Reading books with purposeful content, that we grow and learn from, are vital for progress.

How can we grow as a leader, in our faith, as a father/mother, husband/wife, business owner, executive, thinker, coach, speaker and personal financial strategist…?

There is incredible opportunity for learning how to improve our impact on the world from experts who have gone before us.  This should create a feeling that there’s very little time for books that are beyond the reality we are currently dealing with.

It’s not just about reading the right books. We could read all the right books and experience little impact on our lives.  In fact this is too often the case.

Test yourself.

Think of the last three books you read. What are the specific changes or impact they have had on any area of your life?  Get specific, you really want to know. I’m not talking about “The book got me thinking about an idea” That only counts if you implemented the idea.

Perhaps you need to go get the books and thumb through them to be reminded. That makes sense.  I encourage you to do this and really see where you’re at.

So where are you at?

I see two general approaches to reading with very different outcomes.

Let’s call them Good and Purposeful

Here is what Good reading looks like:  We are entertained, inspired and get engaged in thought about areas of our lives from the new ideas. However very little real change actually happens because of what we learned.

 Why do we get moved and inspired yet no change?

This comes from a lack being completely on purpose to change. A real intent as we approach reading the book to get what you need and an agreement with ourselves that we will immediately take action on it.

What if every time we read a book it truly created positive change in an area of our life.  Then if you read 10, 20, 40 books a year you can see the magnitude of impact this will have.  You can literally become a specialist in something several times a year if you really wanted to.  This isn’t about speed reading at all.  This is about purposeful reading.

This is called Purposeful reading.

Reading with purpose is more aggressive. Not necessarily fast, it’s about being diligent in discovering the most important qoutes, ideas, stories, and information that you feel will impact you or others around you. Not just to read them but to capture them forever.

Whether digital or paper, you capture by highlighting, writing notes and immediately sharing and implementing the new concepts to permanently cement them into our minds.

A huge growth opportunity comes from writing your thoughts. Add them to the authors on the book or in a journal.  The authors thoughts will stimulate the genius brain to come out in you.

Never put the author on a pedestal as it will stifle this from happening. They are just a person further ahead in their discipline then you are.  You will come up with greatness if you believe it, if you want to and get serious about doing real thinking.

A flow of new thinking, ideas and problem solving will come out of you.  It’s a revolutionary experience!

Purposeful reading serves you forever with a library of great books that you upgraded with your scribbles, your thoughts, your DNA. It will be there for generations to experience. After reading a book diligently we can simply thumb through it anytime we need the most useful ideas, concepts and qoutes.

As you walk by your books you will think of all the mentors that came at the right time to further progress and the nuggets that were catalysts for new change.

Dig in and practice purposeful reading.  It will further stimulate higher levels of thinking, expose set thinking and our leadership gaps.  Never waste time participating in Good reading.

That’s what the majority do, you are not meant to have good progress and impact are you?  You are meant to have a significant impact and progress.