Why You Should Read Books – Benefits of Reading

Are you always hearing about all these crazy benefits of reading? Are you still skeptical if it’s worth your time? I understand, my time is extremely valuable to me, and I do my best to put my time into things that give me the most benefit. Which is the exact reason why you should read books.

It wasn’t until I read the first self-improvement book that I truly realized that, there are so many things in the world that I don’t know about.

I was instantly hooked, I started to crave learning the new mindsets, and ideas that I could be introduced to. Since then I have thrown myself into the world of self-development. I am constantly trying to find new books, new mindsets, and anything that could improve my life or my business.

Now, I urge people to start in just the way I did. Picking a book that interests them and going for it. But maybe you need some more reasons as to why you should be using your precious time to read.

Why You Should Read Books For Improved Mindset

1. Books Improve Memory

Once you start reading you begin testing your brain. Urging your brain to remember more and more information. Now you can not expect your brain to remember everything that you read. But once you spend a significant amount of time reading, you will soon start to see an improvement in your memory.

2. Books Introduce You To New Ideas

For me, once this happened I was honestly blown away. I was going to school and wasn’t that intrigued or interested in what I was being taught. Everything was so repetitive and boring. Once I read my first book, I truly realized how many things I didn’t know. For some people that could have been scary. But for me, it felt energizing.

I felt that if I could go out there and attain as much knowledge as I could, I would truly be able to do something special with my life.

Now, years later, this has proven to be true. I am the happiest I have ever been and I am constantly improving myself and working towards my goals.

3. Books Improve Your Knowledge

This is probably the most obvious reason. But that doesn’t mean it should be discredited. Knowledge is power. The more knowledge you can accumulate the better off you will be. You must be willing to invest your time and money into yourself and your growth.

All the information you are looking for is out there on the internet somewhere. You just have to put the time in and go look for it.

Not only is it the most obvious it is potentially the most powerful benefit to reading than anything else.

Where should you read your books at? For an in-depth look at my two favorite options check out Audible vs Blinkist.

4. Books Improve Creativity

Creativity only seems to start becoming more and more important. I am constantly trying to increase my own creativity to help me with my business and personal life.

If you are looking to become more creative in your day to day life, start reading on a daily basis. The practice of continuing education will start to fuel your creative life. You will notice a difference in how you process ideas and come up with new ones.

Why You Should Read Books For Improved Health

5. Books Reduce Stress

A recent study showed that reading a book for as little as 6 minutes was shown to slow your heart rate and ease muscle tension. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

You are emerging yourself into this world that the author has created. Meanwhile, you are imagining everything that is going on inside your head.

Just thinking about that, makes me relax. Use reading as a way to reduce your stress on a daily basis.

6. Books Can Improve Your Sleep

Falling asleep is a struggle that I have on nearly a daily basis. Especially if I happened to be on my phone or near another electronic device right before going to bed. This can leave me lying in my bed for hours without falling asleep.

One of the best fixes I have found is to simply read right before going to bed. The blue light from my devices doesn’t have the chance to wake my brain up. I have found that it’s a really nice way to end the day and get my mind prepared for sleep.

Why You Should Read Books For Improved Social Skills

7. Books Improve Empathy

Empathy can help you with your personal growth, improving your relationships, or helping you get more in touch with your emotions.

Once you start to emerge yourself into the story that the author is telling, you begin to think about the feelings and emotions this character is going through. No matter if the story is fiction or non-fiction.

Relating to this character in this way, helps you improve your empathy levels and relate to more people on a deeper level.

8. Books Expand Your Vocabulary

Whether you are a very skilled conversationalist or not. Reading books is a good way to learn new words and new ways to communicate with people.

Whether you like it or not, people are judged on how well-spoken they are. Being a great conversationalist can lead to enormous growth in your self-confidence, your friendships, and a better career.

Being more self-aware and more knowledgeable about your surroundings will only lead to better outcomes. Use this benefit of reading to improve your communication skills.

Why You Should Read For Improved Productivity

9. Books Inspire & Motivate You

Books are constantly pushing you to become a better you. The books I am urging you to read are created in the first place to make you a better person.

After I read the content inside these books, I feel as if I’m invincible. The books are challenging you to go out there and stretch yourself. Trying to push you outside your comfort zone into areas you have not explored yet.

It can be scary sometimes but at the end of the day, it’s the best thing you could do for yourself.

10. Books Improve Your Focus & Concentration

The truth is… we live in a society where there is constantly so much going on. Focusing on one thing can be extremely difficult. While we are working we might try and check our email, message a friend back, and check our social media feed at the same time.

This can leave us constantly out of focus and never truly giving 100% of our concentration, into one thing.

But when we are reading, you have to have that singular focus at all times. If you don’t you will more than likely have to go back and re-read.  Which is fantastic for your brain and improving the amount of time you can focus on specific tasks.

11. Reading Is A Workout For Your Brain

We all know how important it is for all of us to be exercising. Your body needs to get out there and get moving. If you don’t it can lead to a large list of health problems.

Reading to the brain is what exercising is to the body.

I love to think about reading in this way. Exercising your brain is extremely important for all the reasons listed above. Trust me, if you constantly give your brain a solid workout, you will be able to reap the benefits and also learn how to improve your self discipline.

How Much Should You Read A Day?

The more learning the better right! Of course, the more you can read the more you will be able to feel all 11 of these benefits. Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world said he still uses about 80% of his day to read.

That is a lot of reading! Now realistically most people will not be able to spend even close to this much time reading and that’s okay. The best-case scenario would be for you to form this habit over a long period of time so you can experience the Compound Effect first hand. 

Just as you will feel the compound interest in your bank account from your investments, you will feel the compound effect of the many benefits of your healthy habits. 

You do not have to read for hours a day to feel the effects. 10-20 minutes a day of reading is plenty to be able to feel the benefits of reading as this is one of the best habits to have.

How To Form The Habit of Reading

Now that you understand the benefits of reading and how important it really is for you to be reading every day. You must learn how to form this habit. Forming habits is a very difficult task. 

To be able to form habits in the most effective way possible you must understand the habit formula. I have outlined the exact formula you can use in this article, How Habits Are Formed.

In this article, you will be able to take the habit you want to form and have a step by step system to follow.

Learn Speed Reading

Reading these books can truly change your life. But what if you could finish books even faster? This means you will be able to feel the effects of all these benefits of reading much sooner.

Is that something you would be interested in? I have put together a complete guide, that anybody can use (no matter what skill level of reading you are) to double and even triple their current reading speed.

Now I know what you are thinking. Would this sacrifice my comprehension? The entire point of reading is to be able to use the knowledge you acquire. If you sacrificed reading speed for comprehension then you are wasting your time.

These tactics in How To Read Faster Without Losing Comprehension, ensure you get the best of both worlds.

Key Takeaways – Why You Should Read Books

Reading is one of those keystone habits that once you start, can drag into other areas of your life and impact you in a positive way. When you dive into the world of self-development there is no turning back.

This is one of the most productive habits and truly has the potential to change your life.

There is no doubt that the knowledge inside these books is extremely important, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them. Take advantage of all the benefits of reading and all the opportunities that you are given.