You still can read a Book….

We make New Year’s resolutions every year very enthusiastically at the beginning of the year.

But, eventually, it takes only a week or 10 days to dump those resolutions for most of us.

Next year we again start them and maybe only to drop them again.

But if you are seriously thinking of taking up at least one resolution this year, then I guess reviving your reading habit could be one worth taking up.

It is estimated that CEOs read approximately 50 to 60 books on an average a year and other people, in general, read only one.

CEOs know the importance of staying ahead of the curve. :)-

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Joseph Addison.

Nobody has to emphasize more keeping our body healthy.

We eat food so that body gets energy and nutrition.

We cleanse our bodies every day.

But, we rarely supply nutrition to our mind consciously.

Primetime TV, Morning Newspaper, and Whatsapp University can’t substitute the deep insights and the pleasure that our minds can derive from an engaged reading.

But increasingly reading is becoming difficult for people.

Our brains are nowadays continuously stimulated, thanks to smartphones, social media, and a barrage of apps.

On average, people check their mobile phones almost 95 to 100 times a day, that means on average every 10 to 15 minutes.

Our attention is in big jeopardy.

So, people can not read for long; they need byte size reading.

And it has to be convenient and available easily.

People will not take extra effort to pick up a book from the shelf and read quietly in one corner.

When I was a student, I did not have enough money to buy books apart from textbooks.

Whenever I could, I used to buy books (primarily Fiction) that had more pages to read them longer.

Today it is reversed; books are typically 250 to 300 pages.

Nobody wants to buy a big book.

I have been thinking of buying “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth (1349 Pages) many times, but I haven’t mustered the courage because I know I will not be able to finish.

I already have 15 unfinished titles on the shelf.

I think the audiobook is a good solution for people who have issues with reading a hard copy.

It takes a little lesser effort; you can listen to audiobooks whenever you are on a treadmill, walk, or doing daily domestic chores.

A 300-page paperback could be 5 to 6 hours long, which can be finished maybe in a week.

Thus you can also finish 52 books in a year like a CEO :)-

My rate of completion of the audiobooks is definitely better compared to paperbacks.

I personally feel that it is a practical solution; you need not set aside time for this.

People who have a long commute hour can utilize the time listening to the book.

The only difficulty to make a note if you feel so.

When you are into something and listening, you may not be able to use your notepad and write.

I send self-text to make a note.

You can make a voice recording as well.

I find Amazon Audible quite good, and the list of contemporary books is quite comprehensive.

There are free apps as well; however, getting a new title there is difficult.

If you are a classic lover, then there are many free audiobooks available on the internet.

Nowadays there are Apps which provide you excerpts and summary of books, all encapsulated.

Two such Apps are Blinkist and MentorBox.

If you can not relate to yourself as someone sitting quietly and reading a book, you can definitely try an audiobook.

Bill Gates takes a solo Think Weeks break, where he spends time only with himself and reading.

Maybe you cut down your time listening to music and radios on the headphones and instead listen to an audiobook.

That trade-off you have to make.

So, you still can read a book…