I, Gordon Grigg, a life coach and business consultant in Nashville, Tennessee am a voracious reader, who believes that reading and self-improvement go hand-in-hand. I have a keen interest in books and have read many books over time, and I am always waiting to get more knowledge and positivity through books. My greatest strength is to completely absorb the book and its contents and implement its positivity and good teaching in real life and businesses.
As an insatiable bibliophile, it is a painful experience when I hear people ask, “Why it is important to read?’ or “How can we benefit from reading?”, and many such variations of questions. According to various research and psychological studies, making reading a part of your daily curriculum can improve your way of living and make you a happy & healthy person.
I have prepared a list of reasons below that will convince you to become a regular reader and read more and more books than you already do.
Ways of self-development through reading
Books are a part of this planet since humans have evolved to express their thoughts. In the early civilizations, when the printed paper did not exist, humans used stones, leaves, walls, and other objects to scribble and express their thoughts. Over the centuries, when the development of paper & ink came into existence, reading too became a habit.
According to TyHoward.com reading books is considered the most intellectually beneficial and marvelous activity. People who are fond of reading books are considered the most literate and learned in society. Different people like to read books on different topics according to their personalities, aspirations, preferences, and interests.
It is healing and inspiring to read at least one chapter or about 20 pages of the book daily. If you make this a habit, you will see the difference, not only in yourself but also in your perspective of seeing the world.
I have highlighted some of the reasons below that explain why reading is a fun yet important activity for self-development:
● Helps in increasing knowledge & humility – There are various means to gain knowledge. But books are considered the richest source of gaining knowledge, as the pieces of information present there are the most authentic. Reading books not only increases knowledge but also makes the person humble and open-minded.
● Reduces stress – Day to day stress of human life is increasing, and it has reached a place, where it has become a matter of concern. Although there are several ways of de-stressing, reading has been considered the best of all. Picking up a book before sleeping helps you get rid of the atrocities of the day. Reading a book also calms you down, by melting down all the stress and helping you sleep better.
● Improving cognitive skills – Reading constantly makes you smarter. It helps you boost your imaginative power, and stimulate the better functioning of the brain, to get better clarity about self and the surrounding world. Reading books also helps you to get enlightened about your goals and achieve self-attainment.
● Interpreting yourself and the world around you positively – After reading an inspiring book, your brain will be flooded with positive thoughts and various uplifting concepts. It also raises your internal vibrations and keeps you in optimal condition.
● Get inspiration to make better choices in life – If you read some personal development books you will learn the right way of living life. You will not only become mindful of your thoughts but also will be able to take good decisions in life. Some books are life-changing as they give you a whole new perspective on living life, by eliminating the negatives and filling up the mind, only with positive thoughts.
● You not only improve but expand in life – By reading an inspiring book, you not only improve your life but also expand it upto new levels. Reading a book also fills your mind with positive thoughts, helps you in making better choices, and makes you hungry for excellence & growth.
● Boots imagination & creativity – The more you read, the more you increase your creativity and imagination. With every new piece of information your mind intakes, the data circles around in your brain as an imaginative tail. Thus, reading is a way of exercising the creativity and imagination of the brain.
● Increases Vocabulary – An increase in vocabulary is the most straightforward and common benefit of reading a book. The more you read the more new words you learn and add to your dictionary. Thus, to have a better grasp of the language, you should read an ample number of books.
● Focused functioning of the brain – Whether you are reading a book of facts or a story, you completely concentrate on the text itself. This also helps you in increasing the concentration power of the brain. Also, while reading, your brain is completely in silent mode, which thus helps you in focusing deeply and easily. Thus, the focused functioning of the brain comes into action that helps in various aspects of life.
● A great form of learning from others – When you are reading a book, you are actually learning from the experiences of the writer. The writing style of the writer depicts their real-life lessons. And when you read about the life lessons and mistakes of others, you yourself get cautious and do not repeat the same.
● The best form of entertainment – The best thing to do in your free time is to immerse yourself in an engaging novel. As it not only kills your time but also entertains you by providing knowledge.
● It can make you a better communicator – By reading something thoroughly, your vocabulary increases. Thus, you become a good communicator. As, if you read well you speak and also write well.
● Helps in writing in a better way – As you know that reading increases your creativity, communication skills, and vocabulary. And all these three aspects are the most important for effective writing. Thus, if you want to improve your writing skills, you should try to read more and more daily.
● Reading assists you in taking a sound sleep – Ten minutes of reading a book before going to sleep, can do actual wonders. Following this routine helps you to sleep more. Just make sure that you read from an actual book and not from any electronic devices such as; phones, laptops, or a tablet.
● Reading helps you in making an educated opinion about others or their thoughts – Reading books can help you in collating the thoughts and ideas of others. The point of reading is not to fully understand the book but to gather in-depth knowledge about a particular topic. Reading multiple books on the same topic will help you fill your knowledge gaps and give an unbiased & educated personal opinion on any issue related to that topic.
● Improves memory – Reading is an all-in-one task for the brain. It is a kind of neural workout that stimulates vision, associative learning, and language. All this mental workout makes the memory muscles agile. According to researchers the habit of reading can also prove effective in staving off the signs of Alzheimer’s in old age.
How to pick up the right book?
No matter whatever kind of book you choose to read or how much time you devote to reading them. But, as a life coach, I would suggest you start with some light genre, such as; thriller fiction.
Gradually when you get habitual, you switch to the niches of your choice and personal interest. You can explore as many areas as you want until you get the book of your taste. Make sure you try on diverse books to keep yourself open-minded.
After finding the right book, you may struggle to set up a reading schedule. But I would encourage you to make a schedule of reading a book for at least 10 minutes before going to sleep. This would help you gain a lot from frequent reading. Reading is a clear winner in terms of entertainment as it provides both self-development and entertainment.
Final Words
The importance of reading books is way beyond the above-mentioned points. Well, I, Gordon Grigg, a life coach and business consultant in Nashville, Tennessee hope that you must have felt motivated and encouraged about reading books after reading the above article. Remember to choose a book that is healthy for you, that polishes your personality, and that helps you grow and flourish in life.
Some of the books that I have read and would like to suggest to you are; Raising Kingdom Kids by Tony Evans, Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne, Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins, and many more. Interested to know more about the names of the books, that can be life-changing for you? Well, visit my website Gordon Grigg.com to learn about more books that can be motivating and life-changing for you.
