5 Seconds Summary:
- Reading is a something that many people want to commit but don’t know where to begin. By following the habit of a good reader like Naval Ravikant, the reading habit can be implement easily.
Like most people, I have realized that my reading habit has declined as I grow older.
Of course, I want to blame it on constant distraction from social media and Netflix. But let’s be real, we just grew apart with books. Like an old childhood friend.
So, I have decided that it’s time for me to rekindle my relationship with books.
That’s when I come across the biggest book recommendation in my Twitter timeline.
It’s The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
I kid you not I have to google both, the word almanack, and Naval Ravikant
Who is he?
How good is the book that people keep on recommending it?
So of course, me being FOMO, I know I had to get the book. And as I read it, I was blown away.
Probably the most concise book but well-packed with information.
Not to mention the short quote that makes you ponders
One of the most profound parts of the book that caught my attention is his habit of reading.
Naval Ravikant is founder of AngelList and a known investor of companies such as Uber, Tweeter, wish.com, FourSquare to name a few.
(You can click here to download the free pdf version of this book)
He is an excellent reader, that’s why he is where he is right now
Here is a few reading lessons from his book that we can learn from
What is your favourite genre? Your favorite book at all times?
Mine, of course, Atomic Habit by James Clear
Back when I’m 15, I used to be embarrassed to read any self-help/ productivity books as my friend told me that anyone reading this sort of genre is a loser.
And I want to slap myself for believing that.
For the longest time I’ve been reading in hiding. I’m scared people will judge me for what I read.
But that’s what I love.
So lesson 1 from Naval Ravikant is quite resonant with me.
Pick any book you love. And just read it.
It doesn’t matter if you love to read romance novel or even geek out on autobiography. The most important thing is that you love it.
It’ll lessens the resistance to start reading
Learn to love to read
For some people, reading is quite an alien habit. So reading doesn’t come naturally.
But it is important to love to read.
How to learn to love reading?
Make it a habit. And one simple thing aside from reading something you love is, set the proper environment for the reading habit to stick.
From the book Atomic Habit, James Clear stated,
“Most people think that building better habits or changing your actions is all about willpower or motivation. But the more I learn, the more I believe that the number one driver of better habits and behavior change is the choice architecture of your environment.”-James Clear
How to change the environment to make it “reading-friendly”?
- Place the books where it easily visible. Place them on your table, in your room, or anywhere you hang out often
- Put aside your phone where it’s not easily visible (remove distraction)
- Choose one area where you want to sit down to read like sofa in your living room. So each time you sit on sofa, you’ll automatically think about reading.
Once you are accustomed to the habit of reading, you will find that reading comes naturally, and you’ll eventually fall in love with reading
But , it is difficult to fall in love with reading if you only read book in 1 genre
Add more variation, explore the topic you have been avoiding back in school
When you read enough things, it’ll eventually lead and spark interest like it never existed before
Related Post: Having Extra Time Leads To Procrastination
re-reading as much as reading
“ reading a book isn’t a race—the better the book the more slowly it should be absorbed”
THIS!
Some people view reading as a competition. 100 books in 1 months, 500 books in a year (seriously how people do this?)
It is not an entirely bad, but quality wins over quantity every time.
It’s okay to read a lot of books
But the question is:
What did you get from reading a certain book?
What value did you learn?
Do you still remember what happens in the first chapter?
That is why, it’s fine to re-read the book because each time you‘ll get a better and different understanding of certain concepts
Well, it’s even fine to re-read the chapters, the paragraph
Re-reading helps you think
Not only about the content, but about the writing style, the character progression, the lessons learnt.
Re-read if you want, it’s always about what you get after reading the book
Skim, speed, and jump around the book
“ I don’t read a lot of books. I pick up a lot of books and only get through a few which form the foundation of my knowledge”
One of the things that probably let me to be distant from the book is the urge that I need to finish the book.
Once I stop doing this, I feel less pressurized and fell in love with reading books again
Sometimes, it’s okay to jump around the chapter as well. Just skim around the book.
I did this when I read the 12 Rules of Life: The Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B Peterson.
Some chapters of this book is quite heavy for me to comprehend, so I just skip it first. Then I just come back to the chapters when I feel like it.
There is no rule that we have to read the book according to the chapters.
Do whatever you want with the book.
It’s okay to Skim, speed, and jump around the book
Read from any material
… books, articles, or blog, whatever it is, just read
The aim is to get ideas and information for learning
but remember, reading shapes the way you think, so be careful of what you consume.
on Notetaking
On of the biggest lesson I learn from Naval Ravikant on reading is to take some notes
Especially if it is a non-fiction genre, the book is probably loaded with information. So it‘ll be wise enough to take a few notes.
I used to write in my journal, the lesson I took from book. Sometimes, I write at the back of my notebook, Just so I can review it often.
But it’s not sustainable, because well it’s everywhere
Naval, share his bite-size info in his Twitter.
And Tim Denning, top medium writer used Roam Research to store his idea bank or any info he read
Whatever method you use, just make small notes out of the book you read
Naval Ravikant reading steps
- Start from the beginning. If the introduction is not interesting enough, he will start flipping the page skimming, and reading.(This gives me the lesson that when writing, my introduction should be written well)
- After reading the first chapter, he will decide whether he will just drop the book altogether or skip a few chapters.
- He will find the part that catches his attention—get the gist—put the book down and read another book
- Organize information by take a few notes and maybe explain what you learned to someone else. As you did this it will emphasize your understanding
Related Post: Daily Routine For Students: How to create The Best routine in 3 Simple Steps
Naval Ravikant's views on the non-fiction book
This book helps us become independent thinker. Read more in math, science, and philosophical
Yes, the book is quite tough to digest, but once understand it will help you to think better.
You’ll probably get confused at first, but as you read it through everything just make sense, that’s the beauty of non-fiction
“ When you read the book and it confused you, confusion is similar to the pain you get when you’re working out—mental muscle
When reading a non-fiction book the fundamental is critical, so pick the high-quality information.
Choose the basic science book and get the foundation solid as a rock.
And you can understand anything if the foundation is right.
Habits of the good reader: Lessons from Naval Ravikant,The summary:
- start treating books as throwaway blog posts or bite site tweets or posts. Read and summarize
- no obligation to finish the book you currently read
- if it, boring leave the book but done giving up reading: “ giving up reading was a tragedy”
- Reading somewhere 10-20 books and flipping through them
- Read what caught my eye even though at the middle of the paragraph
“ Do you know that song you can’t get out of your head? All thoughts work that way. Careful what you read.”
