5 Scientific Reasons Why Successful Entrepreneurs Read Every Day

What do most wealthy and successful people have in common besides a large account balance? They all understand the benefits of devoting time to reading and learning new things.

Take a look at the top 5 scientific reasons why successful entrepreneurs read as much as possible.  

Why do successful entrepreneurs read? 

1. Can reading really make me smarter?

Some would like to assume that intelligence describes just one human attribute, but science teaches us that intelligence consists of so much more. Intelligence is comprised of many different areas. Let’s look at what regular reading routines can do for these areas of intelligence.  

• • Logical Intelligence

Critical thinking is the ability to fully analyze and evaluate an issue in order to form your own judgment and opinion. Reading allows us to increase our overall intelligence levels by presenting us with various: plot and theme challenges; problem solving situations; and, patterns to detect and decipher. In fact, “The increased emphasis on critical reading and writing skills in schools may partly explain why students perform, on average, about 20 points higher on IQ tests than in the early 20th century.”  

• • Empathetic ‘Social’ Intelligence

In order to live a fulfilling life in society, you must learn how to interact with others; this skill translates very well into the business world. Reading allows us to venture into the minds of others and helps us to understand point of views that are similar and different to our own.    

• • Creative ‘Abstract’ Intelligence

Creativity defined is the use of one’s imagination to create or invent something new. When you read often, you’re essentially building up your own personal knowledge database that you can draw from when creating unique ideas.  

• • Artistic ‘Sensory’ Intelligence

Artistic intelligence, and/or spatial intelligence, measures one’s ability to visualize with the mind’s eye. When we read, we’re working out our brain by separating shapes, patterns and other identifying factors of letters. Reading also allows us to focus on small pieces of the story in order to decipher how those smaller pieces fit into the story as a whole. 

• • Mnemonic Intelligence

Mnemonic is the ability to absorb and store information. When you read, you’re forced to remember characters, events, locations and other nuances. So reading acts like a machine that helps you exercise your brain and form neural pathways. Further, reading a foreign language book actually encourages brain growth in both the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex.

2. Does reading enhance my ability to focus? 

Have you ever tried to read a book or long article and find yourself having to reread a sentence because you became distracted? It’s a common problem because it’s nearly impossible to concentrate on a book while you’re surrounded by interruptions.

The scientific reasoning behind this involves a multitude of neural factors:

“A number of brain regions are involved in reading and comprehension. Among them are the temporal lobe, which is responsible for phonological awareness and for decoding and discriminating sounds; Broca’s area in the frontal lobe, which governs speech production and language comprehension; and the angular and supramarginal gyrus, which link different parts of the brain so that letter shapes can be put together to form words.” – Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

As such, in order to fully comprehend what you’re reading, you have to become disciplined in being able to focus and concentrate on a particular activity. Reading allows you to build that discipline; requiring all of your attention.   

3. Can reading increase my empathetic intelligence?

Psychology Today defines empathetic intelligence as an emotional awareness that gives you the ability to:

• • Identify and decipher your own emotions and the emotions of others;  
• • Harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving;
• • Manage and regulate your own emotions and the emotions of others.

Scientific studies have shown that, “Reading fiction can improve the reader’s ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes and flex the imagination in a way that is very similar to the visualization that an athlete would use to activate the motor cortex and muscle memory used in sports during a mental rehearsal.”

 One of the most impactful reasons why successful entrepreneurs readevery day is because 90% of the top performers in the workplace have high emotional intelligence. Empathy, in general, leads to stronger and more meaningful relationships inside and outside of the office setting.  

4. Does reading improve my quality of life?

Measuring someone’s quality of life is highly subjective. However, there are currently some interesting ways that people are using reading to improve their quality of life.

• • Bibliotherapy is a widely used therapeutic approach to treating mood-related conditions such as depression, mild alcohol abuse, anxiety, eating disorders and communications issues. A therapist will “prescribe” certain bodies of work for the patient to read; instructing them to identify with a character that’ll lead to rational insight and potential solutions to the patient’s problems. 

• • In a long-term study conducted on twins, it was concluded that, “Early remediation of reading problems might not only aid in the growth of literacy, but may also improve more general cognitive abilities that are of critical importance across the life span.” 

• • Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive mental deterioration of the brain where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. If you’re looking to prevent or prolong Alzheimer’s disease, “evidence suggests that intellectual activities, like reading, have cognitive benefits.” 

• • The National Center for Biotechnology Information summarizes the benefits as, “The ability to read and comprehend text is undoubtedly important in modern society, and reading ability has been associated with improved health, education, socioeconomic status and creativity.”

Reading is one of our oldest forms of entertainment and allows you to travel through different times, distances, cultures and realms. There’s a reason why we all know the common opinion: “The book is better than the movie.” 

5. Why is it important to read every day?

If you’re an entrepreneur that likes to know the hobbies and practices of super successful professionals, you’ll find that reading makes the list every time. That’s because super successful tycoons know the benefits of reading and exposing themselves to as much knowledge as possible.

• • Did you know, “Warren Buffett credits many of his great money decisions to his voracious reading habit. He says he starts every morning by poring over several newspapers and estimates he spends as much as 80 percent of his day reading.”  

• • Bill Gates is an avid reader and reads around 50 books each year. Even though he’s one of the richest people in the world; traveling often and meeting new people, he believes, “Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.”

• • With a net worth of $3.2 billion, many would like to know the secret to Mark Cuban’s success. Would it surprise you to learn that Cuban has an insatiable appetite for books? He shares, “I read every book and magazine I could. Heck, three bucks for a magazine, twenty bucks for a book. One good idea would lead to a customer or a solution, and those magazines and books paid for themselves many times over. Some of the ideas I read were good, some not. In doing all the reading I learned a valuable lesson.”

Jump into the pool of success by building your knowledge database through reading and self-education.

***

We hope these top reasons why successful entrepreneurs read will encourage you to dust off your bookshelf and start experiencing, firsthand, how beneficial reading can be for you.

If you liked this article, like our Facebook Page and get new articles in your newsfeed each week that are designed to inspire, educate and help entrepreneurs.