Why I Read A Book A Day
About two years ago, I made a commitment: Don’t waste your life. Learn as much as possible and use your knownledge. Here’s how and why I read a book a day.
Why Doing It?
“I don’t have that much time every day. I just cannot do it.” That’s what everyone says; Because it sounds pretty ridiculous “Reading one book a day”. Most people read that many books in a month. I read on average 20–25 books a month. Even I have to admit that it is sometimes tough to read a book a day. But, on most days it is doable, even though you have a busy schedule. I do too. I have two companies to manage, am a student, learn Chinese, work out 2 hours a day, and have a girlfriend. I am just like you.
Nevertheless, here’s why I do it.
Reading as much as one book a day will expand your mind in many ways. But, you need passion in order to do it. It is not easy, I can tell you but it will make your life better. It should not become a forced act but rather an alternative to checking your phone every two minutes and replying to Snapchats. As soon as you have the motivation to do it, read everywhere you can; I even to it on the toilet. It is not about hustling in style of Elon Musk or Gary Vaynerchuck but, we should ask ourselves where people like Elon Musk get all their knownledge from. Not from answering Snapchat but doing an insane amout of reading.
Reading a book a day (on average 350 pages) changed my life forever. I am an invetor, always looking for new ideas. But, I cannot find any ideas in most science books, I find ideas in romans, instructions, and novelles. Books such as “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” by Jules Verne or even Star Wars did not just inspire me to invent but an entire generation of scientists.
The Rough Start — Building Up Motivation
It is not easy to do it. But, it is possible. The only thing you need is a propper motivation. I get motivation from music, newspapers, art, anything I can find. As soon as I open a magazine and something interests me, the desire to learn more about this ONE topic kicks in.
From camel trade from Sudan to Egypt, research on vulcanic islands to prostitution on the boarder of Austria and Czechoslovakia — many things awake my interest. My classmates here in Beijing, China, call me “the dictionary”, which really honores me.
In order to build up motivation, I like travelling as much as I can. Every day I see so many things that interest me, so when I go to bed at night, I cannot wait to get up the next morning.
How To Do It — The Practical Guide
I want to come right to the point. Here’s how I did it.
Every monday of the week I went to the library and randomly picked seven books for the next seven days from the shelves. Most of them not related to science, giving me a general view on many things. In one year I read about 250 books. Sometimes I grabbed the following literature for a week: “Veden — The Holy Book of Hindus”, “Prostitution in Austria and Czechoslovakia”, “Shakespeare: Hamlet”, “The Martian Chronicles”, “Microsoft Excel 2008”, “Richard Feynman: CalTech Notes”, and “Trading Commodities Handbook”.
In 2014, I not only came up with around 15,000 ideas but 4 life-changing inventions, and laid the foundation for my two companies.
Now, it’s your turn. Shut down the computer and go to the next library. Pick seven books and immediately start reading. Trust me, it will change your life…
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