Prior to the last three years of my life, I can easily count the total number of books I read for pleasure by counting the extremities of my body. It would be lower than that, lower than the total number of fingers on my clumsy left hand, if I didn’t have any fingers.
In my tiny little head, I forged this stupid idea that reading was not for everybody and definitely not for me. I have a pair of competent brown eyes so why on f*cking earth shouldn’t I be able to read? There are disabled people out there who would give away a hand to be able to read the way I do. Luis, can you please come up with a better excuse?
Of course I can. We humans are the best at inventing the most creative excuses to justify our flaws. When I think of the reasons why I was not reading, I always come to the conclusion that I lacked interest in using text as a medium of education or entertainment. I am more of a visual person, I prefer watching and doing stuff.
However, during a life redesign process I was going through (if you dare, read my story), I scrutinized every little thing I was doing with my time, especially taking a thorough look at my unhealthy habits. Being aware that the medicine to cure stupid excuses is something called action, I was determined to make changes to improve the way my life was going.
One of those changes was to begin the journey of making reading a habit. My reason was twofold. First, I wanted to invest my limited time on earth in something more productive than watching YouTube’s most fun compilation videos from 2017, aka replace non-productive habits. Second, I wanted to educate myself to become smarter.
If I managed to pull this off, I was going to create a better version of me in line with the changes I was aiming to achieve. I would be able to learn new juicy knowledge, to invest my time productively in my plans. One of them was to create a website where I could write about anything I liked. Guess what I am doing right now?
As you can tell by now, reading can be a matter of habit. Being aware there is a science behind habits and how they are created and/or replaced, I knew I needed to use a smart approach as it is easy for me to feel bored after starting something new that I’m not very good at.
After experimenting and failing many times I came up with the RWWR strategy. I will endeavor to explain what this is about in the following paragraphs.
The RWWR Strategy
So finally, we get through this long, boring story to actually learn the strategy that can dictate how to create a reading habit. At least it’s how I built mine. It worked for me, maybe it can work for you.
First of all, do not Google this. I came up with this silly name as an acronym for the pillars of creating a healthy reading habit based on my personal failures. It consists of defining and planning a reading routine according to the following criteria:
- R: The reason why you want to read.
- W: What content you should read.
- W: When you should read.
- R: Reward as gratification for reading.
Our mission is to understand that every single variable in this equation is fundamental to stay engaged with the new habit. Maybe you are also like me, starting to read from scratch, or you want a steady reading frequency. Although I showcase my examples, it is totally valid to tweak this to better adapt to your own lifestyle.
Reason
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Friedrich Nietzsche
The epicenter of the creation of this approach to create a reading habit. No matter how, you have to find one or several strong reasons why to do this. Don’t fall into my same mistakes, it can not just be a whim, if so you will likely lose interest. The more emotional your goal is, the better. It will keep you hooked and motivated.
Your reason to start reading more can be different than mine. If you don’t have one, you can borrow one of these, (alright maybe two), but don’t be greedy and grab more than that:
- I want to be smarter.
- I want to replace an unhealthy habit.
- I want to boost my memory skills.
- I want to expand my vocabulary.
- I want to read faster.
- I want to increase my focus skills.
There you go; once you have set up your mind about why you want to read, stick to the reasons. If you ever feel discouraged by the reading routine, think of your goals.
What to read
Content is a cornerstone of this process. The content needs to connect to something that keeps you motivated and in a constant state of desire. Let us think a little bit about that thing we feel that makes us want to eat, to have sex, to poop twice a day. The connection we are looking for is pleasure.
You have to read something that gives you pleasure, a topic related to your likes, wants, and desires. If there is no pleasure in the content that you are reading there is no value in doing any of this, period. It is like cooking without salt; your food won’t have any flavor and will be distasteful, unpleasant, and pointless.
This was my first failure point. I was trying to read books that didn’t convey my character just because other people suggested them. When I decided to read something in line with my interests I picked up a copy of a User Experience Design book.
