Reading books will give you more benefit than what money can buy

Do you read books? If you do, that’s fantastic. If you don’t, then it will be good idea for you if you start now.

Books provides you with thought provoking ideas, improves your knowledge and makes you think.

Honestly, I did not read books. The only book that i read is “Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan by Shannon Ahmad”. It was one amazing classic novel in Bahasa Melayu. That was during my form six in St.George’s institution, Taiping, Perak.

During my sailing days, I have an experience that is worth more than what money can buy. I was joining a ship in Kemaman, Malaysia; together with another 3 deck officers. All of us were joining the ship as a trainee Dynamical Positioning Officers. Once onboard, as we were unpacking our luggage, I noticed one officer who did not bring much clothes in his luggage. He had at least 12 books which filled up half of his bag. Being a seafarer, we normally bring minimum essentials.

As we get to know each other, the officer who had brought plenty of books had highlighted the importance of reading books. He said, only by reading you can improve your knowledge. Knowledge is power. The power to decide the direction of your life.

I was already 38 years old then, and he was 10 years younger. An advice coming from a person who was so much younger than myself made a difference to my life. Why don’t I read books? Was it due to laziness, or simply my ignorance? Captain Sasitharan, the young officer is the CEO of Petra Marine Sdn Bhd, now. He became a CEO at the age of 39 while I was still sailing as a Captain.

After getting off the ship, couple of days later, I went to the book shop and spent RM 500 to buy books for my new hobby. There were people who had looked at me in a weird way as if I was crazy spending so much money on books. Those book that was suggested by my friend helped me to gain important financial knowledge. It helped me to make a lot of money from stocks, precious metal, unit trust and so on.

How many of us will listen to good advice? Even Malaysia’s ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir mentioned that he reads every day and advised everyone to read. We never listened to understand, to understand the importance of reading.

In today’s consumer-driven, commercial world; most people end up with watching videos, advertisement, tic-toc, you tube that our brain feel more pleasure to the visual presentations. Give yourself a chance to grow successfully, start with a short simple book like, “Who Moved My Cheese” by Dr. Spencer Johnson. You will be amazed with what reading does to your intelligence.

How it will improve your perception, your thoughts, your well-being and your direction in life. Wait, I also learned that reading does more wonders to you. Science has proven that reading does improve your memory, makes you feel better and positive. It has also proven that your health can benefit from reading too.

Health benefits includes helping with depression, reducing stress, reducing chances of Alzheimer later in your life. Go ahead, search the internet for the benefits of reading, your life longevity will be increased too, as found by Yale University’s research.

What are you waiting for? Start reading, your reading experience will enhance you vision in your mind. It is like watching a movie but with more intensity.