"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... the man who never reads lives only one." George R. R. Martin
Most of us want to read more.
But we live in a world designed for shallow skimming instead of deep diving.
What happens? Most of us read only a few books a year. We want to read more! But we just don’t have the time.
Making matters worse is that over a million new books are published each year in English alone. What chance do you have to actually find a good book?
This was my personal story for years.
Even though I was a published author … I didn’t read any books. Who’s got that time? I’d say, while scrolling endlessly on social media.
But then … something happened.
I suddenly went from reading five books a year to reading fifty books a year.
I was so enamored with myself that I wrote an article about it called “8 Ways To Read (A Lot) More Books This Year.” Harvard Business Review published it and it was the “Most Read Article” on their site for 2017 and featured in a few Harvard Business Review books. (I was even asked to write a sequel!)
What was the insight?
It’s not just me! We all want to read more. Everybody! Everybody I talk to wishes they could read more books. Everyone wants to do this! And I absolutely did, too.
I started up a Monthly Book Club Email and this podcast called 3 Books.
Why?
Because I believe books are the ultimate form of compressed knowledge and wisdom, because I believe books touch a wider range of emotions than anything else and serve as empathy training wheels, because I believe books are the single best way we grow into the highest potential versions of ourselves, because I believe books are magic, and because I believe a whole lot of other things ...
Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
"If we meet a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads."
In a way: It's as simple as that.
On each chapter of 3 Books I will aim to discuss life’s biggest themes through the three most formative books of an inspiring individual.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
I hope you enjoy the show,
Neil