Check Out These Ways To Be Addicted To Reading Habit

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” - George R. R. Martin

Wouldn’t it be nice to have everything run on autopilot? Including reading a book everyday automatically. Unless they manage to invent something to manipulate your mind, all your habit isn’t going to be cultivated overnight. But if you program behaviors as a habit, you can take out the struggle.

With a small amount of initial discipline, you can create a habit of reading that requires little effort to maintain.

Here are seven tips to make you pick up a book automatically everyday:

Start Simple – Don’t try to completely change your life in one day. It is easy to get over-motivated and take on too much. If you wanted to read two hours a day, first make the habit to go for thirty minutes and build on that.

Stay Consistent – The more consistent your habit the easier it will be to stick. If you want to start reading, try pick up a book at the same time, to the same place for your thirty days. When cues like time of day, place and circumstances are the same in each case it is easier to stick.

Form a Trigger – A trigger is a ritual you use right before executing your habit. If you wanted to wake up earlier, this could mean waking up in exactly the same way each morning. If you wanted to read you could place a book near your bed and read it before you sleep.

Be Imperfect – Don’t expect all your attempts to change habits to be successful immediately. It took me a few independent tries before I started to push myself to read each day. Now I love it. Try your best, but expect a few bumps along the way.

Use “But” – A prominent habit changing therapist once said this great technique for changing bad thought patterns. When you start to think negative thoughts, use the word “but” to interrupt it. “I’m no good at forming a habit of reading, but, if I work at it I might get better later.”

Associate With Role Models – Spend more time with people who model the habits you want to mirror. A recent study found that having an obese friend indicated you were more likely to become fat. You become what you spend time around. Make friends with people who like to read (this is really important).

Know the Benefits – Familiarize yourself with the benefits of making a change. Reading is like time-travelling, you live someone else’s life many times over, but you never die. Reading is like picking the brain as well - you learn ideas in 20 minutes that took someone else 20 years to figure out.