I read 36 books in 2023 so far.
36 or 76 books - doesn't matter.
36 or 6 books - doesn't matter.
What matters is that we embrace the habit of reading every single day. Reading has helped me in multiple ways. Let me share some of the benefits I have experienced:
The 36 books I read this year were written by 23 different authors. Seeking different perspectives from multiple people reduces the chances of biased viewpoints and prevents being misguided by just 1-2 people's ideological views.
It takes time and effort to structure and pen down thoughts in a larger content format like a book. The output of such efforts creates way more impact than someone sharing their perspectives in a 1-hour workshop, 2200 character-limited Insta post, or a 30-second reel.
Among the 36 books, 10 of them are repeat reads. Re-reading the same book after a while reinforced the learning and surprised me with new insights I might have overlooked the first time.
We discussed 17 of these 36 books in Sparks & Nuggets book club. Summarizing these books in a mindmap format has helped me identify and condense the key takeaways to share with the group, along with examples and experiences from life to reinforce the insights.
These 36 books are predominantly from the genres of Yoga, Ayurveda, philosophy, spirituality, wellness, and mind management. Thanks to these books and authors, I have made progress in these areas in 2023 - from the point of view of knowledge, clarity of thought, perspectives, and application.
People who propagate the idea - "Don't read books. Reading books is a productive waste of time" - do so because of either of these two factors:
1. They haven't explored or experienced reading enough and have reached a premature conclusion
2. They are aware of the benefits of reading but don't want their "followers" to read. This way, they can make people dependent on them for life advice and monetize them with expensive workshops one after another, thereby building a lucrative business.
Many of our modern-age problems are due to ignorance or lack of right knowledge.
As long as we remain ignorant, there will be businesses and influencers who will keep minting money by exploiting our ignorance and promising a utopian world.
I highly urge everyone reading this post to inculcate this 4-step process(CSQE) in 2024
- Cultivate an insatiable thirst for learning and wisdom.
- Seek inputs from multiple people and sources.
- Question the learnings and insights that come your way.
- Evaluate and experiment before blindly accepting an idea/insight.