To be honest, I was never a good reader. Self-discipline was not part of my mindset.
During my time at the university I read out of obligation; but not because I had a real motivation that led me to do it. Every time I decided to read a book, I would read a few chapters but never finish.
It is incredible to realize how little we read in Latin America. I did a little search on the internet and one of the first headlines I came across is from the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo that says: “We don’t read for lack of money but for physical disinterest”.
Further down in the Google results, Universal de México appears and says: “Mexico reads 3.8 books a year.” I continue my search and I keep seeing discouraging headlines like: “Peru, one of the countries that reads the least books in Latin America.” Or “Chile, the country in the region where people read the least”.
Apparently the only country that claims to read more is Argentina; according to one of the results that says: “Argentina is the Latin American country where most books are read.” The funny thing is that I entered the link and they affirm that the annual reading average is 3 books a year.
I don’t know anything about the veracity of these data, but it is no secret to anyone that even if these numbers do not come from serious studies or are outdated, the lack of reading in Latin America is a reality.
The Business Insider portal also publishes “Bill Gates says that reading 50 books a year gives him a great advantage over others.” Mark Zuckerberg started a book club in 2015 and despite the fact that he set himself the goal of reading 1 book every two weeks, he ended up reading 23 copies, which he considers the minimum amount.
Some will think that you should not compare the common Latin American population with these characters. So I searched for more information and found an article from the Pew Research Center and according to data from 2016, Americans read 12 books a year on average.
Since I started this website, reading has become a “must”. Writing requires transmitting information and one of the best ways to acquire it is through reading. On the other hand, realizing that one of the most important habits among the most recognized entrepreneurs is precisely reading, prompted me to find the spaces and the motivation to include this activity in my routine.
Do you want to make reading one of your habits? Do you want to feed your mind every day with new things? Would you like to go from reading 0, 1, 2 or 3 books a year to reading at least 12? Continue reading this article because I am going to tell you how I did it.
In June 2016 I decided to take my reading habit very seriously. Even though I was reading, it took me an average of 3 months to finish a book and I knew I could do it much faster. So I applied the following strategies:
These are some of the books that have taught me a lot. If you want to know books in Spanish for entrepreneurs, click here.
How to have self-discipline to read at least 1 monthly book.
1. Set a reading time.
I am a person who is easily distracted and additionally I always have something to do. If I save my reading time for when I have free time, I will never read anything. That was my logic and I am convinced that it is the situation of many other people.
Some time ago I read an article where they stated that, if I remember correctly (Barack Obama or Bill Gates – sorry for my forgetfulness) he always read for half an hour before going to sleep no matter how late he had to go to bed.
So I decided to give it a try. It was hard for me, I did it for a week; but my concentration was not the best. She closed her eyes after a few pages. Perhaps some of you find the evening hours the perfect time. However it is not mine. So I decided to do it first thing in the morning and it has worked perfectly. Make reading part of your to-do list. In mine it is the first.
If you read once a week it will take you a long time to finish; you run the risk of demotivating yourself and you will be distracted by other activities. This is why you read one book a year. Increasing your reading frequency by tying it to a time of day will be a great help.
Increase your reading frequency and tie it to a time of day. Click To Tweet
I have heard excuses like: “I don’t have time to read”. An excuse that I myself would have given a few years ago; but at this point in my life I know it’s just a pretext.
How about replacing an hour you lose watching a novel by reading a book?…You do have time, right? And what if, instead of checking your Facebook when you wake up, you read for 20 minutes?…You do have time, right? It’s all a matter of priorities.
Even if you are the busiest person on the planet, I am convinced that you can save 30 minutes out of 1440 a day. That was what I did, 30 minutes of reading as soon as I got up or one chapter a day.
2. Take your book everywhere.
There may be times in the day when you literally have nothing to do. Standing in line, waiting your turn at a medical appointment, in a taxi, anyway; you will have many opportunities to spend time reading.
It is very likely that you are one of those who drives your car to work and back home, so you will not be able to read, but if you are one of those who uses public transport, reading on the subway or on the bus is perfect to advance.
In the city where I currently live I sometimes have to commute for 45 minutes or 1 hour, time that I take advantage of to advance my reading. Time goes by so fast that riding the subway went from being a dead time to being a very profitable hour.
A book is your best friend, always take it with you. Click To Tweet
3. Make a scan of those parts that are not of interest to you.
No matter how good reviews a book has; there will always be some segments that you find uninteresting. Some readers stop reading at these parts and never pick it up again.
Do not feel bad about it, it is not that you are lazy or that you do not like to read, simply what you are reading is not of your complete interest. In my opinion all books have lines that can be removed without affecting the text.
When I get to these segments, I simply do a scan with the intention of making sure that I am not missing something important and additionally avoiding those parts that are not of my complete interest.
This will help not to lose motivation, as well as interest in the book you are reading and will increase your reading speed. It should be clarified that if you are doing this very often, do not waste your time and change the book.
Reading is the world’s cheapest source of entertainment and learning.
Amazon has made finding books incredibly easy and affordable. You can order them physically or better yet read from your phone, Ipad or Kindle.
By the way, you don’t need to have a Kindle (portable device that allows you to buy, store and read digitized books) to be able to read books in this format, simply download the application from any tablet or phone, enter your Amazon username and password and you will immediately be able to start reading. You buy the texts directly on Amazon and they are immediately sent to your Kindle account, where you will begin to create your own digital library.
I make this clarification because through conversations with family and friends I have realized that many think that if they do not have the Kindle reader they cannot read books in this format.
It’s as easy as that, cheap and within reach of a click, you don’t have to leave your house and you will have all your books on your phone, tablet or you can even access them on your computer. This is what part of my digital library looks like.
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
