5 Benefits I Get From Reading Books
From non-reader to reading every day
Reading has for me, been associated with the school. From I was 15 to 22 I don't think I read even one whole book.
I saw people enjoy and “live” inside the books they were reading. But I didn’t think this was something that I could experience.
But oh boy, I was wrong. For the last year, I have read almost every single day. And it has become one of the things I enjoy the most in my life.
Here are the 5 benefits I get from reading books
1. Calming and stress-reducing
For me, reading has become a great form of relaxation. I tend to feel that my level of stress in the body calms down when reading.
I am not the only person that experiences this when reading. Several researchers have shown a good effect of reading books on stress.
2. Knowledge
This for me is the number 1 reason why I read. In books, you get direct access to the thoughts and knowledge of people living long before you.
It’s not about “educated” v “un-educated.” It’s about “likes to read” and “doesn’t like to read.”
- Naval Ravikant
Yeah, podcasts and YouTube are great for knowledge too, but for me, books just give another dept. It could be because of the commitment you must do when sitting down in silence to read.
Short list of some books I have enjoyed reading:
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
- The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
3. An alternative to cheap dopamine
This has been a big benefit of starting to enjoy reading books:
- I have switched out some of my time on mobile (cheap dopamine) with reading
Cheap Dopamine is dopamine you get without doing anything:
- Binge watching Netflix
- Scrolling social media
- Youtube
I am in no way a hero on this either, I also do watch tv and mindlessly scroll on my phone. But I do it a little less than before.
Reading is a good way of training yourself to start enjoying things with lower dopamine spikes than social media, video games or social media.
4. Creativity and new ideas
After starting to read I find myself getting more ideas. It feels like my creativity has gotten better.
To feel creative and get new ideas all the time, is great especially for us online writers.
It can be that some of my “increased” creativity can be associated with the act of starting to write regularly as well. Reading and writing combined definitely make the new ideas flow easier.
5. Reading got me further into self-improvement
The last benefit reading books has brought to me is:
- It was the kickstart of my journey of self-development
The first book I read when picking up reading again was “How to win friends and influence people”. Reading this further gave me a lot more will to continually develop myself into a better human every day.
So in my journey to develop into a better person reading books has played a big role from the start. And I am sure that it will continue to play a big role going forward as well.
Whenever I get asked what advice I wish I got earlier I always answer:
“Start reading books”
I didn't understand the power of reading before I started to read consistently. But I am grateful to have discovered the power of reading and I now enjoy it a lot!
This is my experience with reading and I am sure it isn't the same for everyone. But I strongly believe everyone could get great benefits out of reading more.
What is one book you will recommend to read?