That was a pivotal moment. I started feeling pleasure from what I was reading. It didn’t feel like an obligation but an advantage to be learning something on my own that was very useful in my work.
Usually, books that contain topics that you like will end up adding value to your spectrum of knowledge. Do not feel surprised if your interests start to jump among very different fields of expertise. Just keep in mind that as long as you like the topic, you are spending more time reading, which is the goal of this exercise. Eventually, if you frequently read about what you like, you will end up loving to read. Again, it’s all about pleasure.
When to read
The best moment to read is whenever you feel the mood. But what if there is no cue or mood that triggers our desire to read? This is when a tough friend of habit comes into play: discipline.
In this context, let us call discipline to the conscious decision of allocating time to achieve your goal. I like to translate this as loving yourself. If you love yourself good enough you will prioritize as high or urgent that little thing (reading) you need to do to improve yourself.
When making reading a priority you must find a time slot to enjoy freedom of space and calmness. Basically, a moment when you are free of interruptions.
In my case, I read first thing in the morning after finishing my meditation session and breakfast. I prefer doing things that help me grow first thing in the morning. After that, I focus on my daily duties.
There is an underlying connection between finding the best time to read and reading longer and more often. I suggest not falling into the temptation of assigning large amounts of hours to reading when you start from scratch. It can be tiresome, and that is something to be avoided at all costs.
As ridiculous as it may sound, I started small – really small. I wanted to read at least five minutes a day. Five minutes of reading a good book are worth way more than zero fingers on my clumsy left hand. Eventually, the interest in the topic made me focus on creating long-lasting sessions of reading, up to one hour straight nowadays.
Reward
Once I had my reasons, my first exciting book to read and assigned a time slot for reading, it was time to execute. Keeping in mind what science says about the gratification piece in the formation of habits, I didn’t want to leave this to chance. Despite feeling pleasure in reading about the topic I chose, I wanted to add an extra gratification reward as part of the process to back palm my efforts.
I designed some good boy treats for myself that I discipline-executed after reading.
- Mantra: Today, I know a little bit more than yesterday; life is good.
- Good boy cookie: I ate a protein snack after reading.
- Tracking mark: In my journal, I keep track of the days when I read. Tickling that checkmark ✔️after reading feels better than the good boy cookie.
- Bad boy punishment: if I didn’t read in the morning I wasn’t allowed to go train my CrossFit workout session, a big deal for me.
Unleashing Mental Superpowers
Getting to read thirty books last year was a slow process, it wasn’t a one day change kind of thing. Although it is not a crazy huge number, it is a big deal to me as I didn’t even read the back cover of a book previously.
This experience has taught me two important lessons that I treasure. First, reading is a skill that can become a superpower. Reading is the most effective method to break mental prison bars about how the world works. I have explored topics I never thought I was capable of or interested in.
When knowledge is combined with experimentation, your way of thinking changes in a fashion that boosts your brain’s capabilities. It feels like unlocking the gates of mental superpowers I didn’t know existed. They were already there, I wasn’t making any use of them.
Second, instant gratification is overrated. The more I focus on the process rather than the result, I end up having more satisfaction when I see a minimal amount of progress.
This is, by far, the achievement I’m most proud of accomplishing in my entire existence – creating the healthy habit of reading from scratch. The fact that you can educate yourself on any topic you want is a freedom we should be grateful for.
Think of ancient knowledge traditions that forced people to follow specific professions to fit society’s needs. We are lucky to live in a world where you can decide what to learn according to your natural inclinations, in my humble opinion a path to happiness we tend to ignore.
I wish I could have started earlier. The more I learn, the more I realize I know nothing. That would definitely be the best single piece of advice I would give to anyone trying to become a better version of herself.
As Naval Ravikant puts it (something like that):
Cultivate the pleasure of reading. Read about what gives you pleasure until you feel pleasure about reading.