- in Uncategorized by Brian Wright
Success Strategies: How Not Reading Makes you Unhappy
A successful life of any type is a life filled with constant learning. That’s a fact you and I need to accept. The world is changing fast and the rule is: change or die. You won’t literally die, but what you know now, won’t be tomorrow, and what you knew back then, is dust.
A life full of joy and success is one of progress and progress is dependent upon the knowledge you acquire and apply in your life. All those success techniques.
Knowledge is the primary success strategy because:
- It will show you where your behavior needs changing
- You will learn to perceive life and others more accurately
- Interacting with people becomes easier the more you know about you and them
- Minor alterations that make a big difference in your life come when you acquire seemingly “unrelated” knowledge
- More knowledge makes you do things differently and sets you apart from the rest
Books represent the knowledge of others, a contribution of something substantial discovered by another human. Every one of your 7.4 billion friends on this earth has a strength that no other can reproduce in kind, and they build upon that strength each day. When they offer it to you in the form of written word, be grateful and use it to your advantage.
Nobody can do everything, and there is room enough for all of us. The top of the mountain is a plateau of greatness and expertise, so use what you can learn from others in order to refine your life and tweak it for excellence. Try and convince yourself that that’s not the best way.
Reading helps us understand how cycles repeat themselves, and to acquire wisdom faster. You can only learn from experience, but it’s possible to learn from other’s experience as well; reading will eliminate failures in your life that you might have gone through had you not read through someone else’s trials beforehand.
- Reading gives us the new discoveries that our governments spend billions on.
- You become inspired by the life story of someone who went through similar hardships and can push through yours easier
- Knowledge is power because this world is about moves and counter-moves. When you read more, you have more moves in your arsenal to combat what life throws at you. You will experience less stress, more joy and ease, and more productivity.
- You can pace yourself through life with confidence and not feel lost.
Whats The Science Say Though?
Reading facilitates and increases our capacity for mental imagery, which allows us to recognize our external reality faster and more accurately.
- You recognize what circumstances are faster and react faster-increasing productivity (effective interaction with others)
- You are better at visualizing the moves you make which makes them fluid and of higher quality (athletes/performance)
- Application of mental imagery recreates circumstances and environments with accurate corresponding physiological responses
- Your ability to produce mental imagery enhances your ability to perceive (person, places, things, ideas) when they occur in your life causing your rate of successful interaction to skyrocket
Read The Academic Article Here!
Not enough? It increases white matter in your brain and helps you process information more efficiently. Reading makes you smarter.
We all have our own niche in life, and it’s our duty to be as good at them as possible. The scientist is smart, the mechanic is also smart, and so is the school counselor, but only because they never stop learning.
Common Sense Reasons
There are many garbage books out there, so you will need to use your common sense. For the most part, books are a representation of someone’s expertise. Brilliant people who have taken their strengths and worked on them to the point where the information is offerable to the world they love.
Just like you are dedicated to something, and others’ can enrich their lives with your experience, so too is the reverse.
“Perfection is just a bunch of little things done well” – Marco Pierre White
and a happy life is nothing but a string of happy moments. So rid yourself of the burden of having to figure everything out by assimilating the accomplishments of others.
Some of what we learned in school wasn’t so helpful, but that doesn’t mean learning is helpful. How can you do things without first learning how to do them? Learning makes your life and the world better. Let’s be facetious for a moment, the world would be amazing if everyone knew what the hell they were doing!
Now, let’s be honest also, do you always make sure you always know exactly what you’re talking about, what you’re doing?
Now that we know how beneficial a life of constant learning is, now that we understand where we would be without what we have learned in the past (nowhere), why did we stop?
Who cares, start again. You can learn what you want, and nobody is telling you what to do. It’s not boring, dull, or hell; IT’s FUN!
We both want to live happy lives filled with daily progress, and the knowledge is out there. This was not always the case throughout history, so take full advantage.
What Should We Be Reading?
The life expectancy of humans in North America has doubled in the last century. In order for you to not get left behind, you need to stay up-to-date with the latest health information. If I were you, I would double down on textbooks. That’s just me though.
