Building a Reading Culture

Hi guys, welcome to my blog, again. 

Growing up, I wasn't much of a cartoon person, but while writing this post, a certain cartoon popped up. Weird, right? Well, it is what it is. 

Today, I'm writing about building a reading culture. And like building a real house, we'll learn how to build a reading culture.

For today, you may call me Bob the Builder 😊

You'd agree with me that the habit and culture of reading is gradually going extinct in our generation. This is because most millennials prefer to press phone. Don't get it wrong, pressing phone here does not include being engaged with virtual jobs or something more productive.

Many youths are married to their phones, always online and immersed in the latest gist or online trend. They make it even more interesting when the creatives among them create stickers and memes that spice up their online activity.

This in itself is fun as laughter has been proven to lower blood pressure, among other things. But the excess of anything is a vice. Oh yes, it is.

You remember the popular phrase "readers are leaders" right? How about we go back to reading? This time not for the sake of passing examinations but to gain knowledge. Since learning really never ends, reading shouldn't end either.

More important than reading is becoming a reader. While reading is just an event, being a reader is a habit, a culture. One we should all adopt. 

Since culture is the way of life of a group of people, wouldn't it be nice to inculcate reading into our culture? Reading can be a way of life if you want it to be. You simply need to cultivate the habit. Work on building a reading culture.

Now I know it isn't exactly easy, but believe me, it is loaded with lots of benefits. First, it increases your intelligence quotient as there's a book for everything. And I mean everything! It also makes you have better conversations as you'd know a broad range of subjects.

Even if you don't know everything about something, you'll know something about everything when you read often. You're free to read not just books. The goal is learning, actually. Not just reading. 

If you say hard copy books cost a lot and are stressful to carry around, there's the option of ebooks audiobooks, so you can still press phone, but this time more productively.

Apart from eliminating the stress of having to carry different books around, ebooks also make books readily available to you. As long as you're with your phone, you're with a book. Isn't that nice?

As much as being with your phone gives you access to different books, these books will not read themselves. They have to be read by someone, which is you, the owner of the phone!

Now, remember you are trying to develop a culture right? Take it easy, Rome wasn't built in a day. There's a process to everything, especially anything that would last. So what's the process of building a reading culture, you might be asking already.

First, see reading as important. It is an aspect of personal development you cannot ignore. There's an enormous wealth of knowledge in books. That's the foundation stage of this building we're talking about. 

Ask any architect, the foundation of any building is super important. Missing it at this level can cause a huge problem in the whole building, even after a long while. So treat the foundation as important, because it is. 

Then, deal with your mindset. Strip yourself off every label on your subconscious that opposes this. Stuffs like: 'I'm not a reading type', 'I hardly finish a book', 'I  don't like books', 'I don't have the time' and so on. Strip the labels. 

Understand that you can do whatever you set your mind to do. So set your mind on reading. This is like clearing the land before you begin building, a very important part. No one builds in a bush.

And of course, I know you know that before clearing the land and constructing  the foundation comes the architectural plan. No builder builds a house off the top of his head. Nah, there's always a blueprint for what they intend to build. 

As a reader, your blueprint is the knowledge gap you have. That should guide you in choosing the particular book to read.

Then go ahead and read. Read well, read often. When you realize something you didn't know or something that answers a question, pause and meditate. Underline, highlight, write it out in your journal, memorize it and just get it imprinted on your subconscious mind. 

Meditation aids retention and like Edmund Burke said: to read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Read, meditate, repeat.

This is like laying the blocks. And block by block, everything you read adds to your existing knowledge, increases your intelligence quotient and opens up a well of ideas and insights.

Having done that, you need to then create time to read consistently. Yes, it has to be intentional. Just like you create time to eat and tweet, create time to read. Infuse reading time into your daily routine. Whatever works for you and your schedule, just create the time. Start from a small amount of time and then increase it gradually.

This is like showing up at the building site. If there are building materials, a plan and a piece of land to build on, but the builder doesn't show up, will the building come to be? No. So show up to read.

And sometimes, you might need to cut down on other activities to create time for it. We all have 24 hours each, it's not going to increase for anyone, no matter the activities you have to do. You just need to carve out time from somewhere; maybe you'd begin to sleep later than usual or wake earlier than usual. Whatever, just look for ways to create time.

Then, create a structure around the reading habit you're trying to grow and keep to it. You can read one chapter daily, a few pages daily or read for a couple of minutes per day. Your culture, your rules. Just keep laying the blocks. 

Next, aim towards improving. Everyone can become better if they put in the work.

The key to doing that is consistency. Read consistently. The goal is to do it continuously till it becomes a part of you and sticks to your subconscious mind. Some days, you'd read less, other days more, but the goal is to show up every day.

This is like plastering the house. You won't just lay blocks and end the building project, will you?

 

Finally, have a reading tribe. Have people in your circle you can share book recommendations with and discuss lessons you learn. Friends that read together, stay together. This is my absolute favourite. There's nothing like having a tribe that understands your vibe. 

This is like having co-labourers work with you. Plumbers, carpenters, painters, electricians, etc all come together to work on a building. Get your co-labourers and y'all build the house.

Cheers to your building project. I hope the house stands and is not washed away by flood or whatever causes houses to collapse.

Ps: Recently, I completed one of the books on my August reading list. One of the following posts will be a review of it and you don't want to miss it. See you in the next post.

Love and light,

Nancita✨