To avid readers, could reading be the secret sauce to success?
Introduction: Reading, the Secret Sauce to Success
That is a reasonable yet serious question. And one that you should spend time thinking about. I believe that reading is the secret sauce to success, but the answer is not straightforward. Reading a book does not guarantee that you will become successful. It is a more active process.
I have curated some top-notch articles that fall under the categories Why and What to Read, and How to Find the Time to Read. The first two curated posts below report that Jay Z, and James Altucher profit from the books they read. The articles are incredible, but they do not walk the reader through a process where she will learn how to profit from the books she reads. And that is not the purpose of the articles.
James Webb Young walks readers through a 5-step creative process in his book, A Technique for Producing Ideas. I think the most important stage in the creative process is gathering information. There are two types of information to collect:
- Information that is specific to the task at hand.
- General information that you collect throughout your life.
To generate new ideas, you combine specific and general information. From the article below, Harvey Weinstein reads on average three books and 10 scripts each week. This action allows him to build a large pool of general knowledge, and sometimes specific knowledge depending on his purpose for reading. Whenever he is looking for a new project to work on, he appears to produce new ideas on-demand because he is always feeding great information into his mind.
That's how reading becomes the secret sauce to success. If you want to learn more about generating ideas, I created the guide, How to Spot Great Ideas When You Read. Now that you understand how successful people generate new ideas, the other posts become more helpful. You will learn what kind of books to read and how to carve out the time for reading. Reading becomes the secret sauce to success when you read the right books. Several of the curated posts below recommend reading lists.
Have you read?
Reading with the Intent to Learn to Grow Your Business
How to Look for Interconnections Among the Books You Read
Why and What to Read: Reading, the Secret Sauce to Success
A brash, legendary film producer’s secret to finding acclaimed movies He reads—a lot: I really loved this Quartz article. I don't like how Weinstein abused his power, sexually assaulting women. However, the article reinforces my belief that you can profit from reading. Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein found many gems simply by reading about three books and 10 film scripts each week. Imagine the volume of ideas Weinstein generated regularly.
The article does not explain the process Weinstein used to generate new ideas. However, if you are looking for ideas for projects to work on, reading is one secret sauce. Don't focus on this person, but instead pay attention to volume of information he digested each week to generate ideas. As I update this article, I struggle with whether I should keep this section in. I remember reading somewhere that you don't have to like a person to learn from them.
Incomes Are Going Down, Jobs Are Disappearing…Here’s Your Survival Guide: I love James Altucher’s work because it is like a jolt of lightning. He goes against the grain and makes you think. In this article, it is raw and uncut, but the point that Altucher is making is that when he stops reading, that’s when he goes broke.
The main point is to invest in yourself. He chooses 20 books that he thinks you should read to become smarter and richer. I will start off the process with the two books on his list that I already own. Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler wrote both of the books, Bold and Abundance.
10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day: I like this article on Lifehack because some of the benefits that the writer Lana Winter-Hébert mentions can help you to succeed at work. Reading the right books expands your knowledge and vocabulary. And it also improves your memory and helps you to develop your analytical skills. Studies conducted by Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation found that vocabulary correlated with executive level and income.
The Unusual Books That Shaped 50+ Billionaires, Mega-Bestselling Authors, and Other Prodigies: I am always interested in learning about books that shape the minds of the most successful people. In this article that Tim Ferriss wrote, he shares a mega list of must-read books.
It will take time for you to read your way through the list. What I like though, is that Tim Ferriss lists in alphabetical order, the people who recommended the books, so you can quickly scan the list to see people who you may consider your role models. Books include:
- Jesus’ Son: Stories
- Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
- Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!
- The Book of Virtues
- Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
- TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information
How to Find the Time to Read: Reading, the Secret Sauce to Success
In the time you spend on social media each year, you could read 200 books: This is another Quartz article. I love it because the writer Charles Chu sounds so human. He is talking about how he benefitted from reading over 200 books each year. He breaks down how you can do the same. Reading the right books can transform your life because of the knowledge you gain.
How to Read More: The Simple System I’m Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year: I like to read articles that James Clear writes because they are well thought out and written. To read more books you have to be proactive, which means carving out the time to read every day. In the article, he recommends how many pages to read each day. And it is much lower than you might expect.
How to find time to read: I love this Guardian article that Oliver Burkeman wrote because it challenges some of the common advice – including some of mine – given on how to find time to read. It is difficult to practice immersive reading when you try to fit reading into the free moments during your day. Fitting reading into your free moments will work if it is your default state – a habit. What Burkeman also recommends, which I also recommend, is that you schedule reading into your day.
How Busy People Make Time to Read – And You Can Too: This Fast Company article includes quotes from busy people. Laura Vanderkam includes ideas for you to read more books. The idea of reading more than one book at a time does not work for me. It may work for you though. When I try to read more than one book I find that I do not complete any of them.
Next Steps
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UPDATE: This article was first published in May 2017.
