Here’s Why Successful People Read Books
Do you want to know what ultra-successful people have in common? It’s not just successful businesses and careers, they are also avid readers. In this article, blogger Shivali Singla shares why the world’s most successful people read.
Reading is a way to discover new things. It also helps us develop a positive self-image. The ability to read is an important skill in being able to function in today’s society. Reading is very important because it helps us expand our minds and improve our imagination. So, today I am going to be talking about why successful people read books.
People who know how to read can educate themselves and others in any area of life they see fit. People who don’t know how to read or are poor readers often seem to have a poor self-esteem. They sometimes feel isolated, ignored, and have behavioral problems. As we live in an age that has information in abundance, reading is the only way to become and remain informed.
Do you want to know what ultra-successful people usually have in common? They read. A lot. Here are a few of today’s most successful people and what they have to say about reading and its importance in one’s life.
Warren Buffett
In an interview, Warren Buffett was once asked about his key to success. He pointed to a stack of books nearby and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest”. Buffett takes this habit to the extreme. He reads between 600 and 1,000 pages per day when he was beginning his investing career and still devotes about 80 percent of the day to reading.
Mark Zuckerberg
He made a resolution to read a book every 2 weeks.
Bill Gates
He said he reads 50 books every year, which comes down to 1 book per week.
Elon Musk
He is a voracious reader and when asked how he learned to build rockets, he replied: “I read books.”
Oprah Winfrey
She selects one favorite book every month for her book club members. She reads and discusses it with them.
Read Daily
As an avid reader, I have experienced the change that happens when you read—be it a book, newspaper, blog, or an online article. Reading takes you to another world and once you enter that world, you will never want to leave it and hence, you won’t stop reading. It also has an effect on your life and your thoughts.
If reading as a pathway to success isn’t enough to get you motivated, consider these health benefits of reading: it prevents stress, depression, and dementia while improving one’s confidence, empathy, decision-making, and overall life satisfaction.
There is a genre for everyone. So whether your taste lies in classics, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, young adult books, self-help, or romance novels, there is something for each one of you. The first thing you need to do is to grab a book and enrich your knowledge, curiosity, and imagination. Step away from the computer, open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.
So guys grab a book, a newspaper, a cutout, and start reading. Happy reading, everyone!
The original article was first published in Shivali Singla’s blog.
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5 READING HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE
Success, it’s something we all strive for in some form or fashion, but what is it? What is success? There are multiple definitions these days. However, there seems to be just one common thread that most people do agree on about success. And that is this, that success is a biproduct of persisting in the face of failure. So, that is what we hope to share with you on this page, inspirational success stories that clearly reveal the road commonly travelled by people who have achieved staggering success.
Our purpose in sharing these success stories is that they may encourage you to keep striving towards your dreams, and keep you believing that achieving the “impossible” is actually possible.
With that being said, here are the top success stories to inspire you to succeed in the face of failure, setbacks, and obstacles. If you are ready to be inspired, let’s dive in.
INSPIRING SUCCESS STORIES TO HELP YOU SUCCEED
1. Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone has one of the most inspiring success stories. Before he made it big, he was essentially a starving artist. For many years after during and after his college years, he worked odd jobs to pay the bill while simultaneously taking on any acting roles he could find to keep his dreams of becoming a successful actor alive.
It was a struggle that Sylvester would endure for many years, seven in fact. Throughout all of those seven challenging years, Sylvester would gain a few small roles in a handful of movies, but nothing grand enough to get his career launched.
During those seven long years of striving, he came face-to-face with near poverty. Getting so desperate for money he at one point had to sell his wife’s jewelry out of desperation for money. He even had to sell his dog because he couldn’t keep him fed. And to top it all off, there came a point where Sylvester was homeless, and had to sleep outside for a number of days.
But, his days of struggle as an aspiring actor would not last forever. After facing seemingly insurmountable odds for over seven years, he would finally get his big break. And this break would come after he managed to get a script he wrote in a three day flurry of inspiration, in front of two big-shot directors in Hollywood.
It was this defining moment that would turn the tides for Sylvester Stallone, and his career would skyrocket after he negotiated the lead role in the film that would come to be known as ‘Rocky’.
