Want a Better Life? Become a Better Reader!

“That age will be rich indeed when those relics which we call Classics, and the still older and more than classic but even less known Scriptures of the nations, shall have still further accumulated, when the Vaticans shall be filled with Vedas and Zandavestas and Bibles, with Homers and Dantes and Shakespeares, and all the centuries to come shall have successively deposited their trophies in the forum of the world. By such a pile we may hope to scale heaven at last.” – Henry David Thoreau in Walden

I know he wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I’m pretty sure Thoreau was talking about the internet when he wrote those words. We have the greatest repository of information the world has ever seen, right at our fingertips. That said, we should be the best-read generation of all time…but we’re not. A study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004 found that fewer than half of American adults read literature for pleasure. Fewer than half!

That’s a stunner, particularly considering the overwhelming evidence that being an avid reader is the one thing that most successful people have in common. Self-education by reading great books is a key to your personal development, which has to come before you can hope to make improvements in other areas of your life.

Understand this: if you want to improve your lot in life, you’re going to have to get in the habit of reading. A lot. Every day. Sorry: the fact that you don’t enjoy reading is entirely irrelevant. You’ll get used to it, and you’ll probably even start to like it after awhile. It may (and probably will) become one of your favorite activities. You’ll begin to wonder what you did all those years before you realized how delightful a good book can be.

And before you start to panic, I’m not one of those wackos advocating that you throw your TV away. I think it’s possible to do both…just not at the same time. Especially for those of you who aren’t accustomed to regular reading, you’re not going to want to start off with Moby Dick or Les Miserables to break yourself in. Try easing into the habit by reading something you know you’ll enjoy, a little at a time. If you’ll just commit to 15 minutes a day before you go to sleep, you’ll make a habit of it before you know it (and probably have more interesting dreams, too).

Once you’ve developed the habit, though, try picking up books that are a little more challenging, something that’s going to push the edges of your mind out just a little bit. Remember, the goal here is growth, so the more a book expands your intellect and forces you to think in new ways, the better. Thoreau nails it when he says that there is no difference “between the illiterateness of my townsman who cannot read at all and the illiterateness of him who has learned to read only what is for children and feeble intellects.” In other words, if what you’re reading doesn’t challenge your mind, you might as well go watch another episode of “Jersey Shore” (Thoreau predicted that, too).

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people neglect (or worse, refuse) to read. We have at our disposal the entire collection of human knowledge to this point in time; Thoreau would have given up his shack in the woods for the privilege to be here. He predicted that this time would come, and he said it would bring us one step closer to heaven.

Of course, that will only be true if we take advantage of our great privilege and develop a passion for reading. So what are you waiting for? What book is first on your list? Leave your current or future reading list in the comments section so we can compare notes.