• Julius Topohozin

Reading is defined as making meaning from print. It is a language skill that involves identifying written symbols and making sense of them. People read for several reasons, including gaining information, studying for exams or deriving pleasure. Whatever your reason, I will share six tips on how to cultivate a reading habit.

The basic and in fact, the fundamental reason why people read is to increase their knowledge base. So, when reading is targeted at getting to know something better, it is a noble cause. Here are the six tips.

1. Believe You Know So Little

The first and most important way to cultivate a reading habit is to believe you know so little, and the only way to make up for that gap is to read even more, so that you can know more than you know now. Interestingly, the more you know through reading, the more you want to know. Reading by itself gives you an edge above others. It is what you know through reading that will open the door for you.

2. Make Effort To Understand What You Are Reading

There will be temptation to give up on reading when you are not making meaning out of what you are reading. However, if you are so determined that the book you are reading must yield its meaning to you, then you won’t settle for mediocrity. You must strive to look for every means possible to understand what you are reading. Part of what you will do is to connect with someone or people who are more knowledgeable than you are, so that they can explain it better to you and learn from them.

3. Discipline Yourself

Good things don’t always come easy, it has to be fought for or worked for as the case maybe. So, when it comes to reading, you need to be disciplined. If it requires you to wake up in the middle of the night to read, not just for an examination but just for knowledge’s sake, do it. There are more benefits attached to reading compared to when you don’t read at all. Reading broadens your mind, your understanding and perspective. It makes you become an authority whenever you are speaking or writing.

4. Read At Your Own Pace

If you are just beginning to cultivate a reading habit, you need to do it little by little. Don’t compare yourself to people who have consistently given themselves over to reading a number of books every week or months. So, what you need to do is to start with a book, make sure you finish it before going on to the next one.

5. Invest In Books

One way to cultivate a reading habit is to invest in books. Commit yourself to taking out money to buy one book per month. Apart from stocking your personal library, you are developing your intellectual capacity. Don’t just buy the book and dump it on the shelf, go through the book and let the book go through you.. What this means is that you should thoroughly digest the book to be able to give a comprehensive explanation about what the book is about.

6. Don’t Stop Reading

Whatever good thing you stop doing, has a way of leaving you. If for instance, a renowned athlete stops training because he or she has won one or two gold medals, it will get to a time that he or she will be forgotten because other people are pushing themselves to become better in their craft. No matter what level you have attained in reading, you must never stop reading. The day you stop reading is the day you stop growing intellectually. Remember, no one wants to listen to the mediocre.

Conclusion

The benefits of reading are more than can be stated. If you want to be respected for your knowledge and your contribution to knowledge, especially through reading, then you must start to cultivate the habit of reading by adopting the tips shared above.

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