Why Reading Will Make You Remarkable

Each book has a set of answers contained inside. In fact, our most common problems can be explained quite simply in the text printed on each page. So why don’t we read more? Well, for some us reading an entire book has the equivalent entertainment value as waiting in the doctors surgery while being coughed on by two people sitting on either side of us. Or, we simply find reading too time consuming and we kindly welcome alternative distractions.

Accordingly to the rules of logic, it would be less efficient to read a 300 page book over a swift 300 word article. That being said, the depth of knowledge contained within a book makes it ridiculously incomparable.

Here are the reasons why I think that reading will make you more remarkable:

1. You can get advice

You can easily meet up with Mark Zuckerburg and let him consult you on building an Internet business over a Starbucks coffee or have an intense conversation at Wagamama’s with Beyonce Knowles-Carter about her creative process. The only difference is that the conversation will be a monologue, and you will be listening through a book.

I have mulled over countless dilemma’s, only to discuss them with somebody more experienced and receive an instant solution, as though it were general knowledge. The amount of embarrassing and puzzling situations we find ourselves in can be resolved with the correct knowledge pertaining to that situation.

The freedom to consult an expert in any field is invaluable, especially when you are at a crossroads or have landed in a yet another dilemma. Our convenience, on the other hand, would much rather have us scouring the Internet in the search for a two minute article which immediately answers our question. The answer however will always lack the depth of perspective that we need for certain situations.

2. You are no longer a statistic

The paradox is that we all want to be exceptional but we end up being like everyone else. If I want to be the best mother, I need to develop both my knowledge and skill in that area. I need to understand common parenting techniques, in addition to my love meeting discipline when my beloved son graffiti’s our beige leather sofa with a Biro pen and beckons me to applaud him as though he drew the Mona Lisa.

The truth is that being remarkable takes time and effort. Time we would rather use to sleep, to relax or just to escape from being in a constant mode of producing as we drowned ourselves in the world of Netflix watching back to back movies before we drift off to the far off land of slumber.

Let’s do the maths. If the average American reads one book a year (I’m not sure what the equivalent is in any other country so we’ll take that as a baseline figure). Once you read two or more books, you are no longer average. Being remarkable involves pursuing self improvement on a continual basis and books, among other things, will help us to become remarkable.

3. It widens your vocabulary and develops your intellect

Books can stimulate our intellect in a way that a dog, in a Spiderman suit dancing on a conveyor belt in a supermarket on a YouTube video cannot.

As you read your unconscious mind feeds on the words, punctuation and grammar. You learn new concepts and ideas at an astronomical rate and expand your ability to understand the world.

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.

Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft

The challenge is for us not just to think about our immediate plans, problems or even our lifestyle, but to imagine what could be and read to gain further insight and start to envision the possibilities.

It would be great if you could share a book that you’ve read which has inspired you or share any specific books that you plan to read this year. Feel free to join in the discussion on Facebook or leave your comment below.