Finally! The Secret Life Hack You Didn't Know You Needed

There is one thing that happy, successful, and productive people all have in common. Well, maybe they all have a few things in common, but THIS one thing is a major life hack because it is a habit that produces an immediate effect and result on your mindset, mental clarity, motivation to get things done, and increases your self esteem. With all of these benefits, it’s easy to understand how this hack yields results of happiness, success, and an increase in productivity.

So, what is the hack?

It’s one of the things that our ancestors were forbidden to do, learn, or be taught. That alone should tell you how powerful it is! However, our generation has had the privilege to learn how to do it starting in Kindergarten (and many of us even sooner than that!). This powerful tool, this amazing life hack, is READING.

Reading is something that is so easy for us to do and the benefits that it produces for us is too valuable to even compute. There are literally no words or explanations to describe the amount of power, knowledge, and mental strength that reading produces. Yet, so many people take it for granted and very infrequently pick up one of the millions of books available to us, rarely google something they want/need to know and read one of the billions of free blog articles on the internet, and hardly ever pick up a magazine, newspaper, or a manual. If you are one of those people, you are truly missing out on a seriously positive life changing resource.

So, let’s talk about the benefits of reading then I’ll give you 3 easy steps to get into the habit of reading more frequently.

Benefits of reading.

• Exercising your brain/mental muscles. I’m sure you’ve heard that your brain is a muscle. I am also sure that you know that if you do not use a muscle it shrinks. And the same thing happens to your brain when you don’t exercise it. It doesn’t literally shrink in size, but it does shrink in it’s abilities and functionalities. Lack of exercising the brain will cause all of the below listed benefits to slowly deteriorate. Reading is like a treadmill for the mind. It actively engages your brain and makes it do some work. It sharpens your brain's ability to process data and information, strengthens your ability to handle stress or conflict, and creates mental tenacity. So, please don’t fall into the trap of society’s lazy brain syndrome where all you do is take in information that’s given to you so you don’t have to think. These are activities where you constantly engage your brain in forms of entertainment like watching too much TV, excessively engaging in gossip, and obsessively perusing social media for shits and giggles. These things are all ok in moderation, but if this is the majority of what you are engaging your brain in, you are literally turning your brain into mush.

• Increases analytical skills and expands the mind's eye. Most people don’t think about being analytical as a benefit. But, when you find yourself dealing with life’s curve balls and problems, being able to analyze becomes a huge benefit. So, if you want to be a better decision maker or problem solver, read more and you’ll see a difference in your brain performance.

• Increases knowledge and helps to learn new skills. This one is self explanatory. Remember, I stated above that reading helps your mind process information a lot quicker. So, it’s no surprise that reading is the # one resource for gaining knowledge and learning skills.

• Recalibrates the brain to SEEK SOLUTIONS not problems. This benefit is a nod to the benefit above regarding increased analytical skills. AND the greatest thing about evolving your brain to be a solution seeker is that people who are looking for solutions are not looking for nor relishing in problems. This is a major life hack because problems become opportunities and learning lessons as opposed to really being a “problem”. See how reading can actualize a shift in your mindset? Now, let’s compound that mindset shift into the next benefit.

• Balances your emotions and reduces stress. As I stated above, reading causes a shift in your mindset, allowing you to change your perception about problems and challenges; and when you start seeing those problems as learning opportunities, your stress levels will inadvertently decrease. Constantly seeing a problem as a “problem”, mulling over them incessantly, and having minimal analytical abilities makes you feel stress because the problems are overwhelming. Engaging your brain in a productive activity, such as reading, can increase your brain activity and shift your perceptions of life allowing you to experience more peace, patience, and tranquility.

• It’s a form of self care. Just as taking care of your body is self care, taking care of your mind is too! Your mental strength is important to your overall well being. Don’t take your mind for granted.

• Improves communication skills. Communication is the foundation of healthy and long lasting relationships. So, if maintaining a relationship is important, you may want to sharpen your ability to actively listen and express yourself efficiently.

• Enhances vocabulary. This one is self explanatory too. Keep in mind, an enhanced vocabulary is not just using big fancy words. Vocabulary helps you to articulate your thoughts, ideas, and emotions fluently and comprehensively.

