What's the secret to thinking like a CEO? Try reading 100 books a year - like Jessica Mah does, the co-founder of InDinero.
Nearly every business giant - Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, for a few - have said the same thing: If you want to be successful, read more.
But how can you do it when you're so busy? Most of us would love to curl up on the couch and read a book while daintily sipping tea on a rainy day - the way some people would describe as the perfect opportunity to read.
Let's be a little more realistic. According to author Darius Foroux, reading 100 books in a year will be a slice of pie with these three tips.
1. Purchase and Organize your Books in Advance
Don't go rummaging for a suitable business book when your long-lost free time finally finds you again. Least you know it, the time you search for a book will devour the extra free time, and at the end of it all, you'll be left with a well-known book in your hand and no time to read it.
Having an inventory of prepped and ready-to-read books help keep up the momentum - and you won't have an excuse to get away from reading.
2. Always Make an Effort to Read
Could this be any more obvious? You're not going to find an unscheduled hour to finish that paperback novel miraculously - instead, you're going to make conscious choices that will help you towards your reading goal.
Make the most of your time - but how? Well, let's start with a realistic example. Combined over the day, you can have over two hours of book-reading time - late at night when you aren't tired but want to do something that involves staying in bed, in the morning when you're finishing up your breakfast early and waiting for the bus, or even at lunch.
That makes up quite a bit of time - it would be a good idea to finish your novel then.
3. Read What You Like
Prefer fiction better than non-fiction? Don't force yourself to read books you aren't interested in at the moment. It will bore you to death and leave you on a no-book strike because frankly, you aren't interested in it.
Not all books are for everyone. Just remember one thing - try to read everything. Maybe you'll find out you like it; perhaps you won't. Life is too short not to try everything.
