How To Master The Art Of Reading?
Tips for a More Book-Filled Life
Hey Friends,
Greetings from my cherished spot near home in Bellevue - the cozy Woods Coffee. This place has a fantastic vibe, with everyone engrossed in work or immersed in a good book on this lovely Sunday afternoon. It's the ideal spot for me to settle in and tackle two crucial tasks of the week: weekly planning and crafting this newsletter. Now, let's dive into today's topic - the art of reading more!
Ideas That Are Changing My Life
How To Read More
Ever wondered how long it took me to finish my first book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"? Take a guess—2 months? 4 months? Well, think again. It took me a whopping 11 months. Fast forward to today, and I effortlessly consume the same amount of content in just about 10 days.
Reading has been a transformative force in my life, unlocking numerous potentials for me. More than that, it stands as the cornerstone of my journey toward greater security, satisfaction, and continual self-improvement. Recently, some friends have approached me, curious about how to read more effectively. So today, I'm sharing a few crucial tips that have turned reading into an integral part of my life. Although I mostly read non-fiction, what I'm sharing today applies to all types of readers. Let's dive in and discover how you, too, can make reading a powerful catalyst for personal growth.
Identify As A Reader
I'm inspired by the concept of identity-driven habits from the book "Atomic Habits". Unlike system-driven or goal-driven habits, those rooted in identity tend to endure. When you identify as a reader, picking up a book becomes a natural inclination, unlike the struggle that comes with seeing yourself as someone who merely wants to read but struggles to make it happen.
For instance, life's inevitable interruptions - whether it's travel or other commitments - used to disrupt my reading routine. However, after embracing the identity of a reader for the past 2-3 years, it has seamlessly become second nature. Even during periods of low reading activity, reigniting the habit is no challenge. It's a simple equation: because I am a reader, reading is an integral part of who I am. This shift in perspective has transformed reading from a task into a fundamental aspect of my identity, making it a lasting and fulfilling habit.
Stop Making Excuses - Make Time For Reading
According to ChatGPT, the number one reason people often give for not reading is a perceived lack of time. However, it simply boils down to priorities. If reading is something you truly want to incorporate into your routine, it's about making it a priority. Find different ways to integrate reading into your life.
Always Start With What You Like
Start reading with something that truly resonates with you. Try introspecting a little and understand what you're inherently curious about and follow that natural curiosity as you establish reading as a habit and start to see yourself as a reader. Gradually, expand your horizons and explore different topics and genres to keep yourself satisfied and keep making progress until it becomes a part of you.
Habit Stacking
This game-changing idea is also from the book "Atomic Habits". Habit stacking is a productivity and behavior change strategy that involves integrating a new habit into an existing routine by "stacking" it on top of a current habit. The idea is to leverage the momentum and consistency of an established behavior to make it easier to adopt a new one.
I have applied habit stacking to many things in life, temporarily and permanently and it has worked wonders for me. You could use habit stacking to improve your reading habits as well. One of my friends has stacked reading a book on Kindle while having a meal. You could also stack it with your wind-down routine before sleeping or listening to audiobooks while working out or reading on the toilet seat. Identify the behaviors in your life that you are consistently doing and just simply stack reading to one of those behaviors and see the magic!
Make It Easy, Obvious, Attractive and Satisfying
I am sorry - this idea is also borrowed from Atomic Habits. I promise this is the last one :D But I can't help it, "Atomic Habits" is a brilliant piece of work from James Clear and I 100% recommend you all to read the book if you haven't already. Coming back to how you can make it more easy, obvious, attractive, or satisfying, I will jot down some things on top of my mind that could help you make reading a habit.
Make It Easy: Keep your books in a visible and easily accessible place. Begin with short reading sessions.
Make It Attractive: Pick books that genuinely interest you. Pair reading with something you find attractive, such as a cup of tea or a cozy blanket. Make it an enjoyable and relaxing experience.
