Develop Good Reading Habits

Reading develops the intellect. The kind of books we read define the kind of person we ultimately turn out to be. Reading, in this age of technology, has become fragmented and purposive or accidental. We browse the net whenever we need information related to our work and we read whatever is required at the moment to finish the job. Or we read something that is pushed to us via whatsapp and other social networking sites- purely accidental and sometimes not factual !!

These types of reading do serve us in doing our job and offer some entertainment but do not challenge our intellect sufficiently or consolidate our views. It does not have enough depth to prepare us to counter or support a line of thought and bring it to a logical conclusion. It does not equip us with skills required for thinking through complex problems !! It does very little to validate us or contradict us with logical arguments and researched facts. It is, hence, not enough to develop our skills to be more expressive, make us more knowledgeable or to develop a holistic perspective.

Apart from the pure joy of indulgence that a bibliophile (book lover) derives, reading has many advantages and some concrete outcomes. Let us examine the benefits and explore some ways to become a good reader.

Apart from increasing our knowledge, reading has entertainment value like no other medium can ever offer. Being exposed to good  writing frequently, greatly helps us in gathering and expressing our thoughts. People who read regularly, eventually become better writers or orators. It exposes us to things and places which is otherwise impossible to reach. Variety in reading helps us to develop a holistic outlook and sensitizes us to appreciate the differences in perspective, personality, thought, values and behavior of others. We gain the required knowledge and background to observe and learn from the people and places we come to contact with. Books act as time-machine- transporting us to past and future; it acts as our vehicle to places near, far and imaginary !! Reading gives us an edge and gives us the confidence to interact and mingle in various society/group appropriately !!

 Logical question now is:  how to develop good reading habits/skills ??

Like any other discipline, reading habits are developed through practice and gradual movement from easy to slightly difficult to more difficult levels. Usually we start with something we enjoy reading, like in our childhood, with comics. We then, gradually shift to a 100 page novel, then to 200 page one, then to something that interests us, irrespective of the length. With time, age and our interest, we keep shifting genre:  humor, satire (Calvin and Hobbs), Philosophy(Socrates, Plato and Charlie brown and his gang ...:-)), mythology (Indian, Greek, Amar Chitra Katha... :-) ) classics (writings of O. Henry,Charles Dickens, Mark twain and many more feed our intellect and our soul), adventure (Tintin, Asterix, Phantom and others continue to given us joy) mystery (Holmes, Poirot and Marple come out of the pages), history, facts, travelogues, biographies (JRD Tata, Akio Morita, Sam Walton and many others inspire us like no other) , business, etc. and hence become accomplished reader.

But this is the journey of the people who have been reading from an early age. What about those who have seldom read a book but now feel the pinch? How do they catch up with people who have a long and privileged history in reading?

Well, the path is the same. But the time need not be. With age and experience, our comprehension increases and we can leverage it to skip on some of the readings that we have overgrown. One can always replace comics with articles in reputed journals (although it would not be fun and kill all the joy), light novels with research papers and so on. The key here is to develop the stamina to read - moving from easy to difficult and from familiar to unfamiliar. Forcing oneself to read for the first few days and then to get into a rhythm and routine. Technology can actually help. One has the option to download loads of relevant material and read from the comfort of their home or join an informal group to keep up the motivation and exchange notes. The old timers like myself like the look, feel and smell of a physical book...new entrants like my sons, are equally at ease with the iPads and the e-book readers. Irrespective, the key here is to start and keep at it !!

Reading without a purpose is what the joy of reading is all about...read to excel...read for fun and entertainment...read good books...read good articles....the learning is cumulative and permanent !! Reading is old fashioned but will never go out of style !!  Invest in reading...invest in a beautiful present and a bright future !!

#Strategyk