As long as I can remember, I have always loved reading. If you care about your personal growth, reading isn’t a simple pastime, it’s a powerful tool. Making reading a regular part of your life can enhance your understanding of the world, improve critical thinking, and boost your empathy.

Your mind is impressive. It can do amazing things. One of those things is to continue to read page after page of a book while thinking about something else entirely, stalling any attempt you make to improve. For this reason, you need to get past the concept of plain reading and replace it with the idea of active reading.

How Reading Helps Personal Development

People often talk about how reading helps them “escape” their daily life. Similarly, reading helps broaden your horizons. It exposes you to new ideas, cultures, and perspectives that go far beyond what you encounter in your daily life. This helps you to become more open-minded and flexible.

It will also improve your cognitive abilities. Your vocabulary, comprehension skills, and critical thinking all improve when you read. It also sharpens your mind by challenging you to understand complex narratives and topics. The reason I have always preferred to see things in writing is that it’s easier to reread something or to read slower if I feel I’m missing something.

Reading will also open you up to empathy. When you are immersed in the experiences of a wide range of characters, you begin to understand and empathize with people who are different from you.

What is Active Reading?

In my earlier years at school, I was one of the lucky ones. Because I loved reading so much, I usually remembered lessons and topics without the need to study too much. I would do tests from memory, and it generally worked out well. But as I grew older, and study materials became more complicated, I realized I had never actually developed a proper study method, one that would help me understand what I was studying and be able to apply the concepts I had learned, rather than simply memorizing things for the sake of it.

Reading is really the same. You can read a million books and still only retain the tiniest percentage of information you consume.

Active reading is a strategy that gets you to engage with the text, improving comprehension and retention. Rather than passively consuming the test, you need to interact with it. Ask questions, make predictions, and draw connections to your own experiences and knowledge.

Active Reading Techniques

Here are some techniques that can help you become an active reader:

• Previewing: Take a few minutes before reading to preview the text. Look for headings, subheadings, illustrations or graphs. These will give you an idea of what the text is about and what to expect.
• Questioning: While you read, come up with questions to ask yourself about the text. What is the main concept the author is trying to communicate? What evidence is provided? This helps you maintain engagement with the text and improve your understanding.
• Summarizing: After finishing a section, take a break and try summarize what you just read in your own words. This helps reinforce your understanding and remember more of what you read.

Active Reading and Taking Notes

If you want to become an active reader, you absolutely must learn to take notes. Notes help you to remember thoughts, questions, and reactions that come up as you read. You can note key points, summarize sections, or draw diagrams to help you visualize complex ideas. Try different methods to see which works best for you.

Reading as a Lifelong Habit

If you want to make reading a lifelong habit, you need to set realistic goals. You could aim to read a certain number of pages every day, or to finish a book every month.

You’ll find it easier to stick to your reading habit if you choose books you find interesting and enjoyable.

Keep in mind that reading as much as possible is not the goals here. Instead, you want to engage deeply with what you’re reading. I’ve read millions of books in my lifetime, but I honestly only retained a very small portion of all the information I ever consumed. So rather take your time. Enjoy each word like a tasty morsel of a gourmet meal. Allow the book to carry you off into its own world.

Conclusion

Reading truly is a powerful tool for personal development. It can push your boundaries, sharpen your mind, and turn you into the empath you never thought you would become. It can be your five-minute holiday on your coffee break. A moment of rest from the incessant thoughts running through your mind all day. By becoming an active reader and taking purposeful steps to make it a lifelong habit, you can transform your life.

Here are some resources for further research:

• The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure | Psychology Today
• The Neuroscience of Reading With Dr. G. Reid Lyon | Iowa Reading Research Center – The University of Iowa
• The Impact of Books for Personal Growth: Importance of Books
• Active Reading Strategies: Remember and Analyze What You Read | McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning
• Taking Notes While Reading – Learning Center
• Make Reading a Habit – Here are 11 Effective Ways to do it

Happy reading!