Make It Obvious: Establish a consistent reading time, making it a part of your daily schedule. For example, designate 15 minutes before bedtime for reading. Place your current book on a visible surface as a reminder. Use bookmarks or leave your book open to easily pick up where you left off.
Make It Satisfying: Acknowledge your reading achievements, whether it's finishing a chapter or completing a book. Share your thoughts with others and enjoy the social aspect of reading. Discussing books can make the habit more satisfying and enjoyable. Make it a little bit of fun by adding a review on Goodreads, giving a rating, and compiling a list of books you have read and want to read.
Shortform And Kindle Are Life-Changing; Try Audiobooks too.
Get yourself a Shortform subscription right now if you haven't. Shortform provides you with concise 1-page summaries of books including detailed summaries of each chapter. I subscribed a couple of months back and am currently revisiting "Atomic Habits" and "Deep Work". It is an incredible tool not just to refresh your memory on the books you love but also to overcome the inertia of starting a new book. My strategy involves using Shortform for every new book on my list. First, I check out its quick summary to get a quick overview. If I'm hungry for a more in-depth exploration, then I commit to reading the full book. It's a streamlined approach that adds flexibility to my reading routine.
Similarly, buy a Kindle if you haven't already. It's very lightweight and easy to read. There's something about Kindle that makes reading very seamless and rewarding. Kindle is easy to carry, it's something you can keep on your bedside table and use right before you sleep. Its convenience is unmatched.
Audiobooks are another way of consuming the content in the books of your interest. Listening to an audiobook while working out or walking or driving could be extremely convenient and worth a shot. I am pretty new to this too and use Audible for it.
Don't give a shit about numbers
Quality trumps Quantity. It is fine even if you read only 1 book in a year, nobody gives a shit about how many books you read. Yes, it could be fun to see your number go up when you are starting to build a habit. But the important thing here is to enjoy the process so stop caring about your numbers and just go with the flow.
Weekly Reflections
Today, I am introducing this new section and I would like all of you to take out 5 minutes every week and do this little exercise for yourself too. It's a thing that I have been doing for a while now and although I did it in a disorganized fashion before, from now on, with each newsletter I am trying to make it more organized.
Things I Did Right This Week
Morning Workouts: One of the things I have always wanted to get into my routine - get into the habit of working out in the morning. This helps free up a lot of time in the evening and I can do other things I want to pursue like reading, watching movies, or anything else. And for the first time in my life, last week, I was able to get four morning workouts. Hope to continue this momentum in the coming weeks :)
Intermittent Fasting: I have been very intrigued by the idea of intermittent fasting and giving the stomach a long enough fasting window for improved digestive health and improved nutrient absorption. And I managed to get in a 2800+ calorie diet into a 10-hour window on most days, giving my stomach a 14-hour fasting window. Once I am off the high-calorie diet and achieve my weight gain goal, I will probably try to give my stomach a 16-hour fasting window in the future. For now, I hope I can stick to this!
Early Christmas Pasta Party: Invited a bunch of friends to my place and made Pasta. We played 7 Wonders and had a wonderful time chit-chatting.
Face Skin Care Routine: I had been trying to get to this for a long time, and explored all kinds of things like cleansers, toners, serums, moisturizers, sunscreen, and retinol - ordered a few of them which I think would be most suitable for my skin type and finalized a skincare routine for myself. Let's see how this goes ;)
Things I Loved This Week
WTF is Health? by Nikhil Kamath - Loved this episode around health - a very free-flowing and organic discussion on things like the importance of a balanced diet, how hormones impact our lives, binge eating, and the importance of health in general.
How to be Effortlessly Disciplined: 5 Mindset Shifts by Ali Abdaal - A nice video about developing discipline with some interesting new concepts like Mental Contrasting, Implementation Intentions, Reducing Environmental Friction and more.
That's all in this week's newsletter! See you next Sunday!
-Mehul