To Read Or Not To Read - That Is The Question

To read or not to read – that is the question

Tim Connor

I can’t tell you how many people have said to me over the years, “I don’t read.  I don’t have the time.  I don’t like to read. Or, I have better things to do.”

Give me break will you!

No offense intended but people who don’t read are missing a great deal in life and are short changing their ability to realize their dreams, desires or goals.

I know, I know – you are too busy, have too much on your plate, are too tired - - - blah, blah, blah. Again no offense intended but if you are not reading every day – even for only a few minutes – and I’m not talking about the newspaper, a fashion or sports magazine or the latest adventure novel, you are missing out on a valuable opportunity.  I love to read and half of what I read (2 books a week) are fiction so I’m not being critical of folks who read novels but what I’m asking here is how much time do you spend reading books that can accelerate your journey towards success, happiness, wealth or just peace of mind?

One a week?  One a month?  One a year?  Or one in a lifetime?

Please keep in mind that my focus here is not on selling my books but to ask you to ask yourself – what are you missing in life because you are not open or receptive to other people’s wisdom, experience, guidance or the lessons they have learned on their life journey?

During my life so far I have read over 4000 books and I have put together a listing of my top 100 favorites that I offer to all my audiences.  Guess how many people ask me to send 

them this list. 10%, 50%, 100%? Not even close it’s generally 2-3% and none of the books on the list are by me.

What have you read in the last thirty days?  Twelve months?  How did it help you?  Was it worth the price?  Are you glad you read it?

I’ll give you two quotes from two of my mentors who have both passed away.

“If you could invest $20 on a book and learn everything in 200 pages that it took a successful person over forty years to learn and they shared in these 200 pages would you spend the money?”  Jim Rohn.

“Five years from today you will be the same person you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

Why read -

The average person spends 15-20 hours a week in front of the TV watching news, sports or other shows and the purpose is?  Entertainment, keeping up with the world or just to sit there in a stupor chilling out after a busy day.  I have no problem with this but consider – that’s over 1000 hours a year.  Imagine if you spent 10% of this time reading stuff that could make you happier, more successful or even wealthier?  This my friends is a “no-brainer”.  If you want a better life in the future in any way, you have to keep learning and growing and one of the easiest, least expensive and fastest ways to do this is to learn from other people’s experience, wisdom or guidance with what they have shared in writing.

Did you know that the average person reads one book a year and that’s usually fiction or a love story?  Did you know that only 5% of the American population invests in personal and career development materials?

Scary, when you think about how many people struggle every day with challenges, problems, failure, stress, depression, fear, mistakes and anxiety and many of these could be overcome or handled successfully if they would just spend thirty minutes a day reading.

What to read –

The average bookstore has over 5000 titles on display many of which are there to help you in every area of your life.  As an author and avid reader I won’t say that they are all good, excellent or even worth the price but you never know where an idea, insight or lesson can come form but one thing is certain – if you don’t expose yourself to it you can’t learn it.

If you can’t afford a couple of hundred bucks a year on books hello – ever heard of a library?  Come to think about it, the average person spends over $200 month on eating out and what do you have to show for it 24 hours later? I know – this is not a pretty picture but if you spent $20 a month on one book what would you have to show for that?  Maybe you could afford better restaurants.

What to read? Read anything that helps you better understand your past, present or future and to live with more wisdom.

How to read –

This one is simple.  Buy a highlighter and as you read highlight those sentences, ideas, words or concepts that strike you as interesting, controversial, motivation or thought provoking.  Then when you finish the book transfer these ideas to your reading journal.

When to read –

This one is even simpler – read something every day for at least 15 – 20 minutes or an hour if you can find the time. Every minute you spend reading you improve your – vocabulary, ability to communicate, understanding, wisdom, your ability to focus and concentrate and one other rather important one – the medical profession over the years have found that mental diseases are less in readers than non-readers.

“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage

over the man who can’t read them.” 

Mark Twain