The Only Reason I Started Reading Books
Books and I clashed a lot. I couldn’t really comprehend the reason to read a book when I was birthed in the era of technology. Every source of information could be found with a few searches on YouTube on a overpriced iPhone. Plus I was way too occupied with sports in my youth to spend time sitting and reading. It never appealed to me.
As the years went on I wanted to do more research about topics outside the generic search interests a typical adult would do. And let me clarify, it is a very recent activity for me to get into books but hey they always say the best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is now - some philosopher at some time of human existence. I started to change my perspective on what books were. Instead of seeing them as a few sentences compiled together onto pages woven into a collection, they became something a lot more crucial. I started to see them as an insight to someone’s life who has already ventured into the topic they are discussing. But there is an important lesson in each book.
Second clarification point, I specifically read non-fiction books. Not that there’s anything wrong with people who read fiction. If anything more power to you. I like the idea of fiction because it provides a way for people to talk about challenges they faced when trying to weave through life and the recommended ways of dealing with said roadblocks. Take it all with a pinch of salt, but right now I need every piece of advice I can get. Every person has a unique and different take. Also a strong reason why having a diverse team is considered so important right now.
Whether its business struggles, personal challenges, financial support or the best ways to communicate to people. There are so many wonders to reading.
Lets say you hate reading, I have a solution for you!
There are a bunch of sites around that have a condensed form of books and provide a really good way to summarise the key takes from books. You can download it on your phone and cram it into train journeys or at before bed, whatever works. An app I personally use is Shortform which also allows audio listening. No this is not sponsored and I’ll prove it by adding another app - Blinkist.
So there is a lot that you can learn from in books and knowledge is key in an era where a lot of reliance is now just on Chatgpt.
“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”
― Otto von Bismarck
