Stop Drinking and Start Reading

Reading Changed My Life

Books have transformed my life beyond recognition.

The moment I started reading again, my entire world became ten times richer.

New ideas, new worlds, new possibilities — all unlocked through the simple act of opening a book.

There’s a strange belief many of us carry from school:

that every book we start must be finished.

If we don’t finish it, we feel like failures.

This mindset stops people from reading altogether.

But the real goal is simple:

build a reading habit.

Read anything. Read everything.

If a book doesn’t speak to you — drop it.

Pick up another.

Just keep reading.

The Limiting Belief

By the age of 30, I had read only a handful of books — the ones forced on me at school and a few sporting autobiographies. Somewhere along the way, I built a belief that reading was pointless because I couldn’t remember what I’d read.

I thought that if I couldn’t recall the words verbatim, it meant I was stupid.

So, to “protect myself,” I removed the problem entirely:

I stopped reading.

Problem solved — or so I thought.

It’s sad how proudly I repeated this story for years.

It shrank my world.

It held me back.

And I had no idea.

The Breakthrough

In my early thirties, I picked up a book again.

I read it.

I enjoyed it.

I remembered very little —

and for the first time, I didn’t care.

The next book changed everything.

Inside it was a simple truth:

Most people retain only about 20% of what they read.

I wasn’t stupid —

I was normal.

But I had lived for almost 15 years under a belief that put a lid on my entire world.

Now that was stupid.

From that moment on, I made a promise:

I will never stop reading again.

The Best Investment on Earth

Seth Godin summed it beautifully on Tim Ferriss’s podcast:

“Books are still the most amazing value. For £10, you can buy something that might change your life.”

Honestly — what product in the world gives you that kind of return?

And when you quit alcohol and the fog of hangovers lifts, something incredible happens:

you suddenly have the motivation, clarity and energy to learn again.

Use that energy.

Read.

Or, if reading isn’t your style, download audiobooks — there are millions of titles now waiting for you.

A Few of My Favourites

Fiction

• Catch-22

• 1984

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Non-Fiction

• Awaken the Giant Within

• Seneca — On the Shortness of Life

• Philosophy for Life

• Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice

• Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential

• Flourish

• The Willpower Instinct

If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them — great books deserve to be shared.