The Power of Reading - Are You a Reader?

We’ve all heard that lifelong readers do better at pretty much anything. How important is reading? Here are some interesting statistics associated with reading (from the website http://www.readfaster.com/education_stats.asp#literacystatistics.)

More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level—far below the level needed to earn a living wage.

56 percent of young people say they read more than 10 books a year, with middle school students reading the most. Some 70 percent of middle school students read more than 10 books a year, compared with only 49 percent of high school students

There are almost half a million words in our English Language - the largest language on earth, incidentally - but a third of all our writing is made up of only twenty-two words.

Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.

The educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are imperiled because they don't read well enough, quickly enough, or easily enough.

And more from http://desicritics.org/2007/10/27/053758.php

· 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school

· 42% of college graduates never read another book

· 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.

· 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years

· 57% of new books are not read to completion.

· Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.

Why do we quit reading when it is one of the easiest ways to continue to educate ourselves? Probably lots of reasons; time, a learning disability (although this is less of a reason with audio books), and we don’t see the value of continuing to read, but reading is an important way to learn. Readers are more likely to advance in their jobs.

Don’t let yourself be another statistic! Read a book (preferably nonfiction since reading fiction can be the equivalent to watching a soap opera on TV!). If you don’t like reading, get audiobooks—there is a lot of downtime in the car and listening to CDs is an easy way to pass the time. You will be surprised at how far reading can take you. Knowledge is power!

Check with your leader or upline and ask what books they are reading today.

Remember Leaders Read. Suggested Books: Bible, The Go Giver, Go for No, The Greatest Networker in the World, The Answer, Who Moved My Cheese