• Assists in thought clarity. When your brain is foggy and you can’t seem to gather your thoughts, and you feel indecisive; you may be lacking the ability to clarify or identify your actual thoughts. This is a very frustrating feeling because it’s almost like you are struggling to understand yourself, make decisions for yourself, or even explain yourself when attempting to communicate. Exercising your mind will naturally improve your brain’s performance. The reason that you lack clarity is because your brain is in overdrive and becoming overwhelmed with whatever is happening in your life and mind. But, if you read regularly, it will be able to handle all of you 900,000 thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, things to do, responsibilities, and tasks with clarity and confidence.

• More disciplined focus/concentration. When you read, you are teaching your mind how to focus on and engage in one activity. So, not only does reading strengthen the brain's functionality it also disciplines it to stay focused for longer periods of time. This is a great benefit for people who are scatterbrained or who struggle with focus or concentration.

• Encourages ideas & creativity. Reading allows your mind to express its imagination freely. That’s because, when you read, your mind creates visuals of what you’re reading. Have you ever noticed that when you read a book, you have a picture of what the character looks like in your mind? This is your mind, creating. Reading is like giving your mind a clear canvas to express itself (yourself), and you know the saying “practice makes perfect”, so the more opportunities you give your mind to imagine, the more creative it becomes and the more ideas it produces.

• Increases self esteem/confidence. All self care activities will increase your self esteem and confidence. And I identified in benefit # 6 above why reading is a form of self care. Remember, self care is the action of improving, protecting, and preserving your mental, emotional, and physical health and wellbeing. When your subconscious mind observes you doing things to take care of yourself, it feels love radiate from you to YOU. That immediately increases self esteem and builds confidence. Don’t underestimate taking care of yourselves ladies, it’s lit!!!

• Freedom from mind control, societal, and cultural programming. I could go on for days about this. I have so much to say about this one benefit (and cultural problem) that I could write a whole separate blog just about this one topic. But, I’ll just say this - Because technology is so advanced, our minds are a lot easier to manipulate and program. Certain media outlets are programming your mind to fear, believe, perceive, and think to alter our behaviors. We have to be careful not to get drawn into believing everything we see and forming opinions, beliefs, and conclusions based on what’s being told to us in the media. This is why choosing what to watch on TV and choosing who/what you follow and engage with on social media is SO important. You have to be careful and conscious of what kind of information you are allowing your mind to absorb.

Reading will assist you with keeping your mind free of control and manipulation because it continues to improve your cognitive skills and encourages independent thinking. Additionally, reading allows you to be in control of the type of information you are exposed to. Reading also gives you the freedom of choice. You get to decide what you read, what you learn, what you believe, what you think, and how you want to behave.

• Assists in self improvement, growth, evolution, and personal development. When I first became an avid reader, I read mostly for entertainment. Mysteries and thrillers are my jam ( I am also obsessed with documentaries). But, once I started down the path of self discovery, I began reading self improvement and personal development books, and now I’m obsessed with them!!! I still read for pleasure and entertainment because reading anything is one of my favorite hobbies. But, if you are seeking a way to work on yourself and/or improve some qualities and characteristics that you have, then picking up a self help/self improvement book is the first step at working on you!

4 easy steps to get into the habit of reading more.

1. Find a topic that you are interested in. You can read about almost any topic in the world. Think about a hobby, something you want to learn, something that interests you, you can also read for entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with a good mystery or a good juicy drama filled read.

2. Once you identify a topic or genre that you’re interested in, purchase the book, bookmark the website, subscribe to the email list, subscribe to the magazine or newspaper, etc. Bottom line, purchase or get access to the read.

3. Decide on a frequency and time to read. How often do you want (or need) to exercise your mind? Is it daily, weekly, bi-weekly? I wouldn’t suggest once a month because you need more repetitions in order to see an impact. Personally, I read every day for 30 minutes. It’s a part of my morning routine. But for you, decide on a frequency that works for you, choose a day of the week and time, and commit to your decision.

4. Get started. That’s it! Start doing it. Committing to it will help you make it a habit so try not to put it off.

So, there you have it! Reading is an underrated life hack. With all of the technology that we have access to it’s so easy not to have to read. But, remember, not reading makes you mentally lazy and ultimately leads to your brain being underutilized which causes a debilitation of your brain and mental performance.

So, queens, don’t be one of those people who sugar from lazy brain syndrome. Don’t skim over words on a page or a computer. Read a book, read blogs or articles, read the manual for your newest purchase, read the directions of the recipe, google something you want to know/learn and READ what it tells you to do, grab a newspaper, pick up a magazine, get a self help book, read up on item reviews before your purchase. JUST READ. Put your mind on that treadmill a few times a week and you’ll see how your mind expands and your life experiences become more peaceful, favorable, and prosperous.