The Scoop: Reading IS fun!

***Due to time constraints, I elected to wait to publish The Scoop this morning instead of last night. I apologize for the delay.***

“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I was in school growing up, my teachers thought that I could possibly have some sort of learning disability. They believed that I struggled to read. So, they called a meeting with my parents and explained their beliefs to them. My parents defended me knowing that I, in fact, could read. They proved it by giving me a baseball article from Sports Illustrated, which I read quickly and summarized completely for everyone.

The problem was not that I was unable to read. The problem was that I only liked to read what interested me.

This continued throughout school. I read enough to get by, but was never super interested in reading my textbooks. I would use Spark Notes or some other book summarization service offered online in order to make it through book report books. I always felt like I had better things to do than read things that did not interest me, or read at all for that matter.

What I realized was that while I made good grades in school, I struggled to retain and actually learn the information that was presented. I knew it at one time because I studied it (or memorized it) for a test. But, I never really read it to remember it.

Recently, I have come to realize that my education is up to me. And that education is tied to a plethora of books that are just waiting to be explored. My ideas on reading then centered around books or assigned pages being an obligation or requirement. Now, I shifted that focus to discover what I can learn from anything I read.

I have recently even caught up with a few of the classics that I passed over along the way in school. I read Catcher In The Rye and really did enjoy it, much to the delight of Lauren, my girlfriend. (It is one of her all-time favorites.) I read Of Mice and Men, which made her equally proud that I now understood what she meant when she said someone was pulling a Lenny.

I now have a whole host of books that are in my queue to read. You will probably see on the right side of our blog that Aaron and I have books we are currently reading. Those have been the same for a while, but likely because we just have not updated that portion of the blog. I would welcome your recommendations on books that I should read. I have a list I am working my way through, but I am always open to suggestions on new and interesting reads. So please share your book ideas with me, and once I make it through the book, I will let you know what I thought.

I know I have mentioned it before, but reading is what opened me up to the ideas regarding optimism and positivity. Lauren’s dad gave me a book over a year and a half ago as a gift which re-introduced me to ideas that have practically changed my life. The book was Lead…For God’Sake!, which Aaron and I speak about often. I could not more highly recommend that book to anyone.

I cannot stress to you the importance of reading. Read, read, and read some more. The amount of things that you can learn from books is endless. Learn to love it. I try to take time in my day to read for 20-30 minutes, at least. Go read books on things you love. Go read books on things you have been curious about. Go read books about things you know nothing about. Just read.

As I mentioned above, I have not always liked to read. I always chose the easier way out. Don’t fall into that trap. Reading is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to learn. A library card is free, and the opportunities for knowledge are unlimited.

Whether you read 5 pages a day or 5 chapters a day, read something. You will be amazed at what you will learn.

Bring your best today!

Love, Noah

P.S. I have a list of 25-30 books that represent what is called the “Coaches’ Challenge.” This is also an idea that I received from Joshua Medcalf about whom I spoke before. The idea is to read a book every two weeks for a year, and write a brief summary on each. If you are interested in that list of books, please contact me and I would be happy to share it with you. I have read about 7-8 on the list, and they are wonderful.

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