What was the last book you read?

Read to lead by P Raghuraman

Reading has always been associated with success and wisdom.

So, what was the last book you read?

When I ask people this question, the answer that I mostly I get is, “I don’t have time to read”. Basically people don’t want to admit to their lack of patience or interest in reading. I admit, watching movies, streaming videos one after the other and spending hours in front of TV, are all quite appealing. Well, we all binge watch. However, you need to find a way to fit “reading” also in to your schedule.

Here are three compelling reasons for you to start developing the book reading habit:

I. READING MAKES YOUR MIND FERTILE

1. When you read, that time is exclusively yours. You are not sharing the screen or page with anyone else.

2. Your mind is taking a virtual reality tour of whatever you are reading about without the need of all that tech gear and electricity. (God bless Kindle and its incredible battery life)

3. It improves your memory. Compared to watching a video or listening to audio, reading is a more involved process. Writer gives more details in words so that you can visualise and comprehend things better. This also means you are able to get in-depth into situations, subjects, stories and topics. You are able to store them in your memories much more vividly. Remember your school and college days. You could remember a lot of stuff that you read.

4. It lets you form your own images, feel your emotions. You create the personas and ‘surroundings’ in your mind.

5. It expands your imagination and widens your creative canvas

Remember - watching a video representation can only complement your knowledge of the topic you have already read about. It cannot act as supplement.

II. READING FAST FORWARDS YOUR LEARNING

All successful people, across all walks of life, read books regularly.  Scientists, Business men, CEOs, Sports superstars, Artists etc. They all talk proudly about the books they read and its influence on their thoughts and life.  

Once you are out of college and into the treadmill of your career and domestic life, your learning happens by experiencing events and incidents. But, by reading books, you can shorten your learning cycle and adopt successful methods shared by the author, to make your life and career flourish.

• For a CEO and an Entrepreneur it gives various ideas and suggestions.

• For a salesperson, reading can help in having an engaging conversation on many topics with clients. 

• For a manager, it could help motivate and get the team to think and innovate better.

• Parents can bring up their children in better ways

• Enthusiasts can learn and try new recipes from cookbooks.

When you can learn from the best, by simply reading a book, why not?

III. READING MAKES YOU AGE BETTER

Those who read a lot, tend to be more wiser and mature. They are able to accept changes, come to terms with reality sooner than later, challenge the status quo, try new things, be inspired and in turn inspire others.

On a lighter note, they are also able to attend Zoom calls with a large book shelf behind them, that makes them look even more accomplished.

Not everything is about learning and self-development. 

• Reading your favourite fiction genre, keeps you happy and young forever. 

• Reading in your mother tongue gives you double the happiness.

• Reading spiritual books makes you appreciate the world for what it is.

At the end, I would like to appeal to those who don’t pursue the pleasure of reading, please try and start. As the great J K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter books, said,  “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

Pick up any book that you would like to read and start reading….

So, what are you waiting for?

Happy reading and happy selling.