A few more things on life-changing habit
What-to's, how-to's and more
If you missed the principle part of this life-changing habit, you can read it here.
Today’s digest is about what to read, how to read, and more.
Let’s begin,
In the last post, I told you my story and the habit that changed my life. Reading is a habit that has changed my life and will change yours too. But some questions came around:
What will I read to make this habit a part of my life?
How can I make this habit effective?
How can I make reading enjoyable every day?
Let’s dig into the above questions one by one.
What will I read to make this habit a part of my life?
What to read matters because intentions matter; why are you intending to read that book? If you aren’t doing anything unusual with your life, reading won’t help you much. At least, the intention to change your life must be there.
Why is it necessary?
Because each person understands a book differently.
One person who wants to become better as an entrepreneur can read books on philosophy and apply his understanding from the books.
Another person who wants a better relationship can read the same books and achieve the goal.
With this, any book can help you achieve the goal you’ve set, you don’t have to limit it, but there are types of books that will help you much more than choosing something random.
Read books that challenge you. Take a small step—a single page a day. Reading challenging books slowly will start to make sense to you. Soon, you’ll start making progress. Progress is the most important part of life.
Read to understand, not to memorize or mug up.
Naval Ravikant put it the best,
If you understand it, you don’t need to memorize it.
If you don’t understand it, you don’t want to memorize it.
And finally,
Read what you love until you love to read.
—Naval
Here are 5 book recommendations that I can’t stop reading.
(You’ll regret not reading the 5th one.)
You can acquire 50 books of knowledge by reading the 5 books that changed your life direction over and over again. —Dan Koe
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear: “Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
“How to Win and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
“Feel Good Productivity” by Ali Abdal: “Step one is feeling better. Step two is doing what matters the most.”
“The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” by Eric Jorgenson: “No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most.”
“Who Moved My Cheese” by Dr. Spencer Johnson: "If you do not change, you can become extinct."
How can I make this habit effective?
Here’s how Ankur Warikoo, author of “Do Epic Shit”, reads a whole book in a week.
Morning Non-Fiction: Ankur only reads non-fiction in the morning to start his day with ideas that challenge and energize him.
Digital First: He begins with Kindle to easily highlight and organize key insights, making it easier to retain and apply what he reads.
Skim and Drop: He skims through books to focus on what’s valuable and doesn’t hesitate to stop reading if a book doesn’t keep his interest.
Apply What You Read: After finishing a book, Ankur reviews his highlights and actively thinks about how to apply them in his life.
Stick to One Book: He reads one book at a time, avoids audiobooks, and keeps his reading routine simple, without setting strict goals.
The treasures that lie inside you, need to be polished by someone else talking them out to you in person. Books do exactly that.
—Ankur Warikoo (rephrased for simplicity)
Here’s how I apply tactics for reading daily:
Pick up what interests you, not to others: My first love is reading, I read a lot. But I read what I want to read, not what others tell me to read. What I do is, search on Google for books on the topic that I want to read. If I want to read books on productivity, I type on Google ‘books on productivity’ and Google gives me the best books aligned with productivity.
Read Introduction: I read the introduction on the first day, and if it doesn’t hit me, I stop reading the book the next day. I want a book to hit me from the beginning. I don’t want a book to be like a movie that starts after an interval.
Skim a lot: When I started reading, I used to read every single word properly. But now I skim. I skip the part that doesn’t need me, and I don’t need it. But I don’t want you to start skimming right away rather I want you to read every single thing as a beginner because you’ve just started reading and you don’t know how it works, it’ll be harder to skim right away.
Review & Reflect: After reading a book, I review the highlights and extract the lessons to apply them. And I keep reflecting on the lessons every month so I don’t miss aligning them continuously with my life.
Reread: There are books I keep in my heart because the impact of those books is so big in my life. And how I keep them in my heart, by reading them every year. I am rereading “Atomic Habits” and “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant.”
It’s not if you read, it’s what you read, and how you read it.
—DanKoe
How can I make reading enjoyable every day?
You can make reading enjoyable every day by:
Writing
Applying
Sharing
Writing
Reading without writing is
like eating without training.
The excess gets stored as
mental fat and you begin to
feel sluggish, tired, and
overwhelmed. —Dan Koe
Writing is for every single person. After reading a few pages, various thoughts overflow in your head. You want to make those thoughts clear and to do that, you have to write them down. Whenever, a thought or idea hits you and you want to capture it, write. Writing isn’t just for writers, and that’s so true if you don’t write, no matter how much you read. Nothing will change.
Writing is a tool to enhance your reading experience.Applying
Learning without application is like chai (tea) without sugar or samosa without aloo (potato). You should love applying more than you love reading. Applying will let you stand out. If you just read and read every day, you’re falling into a trap, but if you read, learn, and apply every day, it’s best. When you start applying what you read and learn, your life changes, you improve, and you grow by 1%.
Applying what you learn is the turning point in changing your life.Sharing
Sharing is caring, and if you don’t want to care, don’t share. But remember, sharing your learning is a benefit for you. Here’s how:
Understand Better: Explaining what you learn helps you understand it more deeply.
Remember More: Talking about what you’ve learned helps you remember it longer.
Boost Confidence: Sharing knowledge makes you feel more confident and sure of yourself.
Build Relationships: Sharing what you know brings you closer to others and helps build strong connections.
Add Value: By sharing, you help others learn too, making you more valuable to those around you.
Sharing is caring, with numerous benefits for you. Do share.Final thoughts
Reading, writing, applying, and sharing what you learn can transform your life. Reading expands your mind, writing deepens your understanding, applying brings real change, and sharing connects you with others. Together, these habits help you grow, make an impact, and live a more fulfilled life.
Take the step and change your life.
Read whatever you want, but remember when and where to stop to apply the lessons in real life. Applying plays a major role in changing your life.
I hope you enjoyed reading
Buy me a coffee ☕
Happy Sunday :)