By now, it’s a well-known fact — Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger fill a significant portion of their waking hours reading.  Now, a cynic may argue that their billionaire status affords them that kind of luxury of time.

But the fact is, they have been doing this habitually for decades — way before their cash flows put them atop the Forbes 400.  The compounded value of their accumulated knowledge is worth far more than the material wealth they’ve assembled, and you too can attain this wealth.

I’m humbled to have worked alongside some of Boston and New York’s most prominent business leaders, and I’ve found a common thread of curiosity and habitual reading among my colleagues and renowned figures alike.  Benjamin Franklin, Bill Clinton, Barack & Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Kobe Bryant, and many others — they’re all readers.

There is some simple wisdom in this for all of us: Read, read a lot, and do it methodically.  Remember, how you read matters.

Reading won’t suddenly make you financially secure or famous. It might, but more often than not, that process takes time.  Reading (quality reading), however, allows you to challenge and develop the most powerful muscle endowed to a human being–the brain, our own internal software.  The more you develop it, the more you stimulate your creative and intellectual potential.  This process leads to knowledge acquisition, which upon reflection and contemplation transforms into wisdom. Simply put, you get smarter. The benefit from of the process of reading for growth is priceless.

Buffet was once asked how he became such a savvy investor.  He held up a stack of papers and said “I read 500 pages like this everyday.  That’s how knowledge builds up, like compound interest.”  We can all build knowledge, but most of us won’t put in the effort.

That’s what it takes — effort. We all want the benefits of knowledge — the wealth and the glory of startup stardom, but most of us won’t make the investment of effort and time to learn what it takes to get there. Most among us won’t make that sacrifice.

I’m not saying that you should quit your day job or neglect your daily obligations to live in a library. My point is that you should make quality reading (knowledge and wisdom acquisition) a part of your daily process — just as you eat, so too should you read.  With a focus on diversity of materials and time for digestion.

For the social media and TV loving generation we’ve become, technology companies and television producers are adamant about upgrading their products and pushing the envelope to keep us glued to our screens.  My challenge for you is this — When was the last time you upgraded your internal software? Invest now and watch it grow.

Creative Commons Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortunelivemedia/10311228024

Daniel Acheampong

Daniel Acheampong the Board President of Startup Stir. A graduate of Brandeis university, Daniel works as an Associate at Summit Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm.

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