Success eventually comes to those who always dream of her. For a more complete account of Sylvester Stallone’s inspiring success story, you can find it here.
2. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey’s success story is very unique. From a very early age she experienced a level of adversity and poverty that most people would struggle to overcome. She was born into poverty and a broken home in rural Mississippi. Her parents who were just 18 and 19 when they had her, split soon after she was born, so she ended up being taking in by her grand mother.
And her grandmother was not your typical warm and fuzzy grandmother. No, she was a hard-nosed grandmother who was an extreme disciplinarian who discipline her for even the slightest offenses. But, the poverty and disciplined lifestyle didn’t last forever as she moved back with mother at the age of six.
Oprah would then experience sexual assault at an early age, having been molested as early as 9 by some of her family members. And having been emotionally abandoned, abused, and molested, she eventually started part-taking in extremely risky behaviors which led to her becoming pregnant at the age of 14.
Because she got pregnant her mother kicked her out of the house, and she went to live with her father, only to go on to lose the baby a week after he was born.
Needless to say, Oprah’s early life was chockfull of struggle, adversity, and tragedy. But, regardless of all of her unfortunate experiences, she decided to turn her life around after she lost her baby. So, she committed herself to getting an education, becoming her best, and to going after her dreams.
She decided to start trusting herself again, and loving herself, and making choices that would improve her life versus destroy it. One day, she garnered enough confidence to participate in a beauty pageant. And it was her participation in this pageant that would eventually lead her into a job working for a radio station doing the news. Her love for speaking to an audience set the stage for continued success as she would go on to become a news anchor, which she would eventually leverage to host a TV chat show in Maryland, which ultimately led to her having her morning talk show in Chicago.
And as they say, the rest was history. Oprah overcame massive challenges in her youth. Challenges that side line all too many people. She chose to turn her wounds into wisdom, and went on to become one of the most successful talk show hosts in history (by helping many others do the same) with her own self-named talk show, The Oprah Winfrey show. And now she is considered one of the richest self-made women in America.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Considering Arnold Schwarzenegger is the epitome of the self-made man, we wouldn’t dare exclude him from our success stories collection. Having been born and raised in Austria, at a time where it was still healing from it’s defeat in World War II, the odds were already stacked against him.
Arnold grew up in a climate where alcoholism was rampant, where defeatism was the norm, and big dreaming was laughed at.
But Arnold didn’t care. He knew he didn’t want to live the traditional Austrian life his parents wanted for him, and he knew he wanted to move to America, the land of the free.
As such, he hatched a plan to become a success in body-building, and then use that success to get into movies. And sure enough he did just that. He went on to fulfill his vision by becoming the youngest man to ever win a Mr. Universe competition, and then on to win five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles.
After reaching what he set out to do in the sport of bodybuilding, he then went on to commit himself to the acting career he had always dreamed of. And sure enough, he would go on to conquer the film industry to the same degree that he conquered the body building world. Going on to star in multiple blockbuster movies that would gross over $3 billion, and earn him one of the most sizeable net worth’s in Hollywood.
You can find a more complete account of Arnold’s inspiring success story here.
4. JK Rowling
J.K Rowling had a dream of becoming a writer early on. But, she would have to persist for many years before her dream of becoming a published author would materialize. Almost as soon as she decided to get to work on putting her ideas down on paper for her book, she would be sidetracked by her mother’s death.
The depression that would ensue left Rowling seeking out a job as a teacher in another country. Soon after, she would get married and have a child, which would delay her aspirations even further.
But things weren’t done going off the rails for Rowling, as her marriage would abruptly end just one year after it began, leading her to be jobless with a child, and a barely surviving off of unemployment benefits.
However, despite her challenges, Rowling would persist in the creation of her book. And she did so by seizing every spare moment she could while her child slept to write. Until finally the day came when she completed her manuscript.
Of course, even after Rowling finished her manuscript obstacles still remained. 12 different publishers would reject her novel, and she found herself almost ready to quit before her manuscript would eventually get accepted. And it was at that moment, that J.K. Rowling’s luck turned around.
