I fucking hate that excuse… ‘but I read so slow’
How can I get better?
(Yes I got this response the other day to an email)
I get it… and applaud the person who replied because at least they asked, there will be hundreds reading this who thought the same but never asked.
And the answer is simple
- - > READ
You get better by doing… you read slow because you NEVER read, it’s that simple
It’s the same with anything; if you want to get better at something, do more of it, and over time you will see improvements
I was the same when I started, did not believe how people could ever have read the amount of books they said they had. However a few years ago I decided to make a start.
And have a list of every book I have read for the last 4 years, it started out as a simple goal to read one per month
Last year I managed to make it up to 2 per month (see below) and fully expect to get up to around 30-36 books read this year
Alternatively I could have waited round made excuses such as I don’t read fast enough, I don’t have time or I do not know what to read
I just started and went from there
A few authors I would highly recommend if you want to make some changes
John Parkin; Alan Watts; Eckharte Tolle; Paulo Coelho; Roald Dahl; Dr Seuss
Over the years my focus shifts in my reading depending upon what my goals are but below is a list of books I read in the last year, some good, some great, some downright awful
But if you are not sure where to start, pick an author, pick a book, and just start doing it daily - - > Remember its gonna take 66 consecutive days to make a habit!!
1. Revolution – Russell Brand
2. The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emmerson
3. The Twits – Roald Dahl
4. Dinosaur Training – Brooks Kubik
5. The Way to live – George Hackenschmidt
6. Strength & how to obtain it – Eugene Sandow
8. The magic faraway tree – Enid Blyton
7. Banksy (man behind the wall) – Will Ellsworth-Jones
8. Jab, Jab, right hook – Gary Veynerchuck
9. The Witch of Portobello – Paulo Coehlo
10. Life lessons from the monk who sold his Ferrari – Robin Sharma
11. Guy Martin – Guy Martin
12. The assassin – Clive Cussler
13. The happiness Project – Gretchin Ruebin
14. Brain Longevity – Darma Singh Khalsa
15. The art of happiness – Dalai Lama
16. Words That Sell – Richard Bayan
17. The girl who kicked the hornets’ nest – Steig Larsson
18. The development of physical power – Arthur Saxon
19. Westside barbell book of methods – Louie Simmons
20. The fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
21. Go set a watchman – Harper Lee
22. Black Hole Focus – Isaiah Hankel
23. The ONE thing – Gary W Keller
24. 12 week year – Brian P Moran
If you want to change may I suggest, regular daily reading is quite possible the BEST way to get started
Ben ‘Yes sometimes reads kids books even when his daughter is not there’ Gray