Yes, reading won’t make you rich or successful. I’m an avid reader and I read every day, but I’m telling you that reading can’t make you successful.
If you think that reading can make you rich, make your goals come true, and achieve the success you have been dreaming about, I’m here to tell you to wake up.
The reason I’m saying so is that many people get it wrong by thinking that reading is the path to success.
Yes, reading MAY widen your perspective. And yes, reading can increase your knowledge and give you the specialized knowledge that you need. However, reading in itself is not going to help you reach your goals and dreams.
Reading success books or any other personal development books can make you feel hopeful, but if you are NOT doing anything with the new-found knowledge, nothing is going to happen.
A lot of people treated reading like a “shortcut” to reaching their goals and dreams. They read, they feel motivated, and the books give them “hope” again.
The problem is that your motivation will never last, you will be distracted by other things, and hope isn’t enough to bring you the results you want.
Don’t be mistaken to think that ACTION and MOTION are the same.
Reading is a form of motion, but it will NOT get you the results you want.
But when you execute and actually work on your goals, you are putting in real ACTION that will get you real results.
What you need is action, not motion.
Here are some reasons why books can’t make you successful…
Not all books are life-changing
You have to understand that not all books are life-changing. Some books, especially in these modern days, anyone can be a publisher and publish their own books. They don’t need to go through an agency to market and sell their books.
Meaning, there are a lot of authors (some even hire writers to write the book for them) publish their books because they wanted to build a profile.
Besides, many use their books as a source to collect more targeted leads. Their books are usually short and filled with very general content that you can find everywhere.
These are the type of books you should try to avoid buying and reading. Choose to read real books written by credible authors.
Not everyone reads and finish the books they bought
Besides the content of the book, most people who buy books don’t read them.
According to this article, as high as 63% of readers don’t finish the book the bought. More than half of the people who read, quit somewhere halfway.
If you fall into this category, it shows that reading may not be the contributing factor to achieve the success you desire.
Reading is just passive learning
Besides, reading is just a form of passive learning. You have to understand that reading itself is not real power. The real power lies in execution. Reading is just a form of potential power.
Yes, reading may change your perspective and even give you an edge over others who don’t read, but if you are not implementing the knowledge you have gained, nothing is going to change.
Hence, don’t get it wrong to think that reading can make your life better. Your life can only become better when you act on the information from the book.
Reading is just a form of potential power
You should know by now that reading in itself is not going to make you successful, it is what you do that truly counts.
If reading alone is responsible for your success, then all the students who scored A’s in their exams and professors in schools would be successful.
The truth is that reading is not enough. Like what Bruce Lee said:
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
You must execute if you want to produce the results you desire. And that leads me to the last reason why reading cannot make you successful…
Learn to acquire the absolute power – execution
As I mentioned, reading gives you the potential, but if you want real results, you must act.
Many people love to read, which I suggest they continue to do so, but at the same time, they must understand that reading only gives them hope.
It is the application of their knowledge and what they know that can make them successful.
Execution is true power, my friend.
So, should you read books every day?
The answer is yes, and no.
You should read every day and then apply the knowledge in your life and try to connect the ideas to your life.
Reading 200 books can’t make you successful if you don’t do anything about what you have read.
But if you read just one book and you apply its principle and information, it can create a huge positive impact on your life. You can be successful if you read just one book and apply its concept over and over again.
Therefore, it has nothing to do with how many books you read, but how much you have applied.
If you don’t apply what you have learned, nothing is going to change.
I strongly suggest you read my article and learn how to get the most out of reading:
10 Tips How to Get the Most Out of Reading a Book