Now, J.K. Rowling is now one of the best selling authors of all time. In fact, she is the highest paid novelist in the world, with her books having been translated into over 80 different languages with over 500 million being sold. Clearly, persistence and patience pays off in the long run.
5. Steven Spielberg
Most people don’t know this, but Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times. But he didn’t let those rejections stop him, and he kept applying till he got accepted. Eventually Cal State, Long Beach would accept him into their film program.
Fortunately for Spielberg, he would then go on to leverage his opportunity at Cal State to land an unpaid internship at Universal Studios.
Of course, this internship wouldn’t last forever, but it lasted just long enough for him to learn how sneak in to the studios undetected so he could continually gather intel on what it would take to become successful in the business.
Finally, the day would come that he managed to get a film he created in the hands of film executives. But, he had to first overcome the film executives multiple attempts to make him give up.
After being told that the film size was not the right size multiple times, and remaking the entire demo to the recommended sizes every time, the executives finally relented and gave him his film a shot. The movie would go on to win major awards, and solidified Steven Spielberg’s place within the industry.
Steven Spielberg is now one of the most influential film makers in history and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. And out of all of our inspirational stories of success, his story in particular, shows, that if you knock long enough and hard enough, the doors of opportunity will eventually swing open for you.
Related: 5 Steps to Start Living Your Dreams
6. Mary Kay Ash
Mary Kay Ash has a truly inspiring success story. Mary Kay Ash was born in a small l town in Texas and got married and started a family at an extremely young age of 17. She went on to have three children with her husband who was in the military, but they eventually got a divorce.
Mary Kay would struggle for years to take care of her children on her own, taking various sales jobs in the direct selling industry, and striving to climb the corporate ranks. However, after many years of selling various products, along with a few middle management and trainer roles, she started to feel like she was being overlooked for the more prominent leadership roles she aspired to because she was a woman. As such, she eventually decided to take matters into her own hands.
Once her kids were out of the house and on their own, At the age of 45 Mary Kay Ash decided to become her own boss and start her own cosmetic company. She started off very small, but in just a few short years, she manage to transform Mary Kay Cosmetics into a multi-billion dollar corporation that still serves and empowers people all over the world to this day.
Despite being past what most people consider their prime, Mary Kay went on to author multiple best-selling books like The Mary Kay Way, Miracles Happen, You Can Have It All, as well as a few others, and she became an inspiration to countless women. And due to the success of her business and her aim to inspire as many people as possible, she became a multi-millionaire and eventually named as ‘The Greatest Woman In American History’.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo grew up in a household that was barely getting by. As a child, he had to share a room with three of his siblings due to their meager financial situation. There were even times where they didn’t have enough money to buy a soccer ball just so he could play in the streets. But Ronaldo did not let his environment dictate his destiny.
No, instead he would find ways to play the sport he loved even without the ball. He would use bottles, rags, or pretty much anything he could find to make a makeshift ball just so he could play.
Eventually, Cristiano would get so good at soccer, that he would have to make the ultimate sacrifice at the age of 11 to move over 500 miles away from his family to train with a prestigious soccer academy. It’s a good thing he did too, because by doing so, he put himself on track to eventually become on of the best players in history.
Now Cristiano Ronaldo is known as the greatest Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football federation. He is also considered by millions of soccer fans all across the globe to be the greatest of all time.
In addition to this, he is the first soccer player ever to earn over $1 billion dollars, while generating one of the largest net worth’s among professional athletes.
If you’re looking to learn more about Cristiano’s inspiring success story, you’ll love this.
8. Lionel Messi
Since we are on the topic of soccer, we might as well mention Lionel Messi’s success story because it’s is every bit as inspiring. Here’s why, at age of 11, Messi was cut from his soccer team because they thought he was too small to play. And he was small, but it was because he had a growth hormone deficiency which made him a lot smaller than all the other kids his age.
Fortunately, Messi didn’t let this deter him. Instead, he would place himself on a strict regimen where he would inject growth hormones into himself. And he would go on to do inject himself with this hormone for seven days in one leg, and then seven days in the other.
Messi would keep this routine up for six years.
