Last month, one of my tweets went semi-viral.
It was a screenshot of my 2024 reading log with the advice: “Learn to love reading.” [1]
I was surprised by the attention it got. In fact, before sending it, I was hesitant about even posting. I worried it might be seen as self-righteous. But I’m glad I published it. If the tweet led just one person to take their reading more seriously, it was worthwhile in my book.
It’s hard to fathom how important reading is.
Munger claimed he knew no wise people who didn’t read all the time. Naval said reading alone accounts for any success he’s had in life. And Napoleon once said, “Show me a family of readers, and I’ll show you the people who move the world.”
The greats know: Reading is a superpower.
For the non-reader, the question is: “How does one learn to love reading?”
In reading Timothy Gallwey’s “The Inner Game of Tennis” recently, I was reminded of the answer. Gallwey explains, “The question arises as to how to maintain focus for extended periods of time. The best way is to allow yourself to get interested in the ball.”
As it is in tennis, so it is with reading.
You learn to love reading by reading what you love. The great crime of secondary education is that because students can’t pursue their own interests freely, most develop a disdain for reading. They see it as a chore rather than a privilege.
But, when you give yourself the opportunity to read books that cultivate your curiosity, you’ll find, as writer Diane Duane has noted, that reading is like eating potato chips. Once you start, you won’t want to stop.
It’s a shame we read so little these days. The need for it has never been so great.
Jordan Peterson said, “There's nothing you could possibly do to become more deadly than to improve your facility with language. And the way you do that is by reading.” When I started taking my reading more seriously, it was for this reason.
I knew knowledge was the key to freedom and that reading was an important way to acquire it.
However, I’ve also come to appreciate how effective reading has been for managing my own mind. To sit with an author and their ideas and to explore them without distraction. The tranquility you enjoy is alone worth the effort.
The best advice for a young person remains:
Learn to love reading.
[1] The advice “Learn to Love Reading” was inspired by the title of a quotebook written by my friend Alex Wieckowski.
