Feb 7
How I Started Reading Books — The Beginning Of Lifetime Reading Habit
I’ve heard continuously about the benefits of reading books for the last two decades. Yet, I never gained enough motivation to develop my reading habit.
Until April 2016, my reading habit revolved around an occasional reading of fictional/crime novels.
I’ve often wondered how people could read those huge-sized business books. I imagined that those books couldn’t be page-turners like thriller novels. I also had a severe aversion towards reading business biographies. I couldn’t see how those books could help in our lives. We are all different from each other — We grow in diverse contexts. How reading somebody’s biography could help?
Reading Habit In Family — Many years ago(around 2006), my brother(younger than me) developed a sudden interest in reading books as he planned a career change. He bought several business books and started reading. That was my first exposure to business books. I noticed a dramatic transformation in my brother — His English speaking skills, grammar, and accent improved drastically. His knowledge progressed in leaps and bounds. As expected, he got a good job & grew fast in his new profession. I witnessed his personal and professional growth. Yet, it didn’t dawn on me that I should start developing my reading habit. Though my brother’s business books were lying at home, I never got the urge to take and read one of them.
A Close Friend — A decade back, one of my closest friends developed a sudden interest in reading books. He started buying books in droves — Every day, he began to spend a considerable amount of time reading them. He was a talented product designer. He has designed and launched successful products. He had far superior knowledge, skills, and experience than me. Yet, he was searching for new knowledge and absorbing them. It surprised me. Within a few months, he got a new job. His career changed drastically after that. He continues to read books and leads a peaceful/happier life.
The Young Client — A few years ago, a college student approached me for design support for his project. While working with him, I noticed that he kept reading business books whenever possible. He was a voracious reader at that young age. He had developed sound business knowledge. He even told me the benefits of reading the books and suggested some business book titles. In his final year of college, he started his own Kitchen Automation manufacturing business. I witnessed the growth of his company. His team had fresh graduates. Yet, the company overcame every challenge and became a leader in its industry. His reading habit played a pivotal role. Even after witnessing his growth, I never got curious about reading those business books.
All those incidents, all those success stories, all those advice never reached my subconscious mind — It appeared so.
And, Everything was about to change.
The Fall — By the end of 2015, at the age of 38, my life came to a sudden screeching halt. A series of incidents had turned my life upside down — Incidents that questioned my previous beliefs, past experiences, and past decisions. Suddenly, I felt like I had lost the mid-air guiding support and started falling from the sky. I was in a freefall. I was looking for something to hold to arrest the fall. It was one of the worst moments in my life. I felt that I had reached a dead-end in my professional and personal life. I was desperately looking for ways to overcome the situation and find a way forward.
The Search — To find motivation, I started watching TED videos. Some were inspiring, but I felt that I wasn’t gaining anything fruitful or memorable that could show me a way forward. I was not getting any direction. How to move forward? Where to go? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How to overcome them?
At that time, I came across a TED Video by Tai Lopez. In that video, he says, “Everybody wants a good life but not everybody gets it. Imagine for a second. If, right now, today, how much more successful would you be if you started a company with Bill Gates as your business partner and he was using every trick of the trade that he used to build Microsoft into one of the biggest companies in the world?. Imagine, how much more money you’d have in your bank account today if Warren Buffet was teaching you how to invest in the stock market, showing you how he used to build Berkshire Hathaway into a $140 billion company. Imagine how much you’d be happier today if Dalai Lama was your guide, showing you how to find fulfillment in life in the little things that most people overlook. Imagine how healthy you’d be today, if when you woke up, went down to your gym and Arnold Schwarzenegger was waiting there -who was your trainer showing you how he built his body. Life is short. You cannot experience everything. You’ll never find all the answers from one person. So, READ BOOKS!!.” Those lines struck a chord. It is a bit of age-old advice which I’ve been hearing for a long time. Yet, this time, it created a stir in my subconscious mind. I felt — Maybe, it is time to explore the books.
The Spark — Later that week, I visited a mall for some personal work. I saw a book store and immediately remembered Tai’s video. I went inside the shop and glanced around. I purchased biography books on Steve Jobs(by Walter Isaacson) and Jack Ma(by Duncan Clark). Those were my first purchases. Remember, I never liked reading biographies. Tai’s talk about the benefits of having successful people as mentors prompted me to buy those biography books.
After a couple of days, I left for a business trip that required me to spend several hours in the Airport. While waiting at Airport, I started reading the book of Jack Ma. To my surprise, I found the story very absorbing and motivating — It was a page-turner for me — I was unconsciously drowning myself in the story — I loved the book. Maybe my personal/professional life at that point needed a motivational boost & that might have played a pivotal role in me loving the book. I am unsure whether reading the same book at any other time would have created the same impact in my mind.
After finishing the biography on Jack Ma, I started reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. The book blew my mind. Walter Isacson showed Steve Jobs from a neutral perspective. I saw Steve as an ordinary person who accomplished extraordinary things. Walter showed the reasons behind Steve’s vision and success. It was motivating. I also loved Walter’s way of writing. (I became a fan of his writings. Later, I’ve also bought his book on Albert Einstein. That was another brilliant book.)
The Fire — After finishing both the biography books, I became restless. I felt that finally, the reading bug had bitten me. I started searching for probable business books to read. I came across a post on my entrepreneur friend’s Facebook wall — In that post, entrepreneur friend spoke about a book called Blue Ocean Strategy and how he has been using it as a reference book in his business. I bought that book and started reading.
The Fuel — Blue Ocean Strategy was a lightning bolt from the blue, creating a profound impact on me. It was the first book that opened my mind. It allowed little light to enter and illuminate some dark corners of my subconscious mind. While reading, I felt that I experienced an epiphany followed by a period of sadness. The book showed that I lacked the basic knowledge about business, design, life, and people’s behavior. Considering the popularity of the book, I was shocked to know that I was lagging behind others by a wide margin. For the first time, I felt that I’d wasted several years, and it was time to fasten the seat belt and set on to a reading journey. It’s time to change.
The Journey — And, thus began my journey of reading the books. It was a journey of self-discovery. It was a journey of laying kilometers of new neural pathways in my brain. It was a journey of finding peace and happiness despite experiencing a volatile environment/uncertainties around me. It was a journey of helping others find a new meaning in their lives. It was a journey of learning to question several defaults in my life. And, if I have to mention one critical lesson that I learned from books — It is The Value Of HOPE. I may not control certain circumstances or my reactions to some situations, but HOPE is in my control. Nobody can take that away from me. I will never lose it.
Note:: I’ve bought approximately 400 books in the last five years — My Kindle has 250 titles & My home library has more than 150 hard copy titles. I’ve read most of the books. Reading several books has forced me to write blogs. I’ve written more than 200 articles on business strategy/leadership/organizational culture with a total reading time of more than 2000 minutes. Several people have written to me thanking me for those articles. Some have mentioned how those articles have helped them in their careers. Thanks to all those books and their authors. So, the reading habit not only will help an individual but also the society through his actions.