The great news is, Messi’s sacrifice and persistence paid off. Because now, he is one of the highest paid soccer players with a staggering net worth, and is considered by legions of fans to be one of the best soccer players of all time due to his winning soccer’s highest achievement, ‘The Ballon d’Or’ six times.
Success requires sacrifice.
9. Michael Jordan
Since we mentioned the greatest of all time in soccer, we can’t leave out the man many consider to be the greatest of all time in basket ball. Now, most people aren’t’ aware of this, but when Michael Jordan was merely a sophomore in high school, he already had big dreams of being a great basketball player.
So he did something brash and tried out for the Varsity team. But, things didn’t go his way and he got himself cut from the team.
This rejection hit Jordan especially hard because of his oversized dreams and expectations. In fact, the rejection hit him so hard he went home afterwards and cried in his closet.
Even though that rejection still bothered Jordan, he dusted himself off and went all in for the JV team. He trained like no other in the off season and grew four extra inches. And the following year he tried out for the varsity team again. But this second time around, he made it.
Not only did he make it, but he went on to become the team’s MVP, making the All-American Team, and eventually earned himself a college scholarship. And from there, well, you know the rest of the story.
He went on to become the man who would score 32,292 points in a basketball career, acquire 6 NBA championships, collect 5 MVP titles, and come to be considered as the greatest basketball player of all time.
For all the success stories we’ve covered, this one clearly shows the importance of having great expectations, and resilience after rejection.
10. Paulo Coelho
Over 30 years ago a book titled ‘The Alchemist’ was published and hardly anyone noticed. The author of this book was a man named Paulo Coelho, and he was told by the first bookseller to carry his book, that only one person bought a copy after it was released. As bad as it was to hear about the grim results Coelho remained confident in his work.
He waited for better results to appear, but they were slow to come by as six months would pass before the next copy would be sold. Oddly, the person who bought his first book was the same person who bought the second.
After that first year the publisher decided that the book was a flop and ended Coelho’s contract. Fortunately, though, Coelho shrugged off that initial defeat. He made up his mind to not give in, and so he doubled down to pursue his vision with even more fervor by finding another publisher.
Now finding this new publisher was no easy task, as he was met with rejection after rejection. But, he finally did land that new publisher, and with it, another opportunity capture his dream.
From that point forward Coelho’s dreams started to come true. At first, he only sold three thousand books. But the sales kept trickling in, as he then sold ten thousand, and then 100 thousand, and on and on.
Coelho’s luck has yet to run out, as his books sales continue to grow year over year, with now over 150 million and counting copies of ‘The Alchemist’ having been sold. Even more staggering is the fact that he sold over 320 million books when counting all of his works.
Paulo Coelho’s story shows that if you truly want something bad enough, all the universe really will conspire to help you make that dream happen.
Related: Success Quotes for Overcoming Failure
11. Abraham Lincoln
Most of us know of this great man because of what he did for our country. The Emancipation Proclamation which led to the abolition of slavery was a massive accomplishment.
But, what most don’t realized about Abraham Lincoln, is that he has one of the most impressive rap sheets when it comes to overcoming defeat.
In short, his success story consists of a list of failures and set backs so sizable, that you would hardly think it belonged to one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America.
Here’s a great example of the many failures Lincoln endured, with a few victories he managed to sprinkle in over his lifetime:
1832: Lost his job
1832: Defeated for legislature
1833: Failed in business
1834: Elected to legislature
1835: The woman he loved died
1836: Had a nervous breakdown
1838: Defeated for Speaker
1843: Defeated for nomination for Congress
1848: Lost re-nomination
1849: Reject for Land Officer
1854: Defeated for Senate
1856: Defeated for nomination for Vice-President
1858: Again defeated for Senate
1860: Elected for President of The United States of America
To be sure, Lincoln failed his way to success, and his recorded failures helps us realize the truth behind the Michael Jordan quote we mentioned earlier, and that is…that the key to success is through failure.
12. Tom Brady
One of our favorite inspirational stories of success comes from Tom Brady. Brady didn’t follow the typical athletic path into the NFL. While most athletes begin getting groomed for the sport by the 3rd grade, Tom Brady wouldn’t set foot onto the grid iron until the 9th grade.
