56. Seven Ways for a Non- reader to start reading Books.

If you will look for one thing that is common in every successful person on this planet in last hundred years, it would be predominantly the habit of book reading. Bill Gatess, the richest man on our planet currently takes a month of holiday every year just to read books and update himself. Mark Zuckerberg, creator and CEO of facebook, claims to read at least 52 books every year. Warren Buffet, the second richest guy in the world revealed in an interview that he spends 80% of his work time reading books. Today the most powerful thing on this planet if knowledge. I was reading somewhere that they amount of information that is printed in a single Sunday newspaper was the amount of information that man used to acquire in his entire life 300 years ago. Zillions and zillions of zegabytes of data is getting dumped and transferred from one place to another on our planet and in between this one cannot afford to stay ignorant. Medicine field has made several advancements increasing our life spans but our life has shortened nonetheless. We cannot start from our ancestors started, we have to move ahead of them and that is only possible then we will start where our ancestors had left. Books are brains of table of people who were born before us. The best part of books that I like is that it gives me power of visualization. While watching a movie or documentary, most of my senses visual, hearing are already busy which leaves my mind to just process the information it is retrieving. When I am reading a book, I am visualizing and gaining knowledge at the same time, hence increasing my creativity. Well, not taking much of your time. Let’s get on with the rules.    

1. ​Pick smaller books first.

It is very important for a person to read books but the majority of people do one mistake when start reading books, they overestimate the whole process of reading books. You can't just graduate to reading books, just like high school you have to go through all the junior classes to reach senior level. Read thin books first, they are easy to finish. Reading a book completely gives confidence. It's basic psychology. When most people pick books for the first time that are difficult, voluminous, complex, philosophical or factual, they lose their motivation immediately and stop reading books. This is one of the major causes of people being afraid of reading books. Pick thin books first, gain confidence, then gradually climb the ladder of increasing the reading capacity. You can also start reading newspapers, blogs, short stories and articles.

2. Don't go for factual or literature.

Wave cinemas has a tagline that 'real life is boring' and they are very well right about it. Books about facts are like documentaries. Unless you are really interested in the subject, they work really well as an alternative to sleeping pills. Start reading fiction first because it helps in creating an interest in the reading. Once you develop your reading habits then wander wherever you want as then there will be no stopping you.

3. Finish the book.

One of the most crucial thing about learning to read is to finish the book. Earlier I told you about picking smaller books first, it was for the same reason. If you pick a book and never finish it, you will never summon up enough guts to pick up another book. Finish the book and trust me, after you will turn the last page it will give a feeling like you have won the world wrestling championship. But that does not mean that you have to complete every book and go through a torturous ordeal of finishing it. There are hundreds of books on my books shelf which I haven’t finished and it doesn.t bother me because there are other thousands which I did finish and it all evens up. Though there have been times when I am thoroughly bored while reading the book and I keep on going anyways. It’s because some books have an after taste, you don’t realize how good they are until you finish them and the thoughts of it will start to haunt you later on. But that’ a choice one has to make about that book. A classic highly recommended book must be read completely even if it bored someone, in my opinion, because they always leave you intimidated in the end.

4. Always carry a book.

​There are times when you must be getting bored or have nothing to do while waiting for yours or someone else's( it happens) girlfriend or standing in a queue or travelling in a train, flight or a bus, then a good book can come to your rescue in helping you pass your time and also give you knowledge, insights and wisdoms at the same time. In my opinion, reading a book is the best way to utilize one’s time. Don't waste your time in doing nothing or thinking about nothing or surfing different apps on your idiot phone, they only give you instant pleasure but they don’t increase a single cell in your mind, if anything they only destroy cells of your mind. Read a book, gain knowledge even if the motivation is to show off. More than that you will look cool and intelligent reading a book among a bunch of no-doing-anything crowd and some broad might get a crush on you.

5. Make a habit.

Habit are difficult to get rid of once made so chose wise ones.  According to a survey, if a man does same thing again and again continuously with discipline for 66 days, it becomes a part of his habit. So, try that method, read every day if only for half an hour, may be you can as well develop a habit of book reading a habit. Now I know you might beg me to tell you some short cut for making book reading a habit as you must have already calculated that 66 days is a long time and you lack all the patience in the world to try that much discipline. Unfortunately there isn't one, except the short cut of hard work, which isn't much of a short cut anyways but one thing I can tell you right now and it is that - it works for sure. You must read continuously to develop it as a habit and the good part is it doesn’t matter what you are reading as far as you are reading something. It will only be difficult for the first few days and books. After that, you will yourself start to enjoy it. My father once threatened me that he won’t allow me inside house if I would buy any more books. Trust me, book are like drugs, once you will get the hang of them, you will get addicted to them. It is only the initial struggle but once that barrier is crossed, the gates of city of books will be opened or your forever. Then again, reading books will ensure that there will be lots of show-off which will make you center of attraction, even at places where people don't respect you and want to hit you. According to another survey, people would rather hear erudite talks of a well-read person than hit him.

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6. Read anything.

I once read this interview of Shahrukh Khan in which he tells that he reads from anything to everything. Even the cover on medicine bottle. When he goes to London he goes with three empty bags and comes back with those bags full of books. I don't know why he prefers carrying empty bags from India when he can buy better bags in London, but then that's his deal. My point being, read anything. Don't limit yourself to books. Read whatever you find wherever you are. First it develops reading power and secondly it helps you increase your observational skills. It might end up making you Sherlock Holmes. Read whatever you can lay your hands on. Don’t stick to genres otherwise it will become boring for you after a while or you will forever remain in the domain of ignorance with just one sided knowledge, just like many college girls who read only romantic novels of Mills and Boons and Sydney Sheldon. A fun fact : for a major part of my life I used to think that Sydney Sheldon was a lady, more amusing was that everyone around me thought the same. For your information, it was before we got Wikipedia and smart phones and when most of everyone’s information was either a speculation or cooked inside his own mind.

7. At least read 50 pages.

My personal rule is to read at least 50 pages before deciding whether to read it further or not. I made this rule after realizing that different writers write their books in different manner in terms of introducing characters, establishing scenes or giving too much or less information too early or too late. For example, Dan Brown, author of bestsellers like ‘The DaVinci Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ likes to maintain the interest of reader right from the first page but some writers like Tolstoy take their own time in introducing the characters and laying the background before they finally start telling the story. Different writers have different methods. Even after 50 pages if you are unable to maintain your interest, then my advice for you is that throw that book in some corner of your room from where you can't pick it up and don't revisit it unless you have read another 10 books or someone highly recommends that book.