Reading Habits of Highly Effective People [Infographic]

Oscar Wilde is right: “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

I read about 1-2  books per week. Like a miner searches for gold, I read because it’s my daily sustenance for learning. In fact, I am addicted to learning. One of my dreams is to have a Beauty-in-the-Beast like personal library in my house. The truth is leaders are consummate learners. The following #infographic shares reading habits of some of the most successful people.

Reading Habits That Lead to Success #Infographic

amazon

Leaders are readers. According to an HBR article, “Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that in it you have to take off your shoes and bow.”

  • Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: “Books were my pass to personal freedom.”
  • Mark Cuban, zealous owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, reads more than three hours every day.
  • Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours a day.
  • Billionaire entrepreneur David Rubenstein reads six books a week.
  • Pastor Rick Warren readers a book a day.
  • Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

If you are wondering what to read, here’s a list of great books you can start with:

  1. Top 30 Books Every Young Professionals Should Read
  2. The 11 Most Thought-Provoking Books on Leadership
  3. 10 Most Influential Christian Leaders Pick 5 Most Influential Books
  4. Here Is The One Perfect Book For Every Single Myers-Briggs Type
  5. 10 Books That Will Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
  • Lynn Hare

    Excellent post, Paul. I’m excited to start each day reading the Word. I read informational/inspirational material at night before I go to sleep. But I’m noticing that wealthy, successful people take prime time to read – many throughout the day. I think I need to do that. Reading top-shelf content is important – especially for those of us who are authors.

  • Read until something happens!

  • Niels Nielsen

    I’m all for reading but can you back up the claim that CEOs read more than one book per week?