiction book for your education, there’s a book out there for you.
When reading, time melts away. Every distraction becomes unimportant. You get lost in the pages of the book.
With fiction books, you get lost in the story. You can’t wait to see what happens next. The adventure is captivating. With non-fiction books, you get lost in the quest for knowledge. You want to learn more and more about the topic of the book. You’re building your knowledge and stimulating your mind.
Reading stimulates curiosity
Reading books has a captivating effect on us. You want to know what’s on that next page. The suspense can be overwhelming. It’s this mystery of what words and sentences are on that next page that draws us deeper and deeper into the book.
This is the same effect as the “What’s in the box?” phenomenon where people are dying to know what’s in the box in front of them. You just have to know what’s inside, the contents of the box consume your mind. It’s all you can think about until you get the relief of opening the box. Or in the case of reading, turning to the next page.
Every page of a book causes this same phenomenon. The design of the book plays on your psychology to get you to continually ask yourself, “What’s on the next page?”
It’s hard to put the book down. You often feel like you’re in a bad spot to put it down, even when you end at the start of a new chapter. It feels like more work to find a place to stop than it is to keep going. That’s how you know it’s a good book.
The curiosity keeps you engaged with the book until you build the strength to put it down for the day.
Reading gives you ideas
In addition to the curiosity of what’s on the next page of the book, reading stimulates your mind. You become curious about the ideas, philosophy, story, world, characters, etc. inside the book.
You think about them, pondering at the deeper meaning of them. And you get new ideas from the books. Ideas that add to your existing knowledge base. Or challenge your existing knowledge.
Your brain makes connections with the ideas from the books you read to other books you’ve read. Your brain makes connections with the ideas from the books to your experiences. And to the world around you.
The world around you becomes more and more like a web to your mind. You begin to see how X is related to Y. How Y is related to Z. And so on. Everything is interconnected.
Your mental model of the world changes once you start reading books. Your knowledge and character grow with each book you read.
You can learn about anything
Contrary to popular belief, you can learn anything by reading books.
You don't need to be a psychology major to pick up a psychology book and read it.
You can learn about ANY topic through reading books. This doesn't mean you'll become an expert at the topic right away, but it does means that you can learn about the topic.
If there's a topic you want to learn about, there's a book out there for you!
You essentially build your own education through the books that you choose to read.
Readability is important
Reading books teaches you valuable lessons and knowledge.
Most great books are written with clarity and readability in mind. Regardless of the type of book, great books are easy to read. Even with abstract philosophical books, the books still tend to be easy to read. The concepts may be difficult to grasp, but the way the book is written isn’t making it more difficult. They are written in plain English that you can read.
Books filled with fancy words no one knows about or uses tend to not be worth your time. Unless they are old books that have been around for 100+ years. Old books tend to have antiquated words, but the knowledge from the book is timeless.
But if it’s a modern book filled with these big words, it’s a red flag. They tend to be stuffed with these words to make them more difficult to understand. Sometimes this is due to the concepts in the book being garbage. Other times it’s due to the ego of the author, who may have a superiority complex.
Think about these modern books like reading a nutritional label on the back of food products. If the food has 20+ ingredients that you can’t pronounce, then it’s probably not a good food for you…
You won’t get value out of the book if you aren’t able to understand the concepts in it. After all, why are you reading the book in the first place?
The knowledge you learn from books should be usable or applicable to your life in some way. That’s why readability is so important.
Books that are easy to read make learning easier. Knowledge is only beneficial when you understand it. Because then you can use the knowledge to your advantage.
Knowledge is power
Once you learn the concepts from the book, it’s time for you to use the concepts. The knowledge you’ve learned can be used for your benefit. You get to go out and use what you’ve learned to make better decisions in your life.
One book can change your life completely!
This one book can make everything make sense to you. Things you previously questioned or struggled with now seemingly fall into place. You begin to see the bigger picture.
One book can change the course of your life.
For example, Atomic Habits by James Clear changed my life. It became easy for me to build good habits. I was able to finally build my meditation and journaling habits after reading this book. Other habits I already had in place such as weightlifting and eating healthy, became easier to do.
Atomic Habits changed my perception of building good habits. They are easy to build and sustain, you just have to make them work for you, not against you. Since building my meditation and journaling habits, I’ve gained mental clarity. I now have the tools to clear my mind. This frees my mind up to focus on my work. It’s become easy to focus on my work, without having distracting thoughts race through my mind. My productivity has increased immensely.
Books are powerful. If you apply what you’ve learned from them, your life will improve with each book you read. Reading is one of the best habits you can build for self-improvement.
It’s always a productive use of your time to read books… If you are applying what you’ve learned from them into your life.
You never learn everything the first time
You won’t gain all of the lessons, concepts, ideas, etc. from the book on your first read.
Even if you take the most diligent notes, you won’t get everything from the book.
This can be frustrating, especially if you want to make the most efficient use of your time. And if you’re trying to read book after book.
But it’s actually a good thing that you don’t learn everything from the book after reading it for the first time!
Books are essentially a few hundred pages of the author's months and years of someone’s research, studying, experiences, writing, and so on. It’s a lot of information crammed into one book. How can you expect to learn the entirety of months and years of knowledge within a few weeks of reading?
You won’t pick up on all of the information in the book, and all of its nuances.
But you’ll always be able to come back to a book for a second read, third read, etc., and still learn something new! Good books are always re-readable.
You will never waste your time reading a good book, no matter how many times you’ve read it before.
With each read, you’re gaining more and more knowledge from the book. You get more and more value after every read.
Beware of the reading endless books trap
It can be tempting to read one book and then go on to the next. After all, reading is fun.
Don’t just read books for the sake of reading. And don’t read for the sake of seeing how many books you can read for a given time. That defeats the purpose of reading.
Don’t go on to the next book before you’ve had a chance to think about the book you’ve just read.
Give each book the time it's worth.
Review your notes if you took any.
Think about how you can use what you’ve learned from the book to improve your own life. See if there is any action you can take.
This can be difficult with fiction books, but there is most often a moral or lesson that you can learn from them. Or you can think about the psychology of the characters. Compare the hero’s psychology with how you are psychologically and how you want to be like.
Let the thoughts about the book float in your mind.
Then move on to the next book.
The endless reading trap can become a form of procrastination if you aren’t using the books to expand your knowledge base. You are missing a lot of the value of reading when you don’t take the time to think about the book after you’ve read it.
Final thoughts
Reading is a powerful habit to build.
You never know when something you learned from reading will come in handy. Situations will arise where you can use what you’ve learned.
The lessons you learn from reading books will stick with you through the rest of your life. You’ll rely upon them to help you navigate challenging situations. And you can use these lessons to help you make better decisions in your life.
After reading a book, find some actions that you can take to apply the knowledge. Or think about what potential situations you could use the knowledge in.
Knowledge is power when it is used.
Reading is also fun. It’s a great way to unwind at the end of your day while still getting some productive benefits.
If you’re reading for self-improvement and taking action using what you’ve learned, then reading will never be a waste of your time.