Reading Is Fundamental

Last year I had a telephone conversation with my friend Raj who coaches High School Football. I was doing some research looking for football metaphors to help me in my training classes. There were many insights that Raj provided, but one in particular stuck with me the most. Each year at the beginning of the practice season, Raj takes every one of his players back to the “fundamentals”. He reminds them of the basics that these guys may well have learned when they were ten years old. His theory is that the very foundation of a good player and a good team rests in their ability to execute the basics. He teaches his players the basics of balance, foot movement, and body position. All of this before they run a single play or catch a pass. My conversation with Raj reminded me of how fundamental reading is to everyone.

You may remember the advertising campaign that was designed to remind us that everyone needed to read. The campaign title was the title of today’s essay, “Reading Is Fundamental”. During that campaign books were provided free of charge to allow children and adults access to reading materials. This was a great idea but I don’t know if it got very far. However, the concept was right on target. Reading really is fundamental to any good system for growth, knowledge, advancement, and balance.

Yesterday I talked about reading Tim Sanders' book, “Love Is The Killer App.” Sanders talks a great deal about reading and the benefits that can be derived from gaining knowledge. In Sanders terms, gaining knowledge is the one of the “Big Thoughts” that you can take away from his book. I am already an avid reader, so reading Sander’s words were very reaffirming to me. Still, like most things sometimes you need to read or hear someone else say something to spark new ideas and Energy.

About six years ago I decided that I needed to learn everything that I could learn about leadership and relating to people. I determined that I was going to put myself on a course of study that within four years would cause me to read one-hundred books on just this topic. At the time I thought that was a lofty goal, but certainly one that I could achieve. In the years leading up to this I had read most of the number one sellers in the business category, but I really never concentrated my efforts. So, I decided that I was going to read twenty-five books every year. I established this goal very methodically. The fist thing I determined was that I needed to read two books every month and also find a way to read one extra book over the period of twelve months. Then, I figured out that the average book was about two hundred pages long. I broke that down to a daily goal of reading fifteen pages. At the time it did not matter to me when I read these pages, it was just important that I read fifteen pages every day. Thinking about this very simply it meant that I would read about two hundred and ten pages every two weeks, and thus no less than two books a month. No matter how fast or slow you read, you can read fifteen pages every day. I know that because I have watched my nine year old boys stubbornly read that many pages. On average this will take you about half an hour every day when you first start because reading is like everything else you do. The more you do it the better you will get at it. The first year that I established my reading program I read twenty-seven books. I know this because I created a simple list on which I wrote down the name of every book I read. Also, because I believe in sharing my goals and aspirations with the people around me that care about me, I experienced an incredible sense of accomplishment and was congratulated by my friends and family. That first year I evangelized to everyone about this simple system and created many new converts. As Tim Sanders would say, this is the classic Lovecat way.

Most of us will say that we don’t have time to read. Another friend of mine felt this way. However, after realigning her values and priorities, she told me just recently that she has found over one and a half hours every day that she never had before. She uses some of this time to read for thirty minutes every day. I can already see the increase in her knowledge simply based on the changes in her conversation, moods and attitude. So, how do you find that first thirty minutes? When I started I read in bed at night. That ended up being a great way for me to fall asleep, but it rarely yielded more than a couple pages of reading. I then looked for other small pockets of time. The first thing you must do is carry a book or two with you everywhere you go. Keep one in your car, and also keep one in whatever form of bag you carry to work. With practice you can even learn to read while riding a stationary bike or walking on a treadmill. I advise that for this you really want to start out slowly. I used to argue with my wife every time our family left our home to go out. Usually, I would be ready to go far in advance of my wife. Instead of arguing during this time I learned that when she said she was “ready” that I had about ten to fifteen minutes left. I began using that time to read. I also carried books to every meeting I attended and used the down time before meetings began. One of the techniques I have developed recently kills two birds with one stone. My twin boys enjoy doing their homework in my office every night. This creates a wonderful bonding opportunity when they are in my office with me and I really enjoy their company while they do their homework. When we began spending this time together I would typically spend the time just surfing the internet waiting for them to ask questions about their homework. Then just the other day I realized that since they were usually reading or writing I could spend my time doing the same. Since homework takes up about one and a half hours, I get lots of time to read just with them every night. Plus, the added bonus is that you get to reinforce a positive impression on your children when they see that even Mom or Dad is still learning every day too. Many of my books spark conversations with my sons and I don’t hesitate to share with them the “Big Idea” that I get from many of my books.

There is a prologue to my goals from six years ago. Last year I read over fifty books on a variety of topics related to the things I love. This year my goal is to read no less than sixty books. Some of those will be for entertainment purposes that I will listen to on my mp3 player or motivational books that I will listen to while driving. I now spend more than a couple thousand dollars each year buying books to read personally or to give away to friends. However, because everyone knows I love to read most of my friends and family give me book seller gift cards as presents. These really do come in handy when I just have to have that particular book right away, like when I bought Tim Sanders' book on Wednesday. Also, if you need a great way to curb your impulse shopping urge, try spending that same time wandering through a book store. You will spend a lot less, and you won’t need to ask the question “does this book make me look fat?”

I have produced a list of tips and tricks I use to get more reading done every year. I will share them with you if you will just send an email message requesting my ideas.