Want to know one habit ultra-successful people have in common?
They read. A lot.
Warren Buffet claims to read 500 pages every day. I could read 500 pages every day if I had all his money.
And wow, Bill Gates reads 50 books a year! I read 75 books last year. I know others who read more than that. Where’s our millions?
But according to The Reading Habits of Ultra-Successful People (notice it is no longer good enough to be successful, one has to be ultra-successful to matter these days), just reading a lot is not enough:
Successful people tend to choose educational books and publications over novels, tabloids, and magazines.
In particular they read, biographies and autobiographies of other successful people. I like to read biographies about famous writers but as of yet no one has mistaken me for Virginia Woolf. I must not have read the right biography. Good thing there are so many to choose from!
The article elaborates further:
According to Tom Corley, author of Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, rich people (annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million-plus) read for self-improvement, education, and success. Whereas poor people (annual income of $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less) read primarily to be entertained.
I find this information and this article completely offensive. It implies that wealthy people are wealthy because they read a lot and should you happen to read a lot but not be wealthy, then you aren’t reading the right kinds of books. So no matter what, if you aren’t wealthy, it is all your fault.
Perhaps the people who are poor read primarily for entertainment because after working two minimum wage jobs and coming home to then have to take care of the kids and do all the daily chores of life, some entertainment is needed. Heck, after all they they probably don’t even have the energy to read anything. Perhaps poor people read for entertainment because they weren’t privileged enough to be able to go to college and don’t have the skills to read something more complex. Perhaps if you aren’t poor but also are not wealthy, you don’t define yourself and success by the number on your bank statement. Perhaps highly successful means having enough leisure time to read whatever you want to read from the well-funded public library nearby.
Warren Buffet and his 500 pages a day can kiss my ass.
/rant
Oh Stef, I love rants. But I am not offended by the article one bit. It is undeniable that reading for knowledge and reading for entertainment are both worthwhile pursuits. But they bring different rewards. One does not negate the other. Both have value. Literacy has always been the essential element to rise from poverty. Not all “poor people” read for entertainment. (Just ask Abe Licoln). Some folks I know came home to make dinner for the kids, and then read for their On-line course requirements because it meant a chance to rise. Education is the surest road to a better quality of life. Reading is always better than not reading, But it is also important to train the mind by reading that which enlightens. Hurrah for people like Buffett to encourage that kind of pursuit…or reading of any kind. Isn’t that what book folk are all about? Reading 500 pages of Newton or Carl Sagan or David McCullough is probably more beneficial than reading 500 pages of Joan Collins or Rita Mae Brown. I have friends and family members who do not have a college education and can still read and comprehend “complex” material better than I. That comment sounded a bit condescending although I trust that was not your intent. As always, you know how to initiate a great discussion, which is one of the reasons yours is a blog I do not miss! 😊
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Grad, ack! No, I did not intend to come across as condescending. Neither my parents nor grandparents went to college, heck Bookman doesn’t have a college degree either. I was looking for a shortcut to say not everyone has the privilege of a good education with good teachers in a school that is well-funded in an environment that encourages life-long learning. I did say no one has ever accused me of being Virginia Woolf, right? 😉 I agree with you that reading for knowledge and for entertainment are not mutually exclusive things, nor do all poor people read for entertainment, nor is it impossible to work a couple of jobs, come home feed the kids and take online classes. However, there are sometimes socio-economic factors beyond a person’s control that makes doing these things extremely difficult and if a person is unable to overcome those difficulties for whatever reason, they cannot be faulted. The thing that irritates me most about the article is that for me it falls into the sort of “self-help” category that says if you do X then Y will happen and the majority of the time Y does not happen and there is a general tendency I think if the desired outcome does not happen it is the person’s own fault (a pull yourself up by your own bootstraps mentality). I could start reading 500 pages a day of business books, economics, biographies, etc today but I will never have Warren Buffet’s wealth even if I wanted it.
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I agree with you Stefanie that too often those who succeed (not all, some) are completely oblivious of the fact that they’ve succeeded because of opportunities they’ve had (supportive parents for a start). Of course, there are always some who succeed without that, but for many the opportunities, the encouragement, even just the awareness that there are other options, aren’t there and to see people “blamed” for being poor is something that drives me bonkers. You just have to go to a primary school when your kid starts school and you can tell within weeks of kindergarten starting those children for whom life is going to be an uphill battle. You won’t be right 100% of the time, but you’ll be right more often than not. No fault of their own, no fault of their parents usually either …
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Well said. It is unfortunate that those who succeed under difficult circumstances are held up as examples for those who have not succeeded — see this person made it so you should be able to as well so stop making excuses. There is no simple fix for any of it, sure would be nice if there were.
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I get what you’re saying and definitely agree with you on a certain level. Although I think there’s some difference in reading for “entertainment” and reading entertainment, which is what I wonder if they mean. Although I read a number of fictional works, I try to read works that expand my knowledge about how others live. Since I supervise individuals who deal with individuals, I think that makes anew for my (low paying) career. However, I’m not sure if people get the same type of outcomes from reading tabloids or buzzfeed. So it’s an interesting thought.
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I suppose Buffett is writing in the Victorian self help tradition of Samuel Smiles which is not in itself such a bad thing. There is something a bit dismal about that phrase about reading always about other successful people. How dismal to just read books about other Trumps or Kardashians or (on another plane) Hitlers. Also the old distrust of the whole habit of reading fiction.
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I think even 50 Shades Of Grey offers more than Think Like A Champion by Donald Trump!
