Did you know that most iconic and successful people are voracious readers?
Warren Buffet for example is considered as one of the most successful investors in the world. And guess what? He is a bookworm. In fact, in a lot of interviews, he always emphasizes and attributed his great money decisions to his reading habit. He reads a lot and estimates that the spends as much as 80 percent of his day reading. Well you might say that, that was easy for him to do, as he is already rich. But take note, that habits are not formed in a day.
How long does it take to form a Habit?
Phillippa Lally is a health psychology researcher at University College London. Lally and his team published a study at European Journal of Social Psychology figuring out how long it takes to form a habit.
On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.
Source: Know more about New Habits
Source: My Speed Reading
Getting Started and Struggles
A few months ago, I have decided to make reading a habit. I wanted to increase my vocabulary and reading speed so much that I wanted to commit myself to reading books everyday. But then life happens, and after a few months, I am still halfway on the first book that I started reading. The habit that I am trying to build is not really working, but instead I wasted so much time playing non-sense mobile games.
Procastination. Priorities. blah blah blah.
When it comes to reading, I always make excuses. I will always say that I am busy with the baby, school works, etc. etc. But when it comes to playing, time is not an issue. And then I realize, I have to make adjustments, a lot of adjusments in order for this to work. If I really want to make reading a habit, I have to continuously work for it. Discipline is the key.
Source: PixaBay - Reading Books
And so, I have decided to make an article of the things that I have read once in a while, twice a week would be great, but no pressure. This exercise will help reinforce the things that I have learned in my readings. At the same time, pressuring myself to write would be a great way for me to get rid of my addiction to mobile games. It will keep me busy, that I will have less and less time to play, until I can entirely get rid of this annoying habit.
Book #1
The first book on my list was entitled "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. I've heard so much about the book and the feedback was both overwhelming and amazing. This book is really fitting for me to read. I wanted to make good habits but I am stuck with the bad ones. If I want to be effective at reading and anything that I will undergo, the principles outlined and discussed in the book will surely be a big help. And so, allow me to share the thoughts, concepts and principles that I have read. This way, I hope that the lessons will stick to my mind and the same time, you or anyone reading my posts will also somehow get a glimpse of how amazing the book is.
Source: Amazon
The book introduces the concept of a paradigm shift. It started with the emphasis on how two people can be looking at the same thing or object, and yet see very differently. It's a matter of perspective. The way we see the things or a problem is the problem, we must allow ourselves to undergo these paradigm shifts -- this way we will not just be able to change our perspective but also improve our attitude and behaviour.
That's where the seven habits of highly effective people come in. In order for us to have a whole mind and body transformation, to make the paradigm shift, the 7 habits will help us and guide us to the process.
"Paradigms are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world... If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm."-- Stephen R. Covey
Cheers!
