Bill Gates and Elon Musk both insisted that the key to getting smarter and successful is to read as many books as possible. So, you go and buy as many books as possible. But, we get busy and life gets in the way of our intentions. Therefore, many of the books we buy stay unopened. And soon, we find ourselves surrounded by books we once started reading but then put them back on the shelf. So, is this an entirely bad thing for your purpose of becoming smarter?
Well, if you don’t manage to read any book, then yes. You may want to google some tactics that will help you find more time to include reading into your busy schedule. On the other hand, if your book reading doesn’t correlate with your book buying you don’t have anything to worry. Because your overstuffed library is a badge of honor, not a sign of your failure.
The famous Italian writer Umberto Eco, himself, had a jaw-dropping library containing 30,000 volumes. Did he read every book? Of course not. But by being constantly surrounded by so much reading potential he was reminding himself of all the things he didn’t know and has yet to learn. His library kept him always curious and intellectually hungry.
Your library full of unread books is your powerful reminder of the fact that you are only human with limited time and a vast quantity of things you don’t know. When you constantly live your life reminding yourself of this fact, you will become more driven to learn new things.
Therefore, stop beating yourself up for buying more books than you have time to read. The books that stay unread on your bookshelves are not a sign of your ignorance. Rather, they show that you are way ahead of most people.
