“How to start a reading habit?” One of my Tiktok friends asked. I didn’t have to wait for a jolt to feel inspired to create or write that day. I got the prompt I needed to enter my creative zone.
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I got a pen and paper and started creating my points for discussion. I reckon, I could do a podcast episode for this question. I already started my opening lines but I realized, Matt Hutson could answer this question better than I do. Matt Hudson, the genius behind one of my favorite Instagram accounts, Bookmattic, when it comes to non-fiction, personal development and business books, I reckon, would have better tips than I do.
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I stopped working on my draft and instead wrote an email to ask one of the people I look up to when it comes to reading good books. I sent the email despite feeling intimidated and went on working on my talking points for the podcast episode just in case he’d not reply.
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I haven’t even finished what I was working on when I got a reply that he’s okay doing it. I got excited, thrilled yet nervous. I still need to do a lot of work to hone my interviewing skills and I know that I am still learning to fight my own anxiety when it comes to connecting with the people who are doing what I love doing too.
Writing and my creative pursuits gave me my “voice” without actually opening my mouth but doing podcast interviews have shown me that there are still things I need to work on and I am thankful for my guests for saying yes to my interview requests for they’re also helping me overcome my fear of using my actual voice to ask questions I was once scared of asking, for making me feel that I’m not alone in this creative path and connect with them and how I can stop always just talking about myself and how I see things by simply having them on the podcast.
In this episode I have learned and realized so much. I thought it’s just me who feels that the time here in first world country feels like it’s running so fast and that I could barely keep up and unlike in South East Asia where it feels like we have more time yet we couldn’t find better ways on how to use that time wisely like how Matt uses his time not just to read because aside from having a bookstagram, Matt has a blog, a Youtube channel, a podcast where interviews authors, an online course, teaching English, is doing his Masters, a husband and a father and reads three to seven books a week.
He has read nearly 300 books and the number of books he reads in a week just makes me feel that I have been not reading as much anymore especially after healing. Not that I am comparing. I just feel like I have not been reading so much anymore.
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This is probably the reason why I am starting to feel a little empty again or probably just under-thinking. I have not been “fueling my tank” well anymore since I dedicated my time solely on healing and now that I have healed, I can slowly go back to creating more again but first, pick up more books again. Matt’s easy tips on how to start a reading habit enlightened me as if I didn’t use to have book addiction.
I needed this interview to remind me how I could start reading constantly again especially now that I have a lot of time. I needed all the tips that Matt has given on this episode to be able to be on track again.
Here are my five takeaways for this interview that helped me go back to reading again and will surely help you if you want to start a reading habit.
“Read with a purpose and have in mind what you will learn in reading.”
“Read even for just 15 minutes.”
“Pick something that really interests you because if not, you are going to fall asleep.
If you don’t like the book, it’s okay to stop reading too.”
“It might not be something that interest you but maybe it will help you to develop yourself in your professional career.”
“Don’t get overwhelmed and maybe start with a thin book.”
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