Week Notes: Vol. 3 – № 14

From hating books to reading for a competitive edge

Would you believe me if I told you I hated reading in middle school but later read past the assigned chapters in “The Odyssey” in ninth grade, just for fun?

In middle school, I hated to read.

I hated it so much that my mom and my sixth-grade English teacher had to work out an arrangement for me to listen to audiobooks instead and still get credit for the class reading assignments.

I didn’t hate reading because I couldn’t.

I never received low or worrisome test scores. I never needed summer school. I don’t ever recall concerned conversations during parent-teacher conferences.

I only remember struggling with spelling early on in elementary school. (Fun fact: the first – and only – time I cheated on a test was when I got caught cheating on a spelling test in second grade.)

I really don’t remember why I hated reading. I think at that point in my life I just didn’t understand why people would read.

Reading seemed like something you were forced to do, kind of like how running is used as punishment in sports or when you suddenly need to when something is chasing you.

Why anyone would do it voluntarily was beyond me.

My parents also weren’t model readers. I never saw either of them reading.

Bedtime stories were rare despite our house having a wall of children’s books.

For better or worse, television, movies, and eventually video games were how I consumed stories – like other 90s kids, I presume.

Even in college it was hard to read.

I went to the University of Iowa, home to one of the most celebrated writing programs in the country, and declared journalism as my major.

College opened my mind. But I rarely read for fun. I read because I either needed to or felt like I should.

I pretty much swore off reading once I graduated. It wasn't until I met my wife's family my mindset changed. They love to read.

My father-in-law was always reading something, either a biography, narrative nonfiction, or a business book.

He was a successful business owner, who, from my perspective, seemed to have already figured things out.

Yet despite every reason to coast in his pre-retirement years, he had his nose in a book, still searching for an edge.

I’d never thought about reading that way.

It showed me that continuing your education wasn’t just getting another degree. It was regularly investing in yourself.

It could be cheap and as small as reading a book or watching a video to learn something new.

That’s how I became a nonfiction reader.

Some of the earliest books that influenced me were “Design is a Job” by Mike Monteiro and “Nicely Said” by Nicole Fenton and Kate Lee. They were guides on how to operate with professionalism, providing advice and tools for navigating the variable world of client services.

Since then I’ve read books about psychology, parenting, and the origins of accessibility.

It takes me roughly two weeks to read a book. What I enjoy most is that during that time, I find myself ruminating on what I'm reading and will apply what I can to situations at work or at home.

I keep coming back to something I recently read in “Million-Dollar Weekend” by Noah Kagen, entrepreneur and CEO of AppSumo.

“There are million-dollar lessons hidden in $30 books.”

It took me a long time to believe that. He's absolutely he’s right.