Read That Book

The habit of reading has had a profound impact on both my ability and desire to learn. This habit was not always a habit of mine, but now I feel without reading I would be a much different person.

In my journey with reading, growing up I always had a book in my hands. In the car, on the school bus, when I finished work in class, whenever I could, I would read. At a younger age, this largely meant that fiction books were read purely for enjoyment. Reading at this age helped transport my mind to faraway worlds where the impossible could happen. As I entered high school, I read less. School, sports, and other interests took priority, and the only books I recalled reading were the assigned books in English class.

Entering college, I rarely read books. However, in the first football meeting I had with my freshman class, our head coach, Bronco Mendenhall, said to us, “He who stops learning is at risk to slip into irrelevancy.”

Talk about an opening. The first meeting we had was not about football; it was about development as a person. We would be expected to bring journals to team meetings every morning and take notes on the topics we started meetings with. These topics could be anything, and ultimately served the purpose of teaching life lessons so we could grow as men.

Something Coach Mendenhall would often do is bring a book from his bookshelf in his office, open it, and find highlighted sections he had previously identified and share them with the team. It was his passion for reading, learning, and personal development that pushed me back into a habit of reading. It became a small quest for me to read a book he had not read and recommend it to him. The first time I did this, I tried handing him the book, The Rise of Superman: Decoding The Science of Ultimate Human Performance, by Steven Kotler. He stopped me because he had read it.

The next day in the team meeting, our message was about that book. As a walk-on freshman, this gesture meant a lot to me. No one knew I had that conversation with him in the hallway aside from him and I. Ultimately, the culture formed by Coach Mendenhall and his staff changed how I viewed life, goals, and personal development. Reading nonfiction books became a large part of what I now do in my daily life. Reading has been the single largest reason for my interest in learning to blossom. My interest in learning now extends outside of books and has morphed the podcasts I consume and the YouTube videos I watch. Without reading, I believe I would severely lack the motivation to learn new things.

I fully started tracking the books I read in 2020 and started with the modest goal of 12 books in a year. 1 per month. With a minor level of consistency, 10 pages a day, you can finish most books in 30 days. If you do more than those daily 10 pages, 12 books in a year is easily accomplishable. I succeeded in 2020 and upped the goal of 12 books to 18 books for both 2021 and 2022. In both 2021 and 2022, I achieved the goal. Setting goals for how many books I want to read in a year has dramatically increased my likelihood to read more.

There is simple math as it relates to reading habits maintained and held over long periods of time. For example, if I am to read only 12 books a year for the next 50 years (assuming I live to be 74), that is 600 more books of knowledge I will consume. I am reading more than 12 books a year so in reality it will be much more than 600 books. Apply this thought to your own life. How many books will you consume over the years? Is the answer one you are happy with?

This habit breakdown does not address the question of what to do if you do not like reading. It is also different because it is fair to say I have always liked reading. However, I believe reading is like anything you do in life. The more you do it, the more you practice consistency and look for topics you enjoy, the more you will grow to like reading. I am not telling you to only read nonfiction if you love mystery novels, or biographies if you love self-help topics. My belief is if you start with a small win, finishing a book you enjoy, you will be much more inclined to read that second book. Then from there, it becomes a cycle where you continue to find new books. I feel weird on days when I do not read because of how ingrained reading is in my daily life. The habit will form for you as you take steps to find that first win.

Additionally, I like to frame my reading as building a personal library that I will be able to pass down. I prefer paperback copies of books for this reason. I can take notes and have the physical book in hand, which someday, I will be able to share with my children. This simple mindset of the books I read helps me continue to drive forward with my reading goals because I am not only growing my own knowledge, I am also setting the stage for my family to benefit in the future.

Reading is for everyone and has profound impacts on how you think about life. It is never too late to start. Find something you are interested about, set time aside in your day, and read that book.