Mastery: I've Read 107 Books In Two Years... Here's How

Issue No. 59 | February 12th, 2024 | Read Time: 3 Minutes

Anyone who knows me can safely say I'm a big reader.

On average, I aim to read at least one book every week. And surprisingly I've been able to keep that momentum for the last two years.

Before that, I wasn't so disciplined.

I started reading when I was 19 years old and for that first year, I maybe only read a handful of books.

But as the years passed, I found myself reading faster and retaining more of what I read.

All this takes years of daily reading, but that's the point I'm trying to get at.

Reading is a skill just like any other:

The more you read, the faster you're internal vocalization will go.

The more you take notes, the more you'll memorize.

But I'm not here to bore you on

why

you should read more, but more specifically on

how

you can read more.

Personally, I do three things:

1. Time-Blocking

2. Page Planning

3. Perspective Shift

Now I've never been a huge fan of time-blocking. But when it comes to reading, it's non-negotiable.

During my first few years of building the habit of reading, I found myself reading near midnight, before the gym, and even in bed. You name it, I tried it.

And it was mostly because I never had a set time to dedicate myself to sitting down every day and reading what was in front of me.

That was until about a year ago.

Now, I block out an hour every day around 9 AM which I solely spend reading. No phones. No scrolling. Just reading.

You'd be surprised at how much you can read in one hour with dedicated focus.

Now whenever I start a new book, I do a little page planning. In other words, I count the number of pages the book has and divide it by seven (days of the week).

From there, I'll take that number and write it down on an index card and use it as my bookmark for the week so that every time I open it up to read, I know what my goal is for the day.

If you don't have a daily page goal, you're more apt to read what you

want

, not what you

need

.

And that leads me to my final point.

I've always viewed reading as something I

need

to do, not something I

can

do. Because of this perspective shift, I haven't missed a day of reading in almost five years.

For me, there's no such thing as a rest day when it comes to reading.

And I believe that's the secret to making any habit successful. The sooner you can view it as do or die, the better you'll be at keeping up with it.

Because whenever you give yourself the choice of doing something, you're mind will typically go after the path of least resistance.

So to avoid it, you're just taking away that path altogether.

But there is one point that I failed to mention that I believe to be the most important...

Read what you love

.

As Naval Ravikant says, "Read what you love until you love to read."

Because the best habits are the ones you're passionate about.

Wouldn't you agree?

Until next time,

Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I'm Currently Reading -

Right now I'm in the middle of reading

The 12 Week Year

by Brian Moran, a book on how to get more done in 12 weeks than others do in 12 months.

• If you'd like to see my book notes pertaining to this book or any others I have previously read, then check out my websiteisaiahctaylor.comto view my entire library of notes and summaries.

Quote Of The Week

• "Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible."— Albert Einstein