- Victor Ochieng’ argues that reading should become a daily habit rather than an activity reserved for examinations.
- He says books can strengthen vocabulary, concentration, creativity, critical thinking and a person’s capacity for lifelong learning.
- Victor maintains that deliberate reading, supported by good habits and effective techniques, can contribute to intellectual and personal growth.
It is sagely said, indeed, the more you read, the more you know. The more you know, the more you grow. The more you grow, the more you glow. The more you learn, the more you earn. The more you know, the more you do. The more you do, the more places you go. The more places you go, the more you become. So, on the power of the written word, John Piper, the putative author of Christian classics and American Theologian, observed, books do not change people. Paragraphs do. Sometimes, even sentences.
Somehow, avid readers do not confuse schooling with education. More so, self-education. For it is utterly doltish to brood on good books only when you have a date with exams. It is the reason we have some highly-educated people looking un-baked or half-baked. Therefore, endeavour to sneak reading into your daily, weekly and yearly long list of tasks. Why? Because there are bountiful and beautiful benefits of reading best books. Straight into it. Reading is a serious brain exercise. Reading keeps the mind fit as a fiddle. Reading keeps us sound and sane. Reading prevents cognitive decline at old age. So, we say old is gold. Reading is a strong stress-buster. Reading is reflective and meditative. Reading is a form of self-care. Reading builds vocabulary. Reading enriches word banks. Reading adds glamour to one’s grammar.
Ideally, reading about trials and triumphs of others makes us magnanimous. Reading supplies knowledge. Reading is a sure source of some winsome wisdom. Reading deepens valuable vaults of great wit. Reading expands attention and concentration spans. Reading enhances mastery and memory of content taught. Reading is for edutainment. Reading exposes people.
Actually, reading builds better writers, orators and rhetors. No wonder, as a scribe from Yala, I read widely, wildly and avidly. For instance, as I sit to ideate and titivate this writ I had woven earlier, I am also reading two heroic books: Firstly, I am reading Grit: Why Passion and Resilience are the Secrets to Success by Angela Duckworth who is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Secondly, I am poring over The Christian’s Secrets of a Happy Life by Hannah Whittal Smith (1832-1911). Withal, over some time, I have ascertained, reading is a sure source of fecund imagination, creativity and ingenuity. Reading builds the three strands of thinking: Critical, creative and decision-making. Or reasoning, making judgements and problem solving.
In The Wealth Money Can’t Buy, Robin Sharma argues that reading gives us the Gargantuan Competitive Advantage (GCA). By reading best books, we gain mental toughness to assist us in solving perplexing problems rife in this life. Reading builds mighty mental muscles; making readers heavy-weight thinkers. This could be the real reason, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) commonly called The Sage of Concord, advised all and sundry, “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”
More importantly, we can begin to win by identifying places to buy best books. Again, in The Wealth Money Can’t Buy, Robin Sharma has a captivating chapter titled The Human Who Reads the Most, Wins. Therein, he talks about Book Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy (BABLE). Ensuring your home has good shedloads of reads on: Creativity, productivity, vitality, longevity, history, psychology, business, communication and metaphysics. For the Spanish-cum-French Translator and Physician Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon (1120-1190) advised, “Make thy books thy companions. Let thy cases and shelves be thy pleasure grounds and gardens.”
Advisedly, in the distant past, Seneca, the Roman stolid and stoic Philosopher, Statesman and Playwright, observed, “So long as you live, keep learning how to live.” Living right means taking care of mental inputs each day, week, month, and year. So, when voyaging into a new week, month, year, purpose-driven people envision the kind of best books they want to buy; devour and savour. Meaning, a sane person with a sound mind, yearning to grow and glow in different dimensions; sets real resolutions on ways of mining wealth of wisdom from houses of gold – books. For intellectual growth comes through work, not luck.
Consequently, permit me to state that real readers see it as a habit. The American Journalist Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit contends that habits are mental short cuts learnt from experience. Habits are also repeated patterns of behaviour. Through right repetition, we entice and evince excellence. Then, we access success. No wonder, in the years of yore, Aristotle advised, “We become what we repeatedly do; excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
Then, those who read daily, widely and wildly see it as a culture, which they carefully cultivate and nurture. They read what they love until they love to read. Culture is way of life. Therefore, we thrive in reading when we make it a lifestyle. No wonder, admirable readers pore over wads of articles splashed on newspapers, magazines, websites and blogs. They read sacred scriptures. They brood on tonnes of tantalising tomes of best books on poetry, (auto)biographies, leadership and motivation. Avid readers obey words of Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) known as the Prince of Preachers, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”
Moreover, I strongly believe that whoever wants to read and reap real benefits should plan. Reading requires deliberate diligence and discipline. Reading a book per week translates to 52 books per year. Reading 1 book per month translates to 12 books per year. So, you simply pick the best book you want to read avidly. Read 10 pages every day. In a week or month, you will be done and dusted. Your reading muscles will begin to grow and glow. Indeed, you will gain more motivation to read. You will whet a fat appetite for the written word.
Then, there are 4 Levels of Reading popularised by Mortimer J. Adler (1902-2001) and Charles Van Doren (1926-2019) in their heroic book titled How to Read a Book. Elementary is the first level, which focuses on basic comprehension. The second level is Inspectional Reading, focusing on getting the big picture. The third level is Analytical Reading, which is deep reading. Then, there is Syntopical Reading, where you read several books on the same topic, and analyse them together. So, you are at which level of reading? Furthermore, there are different types of readers. The ravenous reader is always hungry for the written word. The omnivorous one reads all manner of texts. Voracious reader does it with a lot of enthusiasm. The avid reader broods on books. The insatiable reader has a fat appetite hard to sate or satiate. Tenacious reader clings on reading. Habitual reader treats it as a ritual. In that regard, you are what type of a reader?
Finally, Janet E. Gardener, an Associate Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, writes something sensible in her heroic book titled Reading and Writing about Literature: Reading becomes useful when readers focus on good reading skills. She begins with repetition or re-reading.
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For Nassim Nicholus Taleb put it aptly, “A good book gets better at the second reading, a great book at the third reading. No book is quite the same when you read it again.” Likewise, there is text-marking or highlighting. Then, text-annotation, which is writing insights on the margins. You can also engage in note-making, summarising what you have read. As well as make wise use of reference materials such as dictionaries and thesaurus.
By Victor Ochieng’
Victor Ochieng’ is an avid reader, speaker and trainer. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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