By now, if you have been watching or following any sort of personal development course, coach or influencer, then you may have realised one common theme – reading is essential. The one thing I struggled with initially was getting through a book – it would take me weeks!

So here are the five things I have learnt which have helped me consistently learn more through reading:

  1. Look for something which you enjoy reading
    • This may sound very simple – but if a book is on a topic that you’re just not interested in then it will become a chore. I agree that looking for something new to expand your comfort zone is good – but if the book is written in a way that you don’t enjoy, then don’t read it. Move onto something you want to read – or find an author who conveys a message in a way which resonates with you.
  2. Choose two types of books to read; one for the morning and one for the evening
    • The reason here is that if you read something too heavy at night (i.e. too detailed / intense) you’re going to struggle to either take in the information or to sleep as your brain will be too wired! If you find that this is your only time – then maybe an audiobook is more suitable – but take notes as otherwise you’ll miss most of the information. Your morning book should be the one which is heavy on detail – your evening book should be more relaxed.
  3. Decide when you want the book to be finished by
    • This is powerful as it helps chunk the book into smaller parts – if you know how many pages on average you should read to meet your goal. Break it down, read that many pages per day, then move onto the next task. This just makes it more manageable when you have other more pressing issues to deal with
  4. Choose a place where you will read
    • This is useful because you then associate this space (either inside your house or elsewhere) with reading. Some people choose the bathroom…but it doesn’t matter where it is, so long as you find that you enjoy reading in that space.
  5. What medium suits you?
    • If you prefer reading from a physical book then don’t waste time reading e-books etc, and visa versa. Similarly if you don’t enjoy reading but appreciate the content – audiobooks are great. Alternatively, there are apps which cut down the content of a book into a smaller parts – I’m not a fan of this method – but it is an option.

Remember to visit www.moneycoachuk.net/books to see some recommended reading!