Why We Need To Read A Book

When I made a commitment to reading two years ago things started to change. You start to become more creative and strategic with your thoughts.

It doesn’t involve subscribing for webinars, taking time our for seminars or travelling to hear a point of view, all it takes is a commitment to put the distractions that are everywhere to one side. My preferred choice is still to buy a hard copy of a book, that way scribbling notes as you read becomes an easy reference to come back and for around £10, a wealth of knowledge to think about and apply.

A World Awash With Content

The world is now swimming in content and information, according to IBM 90% of the world’s information today was created in the last two years alone.

Whilst it’s easy to be distracted by reading through Twitter and LinkedIn and clicking through to read articles that strike a personal chord, it’s a bit like going for a run and thinking ‘I’ll stop for a walk when I reach that lamp-post,’ it just doesn’t make you feel that you’ve pushed yourself and slightly unrewarded.

Reading a book has a clear focus and a meaningful outcome, to challenge the way that you think. It’s a bit like the keeping fit regime of the weekly jogs and thinking ‘I won’t stop for that walk,’ I’m going to do the full run (that doesn’t involve hands on knees half way through). The feeling of finishing a book still has it’s roots in those days of middle school, as you have given time, energy and thinking to completing from cover to cover.

The New Thinking

There is so much new thinking out there at the moment and some fantastic books have been published in 2013 from some key authors. Here is a post from this summer that highlights my top 6 books in 2013. What this means is that you can now start to open up a whole new way of thinking, where you build in confidence and way you look at the world. I’m currently reading Joe Pulizzi’s follow up to ‘Get Content Get Customers’ with ‘Epic Content Marketing.’ It’s a fantastic book that looks at the role content plays in the world of marketing for the present and the future.

We now live in a world where we are being encouraged to read much shorter content to cater for our decreasing concentration spans. It’s free and it’s readily available. I say it’s far better to sometimes go back to basics, find that quiet place and immerse yourself in a book and encourage your creative side to find its place.