#144 - The Power of Reading For Life, Success, and A Better Retirement.
34:17 Share

The power of reading is something you shouldn’t underestimate. Even if you don’t enjoy reading. That’s because there’s no other resource in the world where you can spend $20 and get a potential return of thousands of dollars, increased happiness, greater success, and a whole lot more. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I’m discovering that the older I get the more I appreciate books. On this episode, I’m going to let you listen in on a conversation I had with Jeff Brown, the guy behind the Read to Lead podcast. He’s got some great insights into the power of reading, what it can do for you, and even gives us some tips on how to get more out of our reading. I hope you take the time to listen. 42% of college graduates will never read a book after graduation. 

Can you believe that? It’s really a shocking statistic but apparently, it’s how the world is going these days. I think it’s a tragic sign of the passive way people are going about life in the modern era. People appear to be losing their motivation to make something of their lives - and it may seem strange that I’m making that conclusion based on stats about the decline of reading, but it’s really common sense. Reading is one of the primary ways anyone can increase their knowledge and improve their life without having to depend on anyone else. But it requires initiative, doesn’t it? On this episode I hope to challenge you to pick up a book and get busy learning, growing, and making more of yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re retired or not, you can always learn something and make your life happier by reading a book. You’ve heard it said that leaders are readers, right? It turns out it’s true. 

Every successful person you can think of is a purposeful reader. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, and many other highly successful people have openly shared that they read significant amounts every day. In fact, when Elon Musk was asked how he learned to build rockets his answer was, “I read books.” On this episode my guest, Jeff Brown is going to share what he’s discovered about the importance of reading on his path to entrepreneurship after years in the corporate work world. He says it's imperative that you be a reader if you are going to develop the new mindsets you need in order to make a change for the better in your life. And we all want to see “better” happen in our lives, right? Would you like to know how you can better tap into the power of reading? 

On this episode of The Retirement Answer Man, my goal is to challenge you to increase your happiness and quality of life both before and after your retirement by becoming a more effective reader. Toward that end, I’ve invited Jeff Brown on the show to share some insights from his experience in reading great books and interviewing the people who have written them. You’re going to find yourself not only challenged but also inspired by what Jeff has to share. He’s got some great tips for how you can get even more out of your reading. I hope you’ll take up his challenge to be more intentional about the way you read. My listener recommended book list is ready for you! Here’s how you can get it. 

For the past few months, I’ve been compiling a list of book recommendations that listeners to my podcast have submitted. The books on the list cover all sorts of topics, from financial planning to personal development and growth. If you’d like to see the top books that my very intelligent and world-changing listeners recommend, you can get them free of charge. All you need to do is sign up for my “6 Shot Saturday” emails - and you can find out how to do that by listening to this episode where I chat with Jeff Brown from the Read to Lead podcast. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN 

• [0:22] The impact of my discussion with Dr. Andrew Scott a few weeks ago.
• [2:12] A peek into this episode with Jeff Brown from “Read To Lead.”

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT 

• [3:10] Stats about reading in the United States.
• [4:22] How does reading connect to success?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? SEGMENT 

• [6:24] The word for today: APPLICATION

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT 

• [9:49] My introduction to Jeff Brown and his podcast, “Read to Lead.”
• [10:55] Why Jeff began his podcast, Read to Lead.
• [15:15] New books VS old books - is there a difference?
• [18:27] How reading helped Jeff build the entrepreneurial life he enjoys now.
• [21:46] Research proves a powerful way to extract more from books: take notes.
• [25:50] How Jeff journals through books (taking notes).
• [28:15] Three books Jeff found helpful as he transitioned to his entrepreneurial life.

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT 

• [30:10] Some stuff I’ve recently learned about state of mind, happiness, and confidence.

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT 

• [32:05] A challenge for you to highlight 10 books you’ll read next year.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE BOOK: The 100 Year Life)Jeff Brown’s “Read To Lead” podcast.)www.StatisticBrain.com)BOOK: Rich Habits)BOOK: Essentialism)BOOK: Purple Cow)BOOK: The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team)BOOK: Good to Great)Michael Hyatt’s blog)BOOK: Linchpin)BOOK: 48 Days to the Work You Love)BOOK: Die Empty)BOOK: Louder Than Words)BOOK: The Art of Work)Contact Roger: http://www.rogerwhitney.com/retirementanswers/)Roger’s retirement learning center: www.RogerWhitney.com/learn)The Retirement Answer Man Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/RetirementAnswerMan)