In fact, his debut into actually getting onto the football field didn’t come until his Sophomore year when the starting quarterback for the JV team quit. Fortunately for Brady, that opportunity helped him capture the starting Varsity QB role by the time his Junior year arrived.
After finding success at the high school level, Brady would eventually go on to become a Michigan Wolverine. But success wasn’t a given for Brady at this level. Nope, he had to earn it.
In fact, Brady came into the program as an underdog, with seven other quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart. After almost requesting a transfer to another school, Brady’s determination would eventually win him the coveted starting position by the time he was a Junior.
The obstacles Brady would face continued on even into the Pros. Brady had his mind set to play in the pros, but there was very little interest in him during the draft. In fact, Brady barely made the draft, being chosen in the 6th round as the 199th pick.
Brady was grossly underrated and underestimated by every coach in the league. His draft report from 2000 NFL draft actually stated the following qualities:
Poor Build | Skinny
Lacks Great Physical Stature and Strength
Lacks Mobility and Ability to Avoid The Rush
Lacks a Really Strong Arm
Can’t Drive The Ball Down Field
Doesn’t Throw a Really Tight Spiral
System-Type Player Who Can Get Exposed if Forced to Adlib
Gets Knocked Down Easily
Indeed, Tom brady was not the highest rated quarterback, he wasn’t the most well groomed for the sport, nor was he the best athlete. In addition, he didn’t have the best numbers, or even the best mechanics. However, Tom Brady did have the most heart and determination.
Thus, through sheer willpower, he pushed himself to becoming one of the greatest football players of all times. And he has proved his case with the following accolades:
Most NFL Championships By a Player (7x)
Most Games Won By a Quarterback
Most Games Played By a Quarterback
Most Combined Passing Yards
Most Touchdown Passes
Most 4th Quarter Comebacks
Best Touchdown to Interception Ratio
5 Time Super Bowl MVP
3 Time MVP of the NFL
2 Time NFL All-Decade Team Player
Only Player to Win a Super Bowl for Both The AFC & NFC
Bonus Success Story
We decided to add one last bonus success story to drive the point home that it’s never too late to be what you might have been — and that no matter where you come from, or where you’ve been, you can change, you can clean up your act, and you can find massive success in the process.
So, this last success story is about a man who grew up poor in Louisiana, lost his father at a young age, and was raised a single-parent household with four other siblings. This last story is about a man named Grant Cardone.
Cardone is not your typical celebrity. He didn’t come from money, he is not a Hollywood superstar, and doesn’t possess some amazing talent, like script-writing, politics, or athleticism. However, what he does possess, is something that is available to us all, and that is a determination to succeed.
Grant Cardone found himself in bad company in his youth. He was involved and addicted to drugs, and was stuck in a downward spiral for over a decade. After getting robbed at gun point, getting beaten to a bloody pulp with a gun, and then getting kicked out of his mother’s house, he finally decided to change his life.
At the age of 25 Grant Cardone decided to clean up his act. He cut all the negative influences from his life, got sober, and took one of the first jobs he could land as a car salesmen. It wasn’t a job he was thrilled about, but he made due given that his options were limited because of a slow economy at the time.
Cardone committed to becoming the best salesperson he could be and invested heavily in his own self-improvement by reading books and studying his craft and his industry.
After committing to becoming his very best, his income doubled, and he soon became one of the best car salesmen in the country. He eventually moved on to running his own business, and was extremely smart and disciplined with his money. He would go on to save every dollar that wasn’t absolutely needed to keep him fed and housed, and moved that money into an investment fund just for real estate.
Grant Cardone’s focus on learning more so that he could earn more, along with having the discipline to invest his extra money, instead of wasting it on frivolous things, helped him become a self-made millionaire just five years later by the age of 30.
Cardone has since gone on to become a prominent international businessman, speaker, and the owner of Cardone Capital, a $1.5 billion investment firm. He’s also authored New York Times bestselling books If You’re Not First, You’re Last, and other notable books like The 10X Rule, and Axiom Award winning Sell or Be Sold. In addition to this, he also founded Cardone University, a popular sales training platform that has accrued over 50,000,000 and growing users.
