I listen to a book
As much as I am not a fan of reading books, there are some titles that I really would like to go through. There is only one problem, I barely got time to do that.
If I want, I would find the time, but there are so many distractions, that this will still be a challenge.
I even purchased a book months back to read (Simon Sinek - Start With Why). I started, and it was interesting but then I do not come back to it despite leaving it on my desk so each time I am going to bed I see that this is not finished.
To read a book you need to dedicate yourself to it, at least in my example. I am not a person who will read a bit, put a bookmark and go back to it next time. I would like to read it, part, chapter or section, and then maybe pause.
With my mentality, that I would like to do as much as possible in my free time, I lack time for reading.
I never managed to sacrifice myself to read a book unless I need to.
Most of the books, that I had been forced to read through school were boring. I don’t like that, I was not a fan of the content and quickly I lose the patience to read.
The situation was a bit different when I go to the University. There, I read the necessary books to gain knowledge. This was different. I have been reading something that I need and I want to learn to progress. Nobody force me to do so and I knew they this was something that I need to spend my time.
Right now, when I am reading on screen a lot throughout the day, I don’t have time for books.
I purchase a book so I want to force myself into it again, especially since I want to read it.
What I noticed recently, the only time that I got for myself and my head is when I am walking a dog or driving to work. I can listen to music at that time, but instead of that, I tried first with podcasts. Sadly, doing these two tasks, I cannot read at in same time.
I started to listen to podcasts sometime now and find out, even though I have been sceptical about that, that is a quite good way to fill my head with things that I am interested in.
However, what I noticed, it all depends on the person and the narrator. If the person’s voice is not appealing to me, making me sleepy or boating, this will not work.
I found some courses on LinkedIn that present some interesting topics but the lecturer’s voice is not great and going through the course is like dragging me through it. It’s difficult, I understand that. It’s not this person’s fault. I can’t stand my voice in recorded form hence I don’t think I could be a good pre-recorded lecturer either.
I found a podcast for a person that I am currently interested in and that I found his voice appealing (Simon Sinek, but also Hal Elrod).
Simon Sinek released a book that I purchased.
I found out that Simon’s podcasts worked well, so I decided to look into audiobooks.
I found out that the book that I purchased in paper form is narrated by himself, the author. I like Simon’s voice, hence having him narrate his book was appealing. So I purchased it and start listening.
The podcasts however were different from than narrated book. Podcasts have been more alive and more energetic – different.
The beginning of the book sounds a bit artificial. Like “just a reading”.
Same person, same voice, however, something has been missing.
I keep going and noticed that this was just the beginning. It quickly changed once you go further and further. Great!
The book, which has 7.5 hours of listening time, connect with me and I got the same feeling when I listened to his podcasts. I want more!
Each time I walk a dog or drive a car I am moving further and further in it.
When I arrive at my destination I am trying to find a perfect spot to pursue to not lose the plot.
This feels different because I couldn’t imagine pausing reading in the middle of the section. When I carry on listening I feel the continuity. I don’t need to go back to “re-read” the previous paragraph. I can carry or.
Books may not be for everybody, but accessing books through audiobooks is a good solution for busy people, for people like me.
It feels odd to say that I read a book, so is more likely better to say that I listened to a book, but is that any different?
You read or somebody read to you. If you pay attention and digest it in your head it’s becoming like “a reading experience”.
In the end, I “read” a book and I feel that this is not the last and will give it another try to another one. Overall I got three other books from Simon waiting in my “want to read” section in Apple Books.
From the book Start With Why1 there is one thing that stuck with me deeply as it represents my curret feeling in my professional life:
“For all organisations that go through the split, they are no longer inspired by a cause greater than themselves. They simply come to work, manage systems and work to reach certain present goals. (…). The passion is gone and the inspiration is at a minimum. (…) for most who show up every day what they do is just a job.”
But there is hope, there is a light…
“What if we showed up to work every day simply to be better than ourselves?” (…) for no other reason than because we want to leave the organization in a better state than we found it"
