1% reading habit, the wisdom of thinking for yourself, 31 lessons about money and more
How to focus, according to heart surgeons
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I’m Thomas (I write on life habits, personal growth and self improvement). Many of you discovered my work on Medium. Welcome.
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Now onto this week’s issue:
If You Spend Just 1% of Each Day Reading, Your Life Will Be 37x Better in a Year
When was the last time you made time to read on purpose?
Many people underestimate how much deliberate reading (even just 10 minutes of daily reading) can change their lives.
Reading great books is by far the smartest thing you can do for your self-development.
You gain access to what other people have probably spent 10,000 hours researching or honing when you read.
Reading is a shortcut to becoming a better version of your mind.
Oscar Wilde was right, “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
Reading just a few chapters of your favourite book every day is an excellent habit to build.
We all have 1440 minutes in a day. One percent of 1440 is 14.4 minutes – just under 15 minutes.
We pick up our phones 58 times per day — which adds up to about 3 hours and 15 min.
Fifteen minutes commitment to reading is doable.
You can easily read in your gap times on your phone. Rearrange your apps and make reading apps your first page.
Use pockets of time in the day to read a few pages. You can read while waiting for your coffee, on your commute, during your lunch break, after dinner, and just before you go to sleep.
If you can stack new knowledge every day for a solid year, that’s 37x accumulation and growth in just a single year.
You don’t even have to think about that number.
Just focus on making reading a daily habit — one day at a time. You will be surprised at what you can achieve in a year.
Aim to be wiser than you were yesterday
“In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time — none, zero,” Charlie Munger once said.
Warren Buffett used to read 600 pages in a single day when he started his investment career. Today he still spends 80% of his time reading.
“I just sit in my office and read all day,” Buffett once said.
If we move our personal growth by 1% every day, we can accelerate our success. If you keep learning, you are likely to keep rising.
Most people see reading as a chore because they choose the wrong books. If you don’t enjoy what you read, you will get bored and give up.
So, choose your books wisely to make reading a daily habit. Replace some of that binging with reading.
You don’t have to give up what you enjoy to sit and read. Just schedule reading time on your calendar.
Don’t disrupt your schedule. Make reading easy.
That’s how you make it a sustainable habit. Finding 1% time for books may be difficult, but you can start small.
“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually, you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made,” argues John Wooden.
Self-growth is a slow but effective process.
Aim to be a lifelong learner.
The self-motivated pursuit of knowledge can enrich your life and make you a better person every day.
Becoming 1% better daily is a simple, practical way to become wiser and wealthy.
One percent may seem like a small amount. Yes, it is. It’s tiny. But it’s doable.
You can make it work for you.
You can even choose your own time slot – 15 minutes or even 30 minutes of better reading can do wonders for your brain.
It feels less intimidating. It’s a better way to make reading a daily habit.
Making reading a habit is one of the most things you can do for your success.
A free read on Medium:
The Wisdom of Thinking for Yourself In An Age of Experts
In a world where most people unquestioningly accept what they are told, independent thinkers are a rare breed.
Rational sceptics and free thinkers choose to challenge common wisdom to find themselves and sometimes discover better knowledge that changes the course of history.
“The aim of human life is to know thyself,” says Timothy Leary.
Einstein, Da Vinci, Marie Currie, and Stephen Hawking maintained their intellectual curiosity for years to find epic ideas that changed how we think or perceive scientific ideas.
The ability to think for oneself is one of the most essential skills for a successful life.
Too often, we are told what to think. We are given the “correct” answer and expected to just accept it. But real thinkers don’t take things at face value.
Recommended Posts
31 Lessons I’ve Learned About Money — I remember learning how to play the recorder in elementary school. I remember square dancing. I remember cursive. I built a model of a Spanish mission out of sugar cubes. Some of this was fun. Some of it wasn’t. Some of it probably contributed, in some indirect way…
How to feel less lonely as you get older — Many older adults find themselves feeling more isolated than they did at earlier points in their lives. Often, grown-up children have moved elsewhere. One or more close family members or friends may have passed away.
‘Standing still is an art’: how to focus, by those who know – from heart surgeons to living statues — What you see is stillness, but I’m incredibly busy. I’m no longer Izabela. I can’t be thinking about what my kids are having for dinner. My awareness of the environment and audience, and how I interact with them, is everything.
3 Ideas For Smarter Living
Ex-Microsoft general manager and writer, Peter Atkins on how to live life.
“Laugh. We’re all going to be dead anyway some day. So while you should try your hardest to make the most of your life, when something funny happens, when you make a mistake, or even (and perhaps especially) when bad things happen, it’s easier if you can laugh about yourself and the world.”
Source: Life Is Short And So Is This Book: Brief Thoughts On Making The Most Of Your Life
Japanese best-selling writer, Haruki Murakami, on why hard times make us better.
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Source: Kafka on the Shore
Leading psychologist Ethan Kross on the benefits of creative visualization to gain perspective in life
"Engage in mental time travel. Another way to gain distance and broaden your perspective is to think about how you’ll feel a month, a year, or even longer from now. Remind yourself that you’ll look back on whatever is upsetting you in the future and it’ll seem much less upsetting."
Source: Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
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To our common journey,
Until next week,
Thomas