It took Grant Cardone only five years to completely revolutionize his entire life. With the right mindset and a good dose of willpower, just imagine what 5 years could do for you.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully these success stories help you realize that while success may be elusive, it is not unattainable. We also hope that you’ve come to understand that success is both a journey and a destination. And in order to achieve success, you’ll have to first go through your share of struggles, rejections, and even disasters.
So, keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the prize. Keep moving towards your dreams no matter what. Do this, and your success will be just around the corner.
Till next time,
STRIVE
PS – Every success story is different and can inspire in a different way, and if you’re looking for more inspiring stories about how others achieved success, then you’ll love our Strive Stories.
Why Reading Books Makes You More Successful
Last Updated on February 17, 2022 by Mark Ferguson
It is not a coincidence that some of the world’s richest people are also avid readers. They read books, reports, newspapers, and anything else they can get their hands on. There a couple of common phrases you may hear: “Readers are Leaders” or “Readers are Earners.” But is it true that reading books makes you more successful?
I am a big believer in reading as well, and I think reading has been a huge part of my success. I don’t mean listening to audiobooks but actually reading. Not only can reading teach you an incredible amount of things, but it can calm your mind and help you focus.
Why are successful people also readers?
Warren Buffett may be the best know voracious reader out there. Many people don’t believe how much he reads (500 pages a day!). He does not just read books but also newspapers and company reports. He loves to read and learn. His partner and right-hand man, Charlie Munger, is the same way. He can’t be found without some kind of reading material. If he has to wait for anything, he doesn’t stare at social media posts on his phone—he reads.
Elon Musk is famous for many things, but SpaceX is one of his main focuses now. He actually taught himself rocket propulsion by reading! He isn’t the one writing the formulas and making sure the rockets fly, but he wanted to understand exactly how his company worked.
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are also big-time readers. I think it is no coincidence that very successful people tend to be readers. You can learn and be motivated by books. Plus, reading calms your mind and is meditative. You can block out the distractions of the world when reading.
Is it true that reading books makes you more successful?
Just about all of us went to school and were forced to read books. We mostly read textbooks that were the most boring thing you could possibly read. I feel like the point of a good textbook was to take all of the feeling and fun out of real life! Unfortunately, many people remember how horrible textbooks were and equate textbooks to all books, especially non-fiction educational books.
The truth is some non-fiction educational books are boring, but most of the best-sellers are quite entertaining. The only way those books sell is if people like them, not if the government forces you to buy and read them.
The good books will keep you interested and make you want to keep reading. If you are interested in the subject, it can be an amazing experience. Excellent books will force you to take notes while you read because you get so many ideas for your business, job, life, etc.
Do you have to read non-fiction to learn?
A lot of people think the only way to learn from books is to read non fiction. The truth is you can learn from almost any book. Some of the best fiction books have amazing stories, and in those stories, there are usually lessons…lessons about love, life, business, money, and history.
Some of my favorite recent reads are by Ken Follet. The books are mostly fiction but have some real events and history mixed in. The Century Trilogy and Pillars of the Earth series are amazing.
I also tried my hand at writing a fiction book that was meant to teach real estate and be entertaining as well: Buying Into Success.
Why is it better to read than listen to books?
I listen to audiobooks, and I read real books as well. I think audiobooks are better than no books, but I get so much more out of a real book.
When I read a real book, I am forced to pay attention, unless I want to absorb as much information as I did dozing off and daydreaming while reading those textbooks in school.
By reading real books, I am also forced to calm my mind down. I don’t have my phone; I don’t watch TV; I try to have few distractions; and it lets me become absorbed into the book. It clears and calms my mind because I have one thing I am thinking about—the book or the story in the book.
Meditation is an amazing exercise for the mind and the soul, but it can be tough to find the time to meditate. Reading is like meditating to me and helps kill two birds with one stone. I am able to learn and calm my brain down.
When I listen to audiobooks, I often am driving or working out. I am distracted and do not listen or absorb everything I am hearing. I have to listen to the same books over and over again to make sure I understand everything. Audiobooks can be great, but they just don’t have the same impact on me.
What are some good books to read?
I am very biased because I have written 9 books, so I obviously think all of my books are the best out there.