Here’s a secret…. that I am willing to share.

At some point, I hated reading.

I hated reading to the point that I couldn't even touch books. I would feel nauseated and extremely anxious when I touched a book and even looked at it. All these happened because reading was not for enjoyment but mere assignments. At that time, I no longer found reading to be something enjoyable but rather a dreadful experience.

“ I have to finish this book and write an analysis on it”.

That was how it was. I lazily did my assignment just because I had to.

But you know what, I learned nothing. My reading was not as efficient as before, when I only read for leisure and because I was curious. During the time I hated reading, all the reading was forced and it wasn’t voluntary. This is where I believe that learning happens when we voluntarily want to receive the information and are curious.

Fast forward, when I started distancing myself from academia and seeing books as just a piece of paper with ideas written on it, I started to love it again. I stayed away from classics and ventured on a journey reading popular literature.

Yes. I was an elitist to only read classics and only preach about classics. And at some point, I hated popular literature too.

But as I was on a journey trying to love reading again, the books that I find enjoyment the most aren’t the classics. In fact, I found most enjoyment and learning a lot from personal development books. Because well.. I was in a bad place and I found a bit of consolation after reading those books.

Only around two years ago, my reading life was restored. I read more than I used to, explored not only classics but also popular literature & more on personal development books.

Now, completely unrelated,

They say if you want to become a successful person, You have to read.

There may be some truth to it. With reading books, we will venture to a place we've never been before, meet people we probably wouldn’t meet in real life, and learn a lesson that we didn’t have to struggle just to learn that piece of lesson. And though I love reading, I wouldn’t consider myself a successful person. So you know, I really take those sayings with a grain of salt.

As my love of reading was restored, I purchased more books. In fact, I made a challenge this year to read 5 books a month. I did that in February and it is still going on. Even during my travels I managed to keep some PDFs and read them during my breaks. And below are some of the things that helped me find my way back into reading.

• Taking it easy; by that I mean I didn’t need to finish a book in a day. I simply read a book whenever I can and want.
• Choose a light read; It’s cool and fancy if you can read something heavy like the classic but what I did was choose some chick-lit over the classics. I also choose newer authors on personal developments than the older generation.
• Avoid perfection; by reading perfection I mean doing challenges and even having a certain preferred medium to read. I tell myself that it’s okay if I am taking the time even for a simple book and I am not in a competition with anyone to have read the most books. It’s also okay if I read it online instead of the paperback.
• Drop the book…; drop it when you don’t like it. Just leave it there. Instead of forcing myself to like the book, I just dropped it. If it’s not something enjoyable, doesn’t vibe with me, I dropped it right away.
• Stop being too critical; this used to be something I did. I stopped being too critical and too analytical when I read something. I would just enjoy it at face value and it becomes enjoyable.

Have you ever been in a situation where you stop finding enjoyment in reading?

Now moving on to my all time favorite books, we all have that book we keep reading over and over. Even if I keep saying Dan brown all the time, he now makes up a tiny bit of my favorite ever-growing list of books that I love.

If you haven’t checked out the books I recommend below, this could be something that you can try reading.

• The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
  That is the most haunting book I have ever read yet I find myself reading that a couple of times because it has valuable lessons.

• Tim Ferriss Books
  Everything by Tim Ferris is recommended. From 4 hours work week to tools of titans, they are great if you are into entrepreneurship and nomadic living.

• On The Road by Jack Kerouac
  Who doesn’t know Dean moriarty? If you like traveling and adventurous books with a setting of post WWII, this should be on your list.

• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
  I can not stop recommending this book to anyone I have met. Especially those people who feel lost in life and trying to find their soul and passion. That is the book that helped me through my darkest days and I hoped the same to those who manage to read that book.

• All Cal Newport’s books
  Just like Tim Ferris, Newport is your go-to source if you are into entrepreneurship. But if not, his book is applicable to any type of work that you do in your life. Even his digital minimalism is something I’d recommend to anyone. His background in Compsci is also a sufficient credential that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to technology.

Those are the books that I keep re-reading every year. There’s nothing wrong with re-reading books just like there’s nothing wrong with wearing the same shirts. And in my opinion, reading the same book amplifies the lesson that we get from it and makes it easier to remember.

_{ps: my mom agreed to be my model and it was a quick take. I think from now on, there's gonna be more of her 🤣}

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