One trait that extremely successful people seem to share is they love to read, including tons of books. In a recent post on LinkedIn, CEO Andrew Collins, discussed this shared experience among successful people such as billionaire bookworms Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, gives books credit for his success. He said that he had many dreams when he was a child, which resulted from his having the opportunity "to read a lot."
On the other hand, Warren Buffet guesstimates that he spends 80% of his workday reading and thinking. He once said that when seated in his office he reads "all day."
Meanwhile, media queen Oprah Winfrey started reading at the age of three. This allowed her to find a "whole world to conquer."
Collins discovered five key benefits of reading. Here they are.
First, reading helps to relax your mind. Collins explains that it allows you to "slow down" and "take a breath."
Reading also encourages you to copy other successful people. By reading about them you learn about their experiences and influences.
Another benefit of reading is that it provides you with fresh ideas. This helps your mind in processes such as "mapping" and "solving problems," according to Business Insider.
Yet another benefit of reading is that it makes us happy. If you learn while you read, you start to make fun new discoveries.
Finally, reading improves your chats over dinner. Reading increases your vocabulary, gives you more open-minded opinions, and even provides more dinner date invitations, according to LinkedIn.
In early 2015 Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was challenging himself to read two books in two weeks, throughout the year. He would then share the books by having them published on a website.
So consider making a pledge to yourself to do more book reading during your downtime this year. While it might not make you uber-rich, it will certainly enrich your life.