Came across this quote earlier, “Go to bed smarter than when you awoke”.
It’s a quote by Charlie Munger. Business partner to one of the riches men in the world, Warren Buffet.
One of the ways Warren Buffett encourages people to get smart and build wealth is through reading. The more you read, you’ll find your knowledge building up, just like compound interest.
In his documentary, ‘Becoming Warren Buffett‘, he indicates he spends up to 80% of his day just reading. Most folks cruise through their life not getting any smarter.
They look for others to tell them what to do and think.
It’s much easier to listen to your slow jams on the radio, or watch your favorite TV show than it is to read.
A study conducted by Tom Corley, of Rich Habits, found 85% of self-made millionaires read 2 or more books each month. They’ve managed to create a habit for daily reading of self-improvement.
The bulk of the books read by these folks were career-related books, how-to, biographies of successful people, self help books, leadership and more.
Unsuccessful people read far less books and the books they often read centered more around entertainment versus self-improvement.
While researching this topic, I found that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, reads an average of 50 books per year.
Mark Cuban indicated he reads at least 3 hours per day.
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, is an avid reader as well.
The list goes on and on … These are not random findings. The wealthy and top 3% of income earners do a lot of reading.
How to Get Smarter
The simple answer is to read. A whole lot!
To start, spend a minimum of 30 minutes each day reading some type of personal development type book.
If you’re just getting started on this journey of personal development, let me recommend the following as a first read.
I found a free PDF version of The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale. Click and check it out.
Starting Monday, this will be the 1st week in which I start my goal to read one book per week for 1 year.
Right now, I read about 25 books per year, but truthfully, I typically only get through about 65% of the books I read. This time around, I will read from start to finish.
What about you?
Will you start reading at least 30 minutes per day? What will you read?
If you’re already an avid reader, please share below how reading has improved your life.
Let us know what you’re currently reading!
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