This morning I was thinking of 'reading' and noticed in the Panache section of the Economic Times, an article that said, "The Word Is Out: The Leader is a Reader." It made me think just a little bit about how much reading is a part of our lives. Sometimes it's difficult. In our busy days it's enough if we can get all the things that we need to do done without having the luxury, as we think about it, to put reading into our everyday lives.
Yet it seems that reading has its benefits apart from thinking that it's just a way to exercise one's mind. I thought that I would spend a few moments outlining some of the benefits that could really influence us to be readers.
The first thing that caught my attention was that reading reduces stress levels. That's a good place to start – to reduce stress. We know that stress causes all kind of issues in our lives and in our bodies. Dr. David Lewis, conducting some research out of the University of Sussex found that reading reduced stress levels by 68%. That's an incredibly high amount! Dr. Lewis is a cognitive neuropsychologist and he said, "This is one of the best things that you can do. In fact, psychologists believe that because the human mind has to concentrate on reading, and the distraction of being taken into a literary world, eases the tensions in muscles and the heart." Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation. It doesn't matter what type of book you read, but if you are able to get into the imagination of the author, and get stimulated by the creativity of the printed page, then you are able to move into a zone where stress levels automatically begin to come down. I thought that it was interesting that there was hard evidence to suggest that reading is a good habit.
But it was interesting to read that various leaders find that reading is something that they cannot do without. For example, Howard Schultz of Starbucks says that he gets up between 5 and 5:30 am and goes through 3 newspapers – The Seattle Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. And he's been doing that for 25 years. Bill Gates reads the national papers and then gets a daily news digest that is brought to him. His papers include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Economist. So also Warren Buffet spends an incredible amount of time reading The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, USA Today, Omaha World Herald, etc.
All of these leaders have found that reading is a good habit. Thinking about that this morning, I wondered how you and I were doing on the reading habit. Is it a part of our lives? Do we have the time for it? Do we do it intentionally, or whether it's just something that we do on the fly – we see something that gets our attention and then we read it. But if all this is really good, hard data, then it makes sense for us to take this seriously. If anything, reducing stress is a good thing in our lives. I thought it was interesting that reading, when compared to music, having a cup of tea, walking, playing video games, reduced stress the most. Listening to music reduced stress by 61%, having a cup of tea/coffee by 54%, taking a walk by 42%, playing video games by 21%. Reading reduced it by 68%.
How are you as a reader my friends? Do you take the time to read, to put that into your day? John Coleman "For Those Who Want To Lead, Read", says that there are many benefits of reading.
1. Reading can improve intelligence and lead to innovation and insight.
2. Reading increases verbal intelligence – makes a leader more adept and articulate in communicating with people.
3. Reading can make you more personally effective by keeping you relaxed and in better health.
Good benefits to have as we look at reading.
So I want to challenge you this morning to read, not just the books that are part of your work or your area of interest. I remember a few years ago, I had got pigeonholed into reading books on theology and realized how difficult it was for me to talk about other subjects. So I made it a point that every time I travelled, the first thing I would do was to walk into a book store and pick up a novel and read it just to get more information. I realized that a lot of writers, especially the ones who write fiction, do a lot of research, and there's a phenomenal amount of information that one can get through just reading a novel. So don't just read your own subject.
What else would John Coleman suggest?
· Join a reading group – a group of colleagues that just read classics, philosophy, history, fiction or any other areas.
· Vary your reading. Don't just read business books but commit to 3 other areas outside of your comfort zone – a novel, poetry, non-fiction, a piece of science, a biography, history or the arts.
· Apply your reading to your work. Struggling with a problem at work? Pick up a book on neuroscience or psychology and see if there are ways in which they can help you.
· Encourage others. After you read a book, hand it out to somebody else and ask them to try it.
· Read for fun. Don't read just because you've got to do it. Read your newspapers like the Economic Times or the Financial Times and get the stuff you need for decision-making. But read other stuff as well. Read for fun.
It's a good habit and above all, it leads to a better lifestyle. I have always been challenged by the words in our Scriptures that say, "You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind." Reading actually stimulates the mind. We are expected to use our mind as we love our Creator God. The one way that we can use or stimulate our minds is to read. Read all these and read the Bible as well, so that God can have a wonderful say in our lives.
I hope this has been helpful for you. It was for me. I like reading but I thought that we needed to expand it a little bit more and see how best it helps. I was so excited when I saw that it actually reduces stress levels and that's something all of us can do with.
Can I pray with you? Almighty God, bless each person on this call and help us in our reading habits. Help us to be better readers. Help us to get a grasp of the literature that is out there that can not only help us to be better individuals and make better decisions, but to use it to better fall in love with You, our Creator God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
• "The Word is Out: The Leader is a Reader." Economic Times, ET Panache, Tuesday, 20 September 2016
• "Reading can Help Reduce Stress," http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/5070874/Reading-can-help-reduce-stress.html
• John Coleman, "For Those Who Want To Lead, Read." https://hbr.org/2012/08/for-those-who-want-to-lead-read
• Scriptural Reference: Matthew 22:37
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