the editor talks with you

W. ould you rather listen to someone read a book aloud than read it yourself? I‘ll admit to liking both. My cell phone Libby account, my Kindle on my bedside table and a living room table are full of books. I’m even trying to unload hundreds of them we’ve collected over the years to give others an opportunity to be inspired by them, too. When I’m driving, I listen to books. In the last year these have included biographies of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, magazine publisher Cathy Black, comedian Bob Hope, Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ father, like his son an amazing man deeply involved in Bill’s and Melissa’s charitable work. Also books by Ben Carson, Joe Sugarman, Earl Nightingale and Clement Stone, and novels by John Steinbeck, Elmore Leonard and Ray Bradbury. I’m even working on a novel and have been listening to and reading best-selling author James Scott Bell’s books on how to write novels people want to read. An innate joy comes with hearing a great story read by a great narrator. Homer didn’t write the “Iliad” or the “Odyssey” to be read. Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be heard and seen. The theater and movies bring words to life and enhance our overall experience. Before Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount became part of the Bible, it was a sermon.

You might ask if that may not be dangerous, distracted driving. Not so. Jessica Hamzelou explains in the New Scientist that when our minds wander, they switch “into autopilot mode.” This allows us to on do tasks quickly, accurately and without conscious thought. The region of our brains that does this is the Default Mode Network. It becomes active only when performing rote tasks. Driving, mundane work, chores, exercising and grocery shopping can all be repetitive activities. Such tasks are likely to activate your brain’s DMN. If you’re going to perform rote tasks, why not listen to a good book? You can’t read while driving, but you can listen.

Thomas Corley researched the daily habits of 177 self-made millionaires. “Daily habits dictate how successful you will be in life,” he wrote in “Change Your Habits, Change Your Life.” All habits can be changed, Corley said. Self-made millionaires read. They would rather be educated than entertained. 88% of rich people devote 30 minutes or more each day to self-education and most of them do not read for entertainment. “The rich read to acquire or maintain knowledge,” he said. Corley found that they tended to read or listen to audio book biographies of successful people, self-help or personal development and history. If I am any example, I am reading David McCullough’s “1776” – a momentous year in American history – and listening to “Code Name Lise” about Allied spies in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. What are you reading or listening to?

Next: Haunted houses

Like what you just read?

Inspire yourself or a loved one with a personally-autographed copy of Maverick Entrepreneur’s Million Dollar Strategies. It lays out a road map for your success. And it’s only $20. Call 359-7633.