Why entrepreneurs should make it their business to read the right books
The world at large is paying the price for not reading, or more accurately, for not reading the right books. Books make the perfect ally in the battle against stress — not in the escape-into-fantasy kind of way but by strengthening our neural synapses. Simply put, the right books help us think better and therefore, be better humans, parents, teachers, and entrepreneurs.
Here are three reasons why as an entrepreneur, you must take time off, every once in a while, to seek guidance and wisdom from the most important books ever written.
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The right books hone comprehension
Understanding, or comprehending, is one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur must be able to understand the market, their employees, their clients, their consumers, and most of all, themselves. Not a day goes by in the life of an entrepreneur when he or she is not expected to understand something — from the reason behind the printer's constant failure to the new economic laws.
By reading the right books, an entrepreneur invests their time and attention in understanding the causes behind events and occurrences. The right book urges the reader to think and understand before forming conclusions. Such practice, when honed with time, can help the reader understand problems, unforeseen challenges, employee grievances — casualties that are far too common in an entrepreneur’s life — and deal with them accordingly.
The right books bridge borders
The right book not only helps you understand your next-door neighbour or that 'strange' employee; it also helps one understand cultures. The history of anthropology, in fact, history itself is a testimony to the fact that people spring from cultures; their habits, their conduct, their thoughts, and their actions are but a summary or concoction of the culture they come from.
The right books help us gain not only patience in dealing with people of all kinds, they give us the knowledge of the cause of their behavior and attitude. A person who is a good judge of people is more often than not, good with people. Such a trait can prove most useful when you are hiring someone or dealing with a difficult client or employee.
The right books teach communication
The oldest known books were written with a single aim — to communicate. They communicated to their readers the knowledge of right and wrong, wisdom and courage natural laws, and much more. From the Bible to 1984, Popol Vuh to The Fountainhead, Mahabharata to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, books were written to communicate to us our past and our future. And the right books also whisper to us our present.
Many like Huxley's Brave New World, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Kerouac's On the Road, and more, give the reader a thread to his present by conveying the true genesis of the past and by unhinging the makings of a dystopian future. With all of entrepreneurship principally revolving around communication — through words, colours, and emotions — it pays to learn and understand the intricacies of communication from those who championed it first and best.
While almost everyone can afford the right book, not everyone can read the right way. Fortunately, there are small groups of people, who after studying the right books themselves are ready to help those who are willing to evolve and permanently weed out confusion from their lives. The right books are mankind's greatest friends as they offer truth, love, and wisdom in return for dedication and will. So, what are you waiting for? Pick any from the names suggested in the article and start reading.
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