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Ian, no, it is not a bad thing in and of itself, only when it is presented as a kind of ultimatum — if you don’t do this then you can’t do that. I do have to wonder what sort of pleasure Buffet and other get from reading books about other successful people. Perhaps it is like a treasure hunt for things to try in order to be more successful? It is unfortunate that once again, and still, fiction gets a bad rap. If forced to choose I would definitely go for 50 Shades over Think Like a Champion! 🙂
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Absolutely Ian, I was thinking the same thing, that distrust of the value of fiction.
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Love, yes I do think they mean reading entertainment and I understand the article as saying fiction, no matter what kind you read, is entertainment since it emphasizes the successful people read nonfiction almost exclusively. There is much good to be said in my opinion about reading fiction of any kind whether it is James Patterson or James Joyce, escapist or ultra-literary but the article implies that kind of reading will not make you an “ultra-successful” person. Bah!
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UGH. And according to *whom* is the emotional intelligence that you learn as a thoughtful reader of fiction less “educational” or “useful” than reading a truck-load of biographies about other famous and successful people?
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Elle, exactly! But you know ei is still one of those “soft” skills that top execs think the people in customer service need to have but is not needed for themselves and their lawyers.
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I know!! It’s not only patronising, it’s frankly bizarre. You’re so much powerful if you understand people.
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I find that distinction between what wealthy/successful people read versus what “poor” people offensive too. It reminds me of our previous treasurer who said increasing fuel tax wouldn’t hurt “poor people” because “The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases”. Really? Not surprisingly he was howled down by many commentators.
But back to that statement – it’s offensive because it implies we all want to be rich; it’s offensive because it implies that to be rich you have to read certain sorts of books; it’s offensive because it implies that reading for entertainment has no value because the reason to read is to be rich. Or, have I extrapolated too much?
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whisperinggums, You said all that so much better than I did! Next time I’m going contract out the writing of my post to you 😉
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I don’t think so, just added to the conversation which you got started. But, I’m glad you liked how l said it.
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There is an excellent cartoon/comic doing the rounds through the webs that encapsulates what exactly privilege is, and why those “how to get rich..” books belong in either the fantasy or theology sections of most libraries
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-on-a-plate
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Sometimes a picture – well, a few pictures – tells a thousand words! This is excellent. thanks for sharing it.
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Seamus, thanks so much for that link, it’s a great comic that says it all so clearly! I agree with you, those “get rich” books do belong in fantasy!
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Ahahaha epic rant and such an awesome one! You had me snorting my morning tea 😀 Can’t stand this privileged yay capitalism and you just have to want it rhetoric so I loved your post. And don’t get me started on that educated rich vs stupid poor thing, argh! What made you read this one? Was the summary on the back cover interesting?
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Bina, thanks! I found the article linked in a library newsletter. The newsletter had no commentary on the linked article but I suspect it was intended to be a “see how great reading is” nod even though that is not what the article is about at all. And yeah, the educated rich/stupid poor thing is infuriating.
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“Perhaps highly successful means having enough leisure time to read whatever you want to read from the well-funded public library nearby.”
THIS!
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😀
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I was curious enough to click on links from that article to others which indicated what Gates and Buffet view as essential reading. Guess what: Buffet recommends “The Essays of Warren Buffett” by Warren Buffett. Gates to his credit is more broad in his interests – his list isn’t all about how to be wealthy but is more about ideas.
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BookerTalk, ahh, pearls of wisdom from Buffet. Gates isn’t the best, but as you say, at least he exhibits some broader interests.
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I really hate articles like this and the obsession over ” success.” Glad you ranted. And aren’t you glad you aren’t the person who wasted their time writing the article?
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Valorie, heh, good thing the article is pretty short so not too much time was wasted 🙂
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I’ve always read for both knowledge and for entertainment, but I don’t think I’ve ever read with the goal of financial success. Improvement in areas that interest me, yes. Entertainment, definitely.
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Love your clear statement here – I haven’t read with that goal either!
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jenclair, I’ve read a little bit about saving for retirement and that kind of thing but that is really different than reading for financial success. I wonder if a person really has to be driven by something to do that?
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Extremely offensive! I always thought knowledge in all ways and forms helps in one way or other! I cannot believe that only a category of reading will lead me to be successful because, really that seems a very restrictive way of looking at things and I cannot really believe that successful people have closed minds! Also I really want to understand what the article defines as successful…..it somehow seemed to equate successful to rich which I have a problem with! We all have our own definitions of success and to me while Warren Buffet is a rich man while Dr. Kailash Satyarthi who has enabled so many marginalized and deprived students an access to education, is a far more successful man! This article was just arrrrggghhhhhh!
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cirtnecce, oh yes, in this case successful means rich. I agree that equating success with wealth is narrow-minded. I wonder if the article was called “The Reading Habits of Rich People” whether I would have been so upset by it? I suspect not as much!
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To anyone who thinks “successful people tend to choose educational books and publications over novels…,” I quote Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey: “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
“Ultra-successful” people are usually that way because they have connections and inherited wealth. What they read doesn’t really matter.
Great rant!
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AMB, if I ever get into a lit fight I’m calling you! Way to bring the Austen quote! Plus, you are right, most of the really rich inherited their wealth and what they read has no bearing on it.
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If you ever need Austen quotes in a hurry, I’m definitely the right girl! 😉
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Yeah, that was interesting information up to the second quotation. I’m actually wondering if there’s a bit of an excuse written into it, because it’s said novels are as good as any and certainly it seems so – maybe because they don’t read novels they have to bring them down? (Wishful thinking, perhaps!)
There is some sense in it – reading about people you want to be like is going to be like studying for your work – but then it’s much more about ‘studying’ than ‘reading’ in itself and not really equated to the idea of reading helping you.
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Charlie, great distinction between reading and studying! It kind of shifts the lens a little bit. And yeah, maybe they are all jealous of us because we read novels and they only wish they could 🙂
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