You Can Read 100+ Books a Year (Let Me Show You How I Do It)

Author

Matt Karamazov
November 08, 2023

YOUTUBE  đź“š  THE READING LIFE  đź“š PATREON

đź“š Hey, good evening!

Consider this great quote about reading from Warren Buffet’s business partner, Charlie Munger:

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time - none, zero. You’d be amazed at how much Warren reads – at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”

Now, for me to read 1,200+ books in the last 10 years, I had to read pretty much constantly.

I’m not saying that it’s attainable for everybody, and I’d even go so far as to say that it’s not even NECESSARY for everybody.

You’ll get much further by reading 10 fantastic books and applying them than you will by reading 1,000 books and doing nothing with them.

That being said, for reasons that will become clear further down in this email, reading gave me my life back.

I owe much of my success and fulfillment in life to reading great books, and most people don’t need to read fewer books. They need to read more.

Nowadays, I read 100+ books a year (with GREAT, but not PERFECT comprehension and retention), and these 3 things help me tremendously:

 1. Schedule Your Reading FIRST, and Then Schedule Everything Else AROUND IT

If something’s not in your schedule, it’s like it doesn’t exist. And if it’s REALLY important to you, it should appear in your calendar FIRST, almost like an unbreakable appointment with yourself.

Reading could be the single greatest thing you do for your personal development (Point #3 Below), and you can’t just “hope” to make time for it.

Hope is not a strategy.

2. Airplane Mode. Seriously. 

There’s virtually NOTHING that will make a bigger difference in the number of books you read (and the quality of the information you retain) than eliminating distractions and giving reading the respect and undivided attention it deserves.

After all, you’re doing this FOR YOU. 

You need to have a CLOSED DOOR policy when it comes to your scheduled reading time.

All these interruptions and people asking you for “5 minutes of your time”? Do you think that giving in to everybody’s requests for your time is SERVING you?

I doubt it.

When someone interrupts you, it’s usually because they want something from you. “Only” a few minutes of your time.

Hear This: Anyone who says that it’s “only 5 minutes” understands NOTHING about the true value of time.

3. WHY Do You Read? Multiply the Amount You Read by Figuring This Out Ahead of Time 

Reading gave me my LIFE BACK.

It changed everything for me, and I am literally unrecognizable (in a good way) from the person I was BEFORE I had read 1,200+ books.

For me, reading is primarily about freedom: mental freedom, financial freedom, time freedom, and every other kind.

Reading books helped me become a full-time creator and buy my first Porsche.

Reading books helped me regain control of my time (and my life) and shape myself into the person I am today.

READING IS EVERYTHING TO ME, and so, naturally, I make time for it. A LOT of time for it. As in: “100+ books a year” time for it.

It’s important.

My “Why” is strong AF, and I will NEVER let anyone - or anything - separate me from my books.

I’ll leave it there for now, but reading is one of those things that basically no one ever regrets, ever.

And because most people won’t do it, it can become your Competitive Advantage.

It would be fantastic if you could share this newsletter on Twitter (and follow me there if you haven’t already), but what I’d like even more than that is if you made reading an absolute priority in your life.

You won’t regret it.

All the best,

Matt Karamazov

P.S. Out of the 1,200+ books I’ve read and taken detailed notes on in the last 10 years, these 50 books are some of the absolute greatest. Happy reading!