You should not be relying on your job as your only source of income. That’s one of the worse decisions you could ever make and you will regret it later in your life. If you want real financial security in your life, you are going to want to understand money, bring more of it in, and be happier that you can spread it out amongst those you care about. This is probably one of the more popular ways to scam people:
- Don’t go for a get rich quick scheme. The only way to get rich quick is to spot a trend before it happens and capitalize. (like bottled water or cryptocurrency)
- Don’t go for something gimmicky. Money is a formula. Do it right and it will come to you.
- Use your critical thinking skills to intensely assess who is legit and who is bullshit. Then listen to what those people have to say (buy their books, listen to their podcasts etc..)
Nobody is born perfect, and nearly all of us have issues with childhood programming and life experiences. You need some self-help in your life. Just the right sprinkle on top of your new learning cake. I consume self-help probably too much, because it does help, and it does make a difference.
We all have scars that can make life less rich than we deserve it to be. We all need to interact better with other people, communicate with those we love, and make sure our relationships are tight and secure.
Learning about your psychological disposition helps you understand yourself better, opens you up to wisdom and the goings on of your brain, body, and mind. It just makes life better so please trash the excuses, they’re old.
Philosophy is my thing. It should be yours too.
Where are you kids at?
College? Doing what?
Learning from smart people?
Who do you think philosophers are?
Some of your fellow humans (perhaps even you) are blessed with a certain skill; to comprehend life in subtle and abstract ways. We rely on the scientists for the analysis, and the “thinkers” are no different. They are not always right(nobody is), but pick up some Marcus Aurelius and tell me he cant help you sort things out.
Ancient wisdom helps us make sense of the chaos in our lives (and it can pile up). That’s why everyone loves those damned Instagram Quotes.
Where Can I Find Books Anymore?
The library…Seriously though library cards are free (said fast sarcastically). AND you can keep these books for weeks.
Second-hand technology and bookstores are popping up all over the place. Plus, Barnes&Noble is still a thing.
AMAZON. Mr. Bezos’ warehouses might as well be the library of Alexandria. Everyone get’s their books from Amazon. Whenever I hear of a book that I should read, I add it to my shopping cart immediately. you don’t necessarily have to purchase it, but it does allow you to go back and do further research on that book and find the lowest price.
Does It Really Have To Be Books Though?
Absolutely not! Have you ever seen the image floating through the internet with a toilet, shower, and the bookshelves in the bathroom instead of walls? That’s me.
Much of your information should come from books. There is something so satisfying about hearing the thump of the back cover after you’ve finished one. There are challenges with reading that you will want to overcome as well:
- How to sort out what information is worthy of my attention, and what is just filler
- How to skim for relevant information
- How to analyze each idea in context
- How to properly read for retention an comprehension
- Having access to the information always in the hard copy
Plus, sitting with a book is just a sattvic (good) restful and therapeutic activity that I find very pleasing. I think you will too.
In a broader sense, this post is also about how much information you consume in your life. You want to become a “learning machine”. Learning machines are capable of mastering the three areas of success: Inspiration, Implementation, and Experimentation.
There are plenty of amazing youtube channels, podcasts, ebooks, and courses to take out there online that will allow you to keep yourself informed, and each of them is appropriate for different situations in your life.
Will This Really Change My Life Though?
Absolutely!
Nobody has ever started learning more and thought it was detrimental to your wellbeing.
Initially, you will learn broad and then refine your learning to specific areas. When you see the results in your life it can become addicting. We’re not just talking about reading the newspaper and staying informed about the state of the union, we’re talking about you picking up a book, reading something about your brain and how it affects you, and being able to avoid an issue you have for the rest of your life because you understand what it is now.
That’s a huge deal.
SUMMARY
- Happy and joyful lives are ones filled with enriching experiences and constant learning
- Reading helps your brain functioning, your memory and your performance in your daily life.
- Books represent the genius and excellence of your fellow humans and you would be wise to take advantage of that.
- Wisdom comes from the experiences we have in life, the experience of others is in books. Thats like a cheat sheet!
- Think more about consuming information (Videos, ebooks, courses, audio books, mp3s, conferences)
- Remember not to just store useless info in your head. It needs to be used to be valuable.
