Well said Mick. As Jim Rohn said “All Leaders Are Readers”.

The first thing I do every morning at 5am is read for a hour a book which will inspire me and provide grow / personal development. Mornings are very powerful because our minds are clear after a restful sleep. It’s a great way to tap into this wonderful & peaceful time and soak up new knowledge like a sponge!

Ernest

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Thanks Mick for highlighting this topic.
It’s often a convenient excuse to say we don’t have time to read, when in fact we may not have made time to have time. If reading is seen as a priority and we take the opportunity to think, pause, reflect or just enjoying the moment the quality of our conversations and communications will be richer and more rewarding.

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I’ve been dabbling with the idea of creating an Anthill Book Club for years. However, we’d need a distribution partner, like Borders, to actually mail the books for us (packing and sending books from our office would not be a sensible move). Plus, a partner of that size could ensure discount book for our members.

Any suggestions?

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Gina Lofaro aka the wordmistress Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

Hi James, have you considered Fishpond? Take a look at http://www.fishpond.com.au. They’re kind of the “Aussie Amazon” and they have a brilliant affiliate programme. You could potentially create your own store on the Anthill site and offer particular books which are then purchased via Fishpond, and you make a percentage of the sale. They handle all the physical infrastructure. Could be the answer you’re looking for.

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James Tuckerman Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 8:04 pm

Great idea! I’ll check it out!

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Spot on Mick. I always take time to do this every day and it makes such a huge difference. I also recommend taking time to read something that’s in a completely different field to your work. It’s interesting what a different perspective can provide; avoid that silo!

@Ernest 5am?! Sheesh! That’s keen!

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Maybe reading in the morning is worth a thought. I read at night but most of the business books etc fire up my brain and I end up trying to change the world in my head for the next 3 hours! Read my first fictional book for 15 years in an attempt to solve that.

It was enjoyable but i’m back onto non-fiction, why escape from reality with fiction when you can read non-fiction and engineer a real escape!!!

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Your committment to reading entire books sounds good on the surface, but misses the point of book summary services. How many books can you read in a year? Maybe 24 (2 a month). But there are hundreds of top business books being published each year that you’re going to miss while you plod along over coffee.

The benefit of summaries is that you can cover a lot more books, and then focus your full reading time on just those that will really make a difference to your business and career. You need the combination of both summaries and books to really keep up.

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You know Mick, it simply doesn’t occur to people to wake up an hour earlier to grab an extra hour of productive time in the day. Thanks for the reminder – or wake-up call!! I would not mind at all, traipsing to my local coffee shop for a hit, and frankly, the reading would be a welcome start to the day.

Simon, I’m with you on the reading at night thing. I’m the same. I read mostly non-fiction and yes, then lie awake thinking of what I can do with the information I just drip-fed into my brain!

Mick, your idea may not be world-changing but goshdarnit, I’m going to give it a try Monday morning!

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I agree, Mick

The key point (in my view) is that long-form reading is what’s required “to actually change the way you think.” (recall earlier discussions about whether Google is making us dumber).

We certainly need to upgrade our thinking to achieve our vision, in the years ahead.

I would go a step further and note that it tends to be only when required to explain the concepts in the book to others that the messages really sink in.

We tried verbal book reviews for a while, but that only got us part-way.

Hence we have been posting book reviews online:
http://blog.global-roam.com/index.php/category/life-longlearning/book-review/

As you can tell from the blog, I find these written reviews useful as easy points of reference – again, and again…

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