Tue 23 / 06 / 15
Why read business and personal development books
John Thacker of Clark Brownscombe tells us his 10 reasons why it is good to read development books.
As Simon Sinek has titled one of his books, it is important to ‘Start with Why.’
So now I have recommended another book, let me give you 10 reasons why it is good to read development books:
1 New ideas (breadth) – no matter how creative your thinking (and I definitely need help here), reading will expose you to new ideas.
2 Continued education (depth) – books can keep you up to date (and more) in your chosen field.
3 Personal growth– if I had to name one thing more than any other that has kept me going in business (and life) it is a commitment to personal growth and development.
4 Flow– high performance and mental wellbeing are related to being in a state of ‘flow’ (see Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi for more on this). Reading is a prime ‘flow’ activity.
5 Helping others – I have found much of what I have read has been useful in helping other people with issues they are facing.
6 Focus– reading makes you focus which has both learning and mental health benefits.
7 Learn from the greats – you can learn from both the dead and the living through books, and you obtain high quality, distilled thinking in a very time efficient way (as opposed to much social media?).
8 Be more interesting – you have a far wider range of topics to discuss with people (especially needed if you are an accountant).
9 Relieves stress – say no more…
10 Change yourself – as you learn new ideas and expose yourself to different thinking, you will change and develop – and this can enable your business to do the same. As Brian Tracy has said, “The sort of person you will be in five years time is dependent on the books you read.”
Having started with an English ethnographer, let me finish with a German philosopher. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” (Friedrich Nietzsche).
And I shall be writing on the how soon.
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