The Best Way You Can Start Changing The World

When I look back on my childhood I think of myself as someone that hated to read, until I was in 9th grade that is and a teacher introduced me to Michael Crichton. I could get engrossed in one of his novels and read them straight through in a day. But really what I hated about reading was reading things that didn't interest me. If a book is about a topic that interests me, or is an engaging story that pulls me in, I love to read. Flash forward to my adult life and I have maintained a healthy desire to read and according to my wife an unhealthy habit of bringing books into our house. Reading continues to inspire me, I read business books to inspire me to be a better leader in my work place, theology books that inspire me to be a better human being and books that take me into an entirely separate worlds like The Lord of the Rings.

It is frightening when you see the amount of time that people on average spend in front of a screen playing games, watching TV or surfing social media. We live in a society where people complain and argue on any topic but very few take the time to research and learn about the other side, let alone understand the facts about their own side. I'm not saying that the inventions of this century don't have value, I'm saying there is a balance and to begin making the changes in the world I think we all actually want to see, we need to start by changing ourselves and teaching the next generations that education, learning and reading are things that should last your entire life.

I will challenge each of you as I have challenged myself this year and my kids. Set a goal to read every day. A 200 page book can be read in 20 days simply by reading 10 pages a day. For most books that is probably 10-15 minutes per day.

If you are looking for good books on leadership and business check out my Mini-MBA reading list.


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