We all know that reading books is good for your brain. But does that make you pick up that dusty book on your shelf?! Not quite, right? If you’re just focused on making money and enjoying life, you might want to reconsider the distractions keeping you from reading at least one book at all times.
Studies show that people who read, no matter if it’s for leisure or academic purposes, it strengthens your brain and your overall skills. Why stay at the same pace when you can excel at everything you do just from reading? Whether it’s socializing with people, remaining professional at work, or just gaining a better understanding of the world; you can strengthen your natural abilities and pick up new ones just from reading.
I don’t care if you’re into chilling with your friends on the block, or trying to pick up girls. Reading helps you do all of that. Don’t you get tired of trying to hold a conversation and you’re constantly saying “ummm” “like”, or using elementary-level words instead of words more in your age bracket??? Well pick up a book, ANY book, and read.
Here are 5 Reasons Why You Should Read More:
1) Expands Your Vocabulary
Every time you read, there are opportunities to increase your vocabulary. Don’t ignore these opportunities. Many of us tend to skip unknown words and gain general understandings of phrases or paragraphs from their overall context. To stop increasing your vocabulary is to stunt your intellectual growth. But one major way to to continue to grow intellectually is by reading, and adding a new word to your vocabulary either daily or weekly. Try hitting your friends with a new word they’ve never heard you say before, it’ll be funny to see their reactions, and comforting to see your intellectual progress.
2) Makes you More Well-Rounded in Your Conversations
We all know about those awkward moments of silence we encounter when talking to someone. Whether it’s your boss, teacher, or a girl you’re trying to talk to, a moment hits when you have no idea what to say. That’s when you hit them with “I read recently that……”. It always works, and never fails! When you read your brain is always working, and has a variety of things going on that you can use as good conversational pieces. Reading also increases your critical and analytical skills, so you’ll intellectually know how to transition from the awkward silence into whatever topic you choose to direct the conversation to. Reading helps you take control of any conversation because your mind is strengthened to do so.
3) Increases Your Confidence
President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z and other powerful prominent figures all exude a high level of confidence whenever they speak and we can definitely attribute that to their vocabulary and intellectual ability. Jay-Z came from Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, NY is now part of the powerful rankings of the Warren Buffets and Donald Trumps of the world. This comes from educating yourself, and of course….reading! Jay-Z has even released books of his own, so you’re never to “cool” to read, Jay-Z is living proof of that. Reading will help you rise to the occasion like no other. You can either be like Jay-Z, or Waka Flocka..…you pick!
4) Strengthens Your Brain
Reading stregthens your memory, critical, analytical, and intellectual ability. A group of Stanford neurobiologists examined blood flow in the brains of subjects who were instructed to read passages from a book while inside MRI machines. The findings were unexpected: Subjects were asked to read leisurely at first, and then to make a shift towards more critical reading. In both instances, the neurobiologists noticed an increase in blood flow that exceeded “just work and play.” In the case of more critical reading–the type you’d engage in while writing an essay or preparing for a test–blood flow increased beyond executive function regions, or those areas responsible for problem-solving.
In other words, both leisurely reading and close-reading could benefit us neurologically in pretty significant ways.
5) Reading is free!!!
The best joy of reading is that it will cost you close to nothing to read and enjoy that book. Whether you bought it used on Amazon, are borrowing it from a friend, or found a magazine on the bus. It’s cheap, and could possibly help change you life. In other words, you have NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain by reading.
Hopefully I helped motivate you to get that dusty book off the self and crack it open for once. Nothing is sexier than someone who reads :
Also, before you get your hopes up too much, don’t forget that video games have been proven to be good for your brain, too!
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Source: HuffingtonPost