Not very many people consistently read books and even fewer read lots of books. The average person reads about 12 books per year, but that number is inflated by the avid readers, so excluding heavy readers that number is about 4 books per year.
When we look at the most successful people in society, the people who are constantly learning, growing, creating, and innovating, we see that these people, CEOs, leaders, and entrepreneurs read, on average, about 4 to 5 books per month, 10 times the amount a mediocre person reads.
Contrary to what many people think, reading is very enjoyable and soothing, it strengthens your brain power, it expands your knowledge and creativity, and it fills you with new ideas, wisdom, and valuable insights. We’ve only got so much time in a day, so here is how you can read 60 books in a year.
1. Stop Making Excuses and Being Lazy
“I don’t have enough time” is not a valid excuse, its you being lazy. This advice can apply to much more than just reading. Examine how you allocate all of your time in a typical day. I guarantee that there are some worthless and time-wasting behaviors and habits that can be cut out, and I guarantee you can find at least 30 minutes each day. If reading and reading more is truly something you want to do, then find a spare 30 minutes each day. It’s there, it definitely exists.
2. Make It a Daily Ritual or Habit
Commit yourself to reading a little bit each and every day. Commit to making it a small portion of your daily 24 hours. It could be first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee and it could be at night right before you go to bed. If you dedicate yourself to 30 minutes or more a day, you will easily finish a book per week, which in conjunction with method number 3, will put you on pace for 60 books in a year.
3. Listen to Audiobooks
Audiobooks now enable you to read without reading, all you need to do is listen. All of the time you spend commuting and traveling, working out, cooking food, doing chores, sitting on the toilet, and whatever else you can think of can now be done while listening to audiobooks. I personally suggest using Amazon Audible for amazing selection and cheap prices.
4. Learn How to Speed Read
There are ways to double and triple your reading speed, enabling you to finish books sooner, and get through more content quicker. There are courses, coaches, as well as articles and YouYube videos that can teach you techniques that can turn you into a faster reader. Engaging in speed reading can improve your memory recall, mental strength, and can save you hundreds of hours per year. For example, if you were to save one hour a day, that’d be 365 hours a year and more than nine 40-hour work weeks. Be more efficient.
5. Read Engaging and Interesting Books
Read a variety of books from across different spectrums. And don’t feel like you’re obligated to finish a book you aren’t enjoying. Give each a book a fair shot, but don’t force yourself to read a book. That will just teach you to resent reading. Drop it and read a better book.
Be purposeful with which books you read. Read books that catch your eye, read books on topics that highly interest you, but also read books on topics you know nothing about, read books that will teach you things, and read books in order to become more skilled and valuable in various ways. By reading engaging and valuable books you’ll never want to put your book down and you’ll eagerly move on to the next book.