A Plan to take over the World

I once heard a person say “The world belongs to those who read.”

 

Over the years, I have read hundreds of books.  I have read books on history, culture, theology, finance, business, bicycling, poker, Steve Jobs, Katniss Everdeen, and lots of other things.

Though I love and can get lost in a good fictional book, I spend a lot of my time reading books to grow and learn. I have grown more from reading than from any other exercise.   A commitment to reading has strengthened me as a leader, parent, husband, and coach. As much as I love reading it doesn’t always come naturally to me. So I have found that it is incredibly helpful to set a reading goal. I  do this annually.

For 2013, my goal is to read 10,000 pages.  I don’t mean reading each of the Twilight books seven times but reading to grow.

In order to accomplish this goal, I  have broken it down to 200 pages per week.  At an average book length of 300 pages, I will read thirty-something books this year.  It works for me.  Over the years, I have read hundreds and hundreds of books by reading 20 or 30 pages every day.

I usually read more than one book at a time because I like variety.  Right now I am reading The Barefoot Executive by Carrie Wilkerson, John Saddington’s Starter Kit on Blogging, Master Planning by Bob Biehl, and the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.

Though my system may not work exactly for you, my challenge to you is to set a reading goal and get started learning.  With reading, embrace the power of Incremental change. Daily reading will lead to increased knowledge and growth.

How can you get started?  Here are a few steps that I recommend:

1. Choose the next few books that you would like to read.
2. Set a goal for pages that you will read this year.
3. Set a weekly pages goal.
4. Keep a book with you so that you can read on your lunch break instead of playing Words with Friends or aimlessly wandering on Face Book.
5. Keep a record of what you have read. (I use an excel sheet)

What are you planning to read this year?  I’d love to hear your suggestions on what to read next!