In today’s day and age, books are on their way out. A majority of people get their information online. When it comes to learning, millennials like to get their information either in the form of short, add filled articles or in 5 minute YouTube videos. Because of this, millennials are losing their reading muscles. Reading involves both determination and skill. After a bit of practice, reading becomes a sort of puzzle. “Find the useful information” is what I tell myself every time I open up a book that interests me.

If you’re not a reader, feel free to start with a non-fiction book that you think might pique your interest. Like ghosts? Read a sci-fi book. Enjoy partying? There are a large number of books out there that you can replace your friends with the characters in the book. Regardless of personal taste, the goal stays the same: Work out your reading muscles to the point where you can enjoy at least twenty-five pages in one sitting. The more you read, the more you notice the “fluff” that authors need to include to have a proper book. Once you get a handle on things, there is no shame in speed reading.

Speed reading involves glancing over the whole page and only committing the relevant information to memory. Your brain can fill in the remaining blanks. When a new reader picks up a book, they go over every word in a sentence thinking that they are all important. An advanced reader, however, will gloss over paragraphs at a time. The advance reader will simply read “Alice…..goes down hole…..doorknob stops her…..talks to quizzical cat.” While speed reading generally defeats the purpose of non-fiction reading, it works wonders when reading for class or work when small details can often be disregarded. (Work and school don’t quiz you on “What were all of the adjectives used to describe the flower on pages 19-25?”)

Reading builds confidence and improves your image to others. One of the greatest achievements of my early twenties was buying a bookcase and filling it with all sorts of textbooks and reading materials that suits my interests. The bookcase gave my bedroom the office vibe I was looking for. Having a collection of books ensures that you already have reliable reference material when you need to recall a minute fact from an old class. Thinking of opening up a small hotdog shop? Great! Crack open your old business, marketing, and management books to give yourself an advantage.

Many successful people these days still read books. The inventor of Tesla might never have had the determination to build his company if he was content building his education with just website headlines and YouTube videos. Instead, today’s top CEO’s read as much as one book a day. The constant repetition strengthens their reading muscles and promotes the discipline needed to run a company. If you read a book a day, wouldn’t you hold your head up high? If you wake up early in the morning and read a book prior to going to work or school, you’d be walking into your responsibilities knowing that you’ve already matched the success of some of today’s most powerful leaders.

As I may have mentioned, I love buying used books. As of the writing of this book, my favorite website to buy books through is ThriftBooks.com. Instead of buying a book new from a chain retailer for thirty-five dollars, I can get the same book, slightly used, on ThriftBooks for maybe eight. There is no need to buy books new unless it is a treat or you can’t find it used elsewhere. So far, all of the books that I have purchased through the website have been in more than acceptable condition. I don’t mind the occasional mark or chip on a book, I simply prefer that they don’t have any highlights in them. I like doing the highlighting myself. One word of caution, however: Don’t overdue the book collection. It is quite easy to get caught up in the desire to fill your bookshelf but don’t buy new books until you are satisfied with your current books. Remember, any book you buy will need to be sold/moved with you when you move into a new house. I learned that the hard way. What made it worse is that I always buy hardcover books when I can.