Knowledge is power or at least potentially power, technically applied knowledge is power. But nevertheless knowledge is important and a radical game changer when it comes to literally any facet of life, only a fool would deny this. And one of the greatest ways to absorb knowledge is through the written word. Which is one of the millions of reason that I recommend that every man reads non-fiction books to further his development.
That and physical training (whether gym, outdoors, martial arts, a team sport, or whatever) are two things that I recommend every man do to kick off their self-development and reaching higher levels. Reading really does give you superpowers and really is a game changer. But with that being said there is something I’ve been doing with reading that has made its benefits even greater.
The Reading Patterns
And I’m not talking about things like writing down notes or the like (even though would recommend you do that anyways) instead I’m talking about something that every reader eventually does. So we start reading things we are interested in and areas that are very interesting for us. Eventually we get set in certain patterns about topics we like to read about and books we like to read. And this is all well and good but there’s something else that needs to be done.
You see eventually there comes a point where your effort to reward ratio is going to go drastically down when learning about a subject. For example after reading (and internalizing) the 10 best copywriting books you’ll know 80% of what makes a good copywriter. And from then on out reading 10 more books will be covering that 20% of making you a better copywriter. However if you like the subject you’ll most likely be fine with this. Again nothing wrong with this especially if that subject is your profession.
But we end up cheating ourselves of the major benefits of reading if we continue in this pattern never deviating from it. We neglect our weak spots or things that we know we should get proficient in but don’t. For example maybe we’re running a business and have read tons of copywriting and marketing books and have achieved lots of success with the knowledge gleaned from those books. However we know we’re struggling with handling employees and yet have neglected to read good management books as they bore us.
What I Do About This
So what I do to fix this is take a book on a subject that I know I need to learn more about but don’t want to because it bores me or seems tedious. For example accounting and balancing a business’s accounts. I almost feel asleep reading that and yet it’s critically important. So now I’ve gotten some books on the subject slapped them by my night stand and force myself to read about a chapter from them just about every night.
It’s a discipline thing and like all discipline things there are great rewards to be reaped. Even though I’ll admit it does suck and is boring sometimes, however the information and learning I’m gleaning is exactly what I need. Remember the more things that you do that suck the better off you’ll be. Force discomfort onto yourself. Originally reading in and of itself was probably that way.
So this isn’t going to be fun but it is going to send you in the right direction. Think of a subject that you’re weak in, is holding you back, and is critical to your development but is also boring. Then pick up some books on that subject and dig it. Remember it’s about discipline and forcing yourself to do it. That’s how most good things in life come. So go ahead and try this out and see what it does for you.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
One Comment
Comments are closed.