Like many people, I am ashamed to admit that I have become a “skimmer,” which is a far cry from the voracious reader that I used to be in earlier years. In fact, as a kid, it was more common than not that I would be in the middle of a 500-page book. (Color me nerdy.)
But today, skimming is a real problem.
We are only touching the surface of an idea. We truly aren’t getting into the deeper and finer points of the content.
Just get to the point, you say. What’s the baseline so I can understand what you are talking about, so I can move on to the next subject / article.
That’s the problem. There’s just so much information available from so many different areas that we simply don’t have time to go in-depth about anything anymore.
And that’s a terrible excuse.
By skimming, we are only acquiring the basic details, and missing out on the critical thinking aspects of the content, and skipping over meaningful points, new ideas, and the powerful questions that can spark innovation and change within ourselves and our careers.
Which brings me to the point:
What and how you read shapes your career.
Like the time-tested NBC slogan, “The More You Know,” what you read and how you read it can be helpful in tons of ways that completely shape your career:
- Gives you something to talk about in interviews
- Helps break networking ice when you know something about contact’s company
- Introduces you to new ideas / applications of concepts that can positively impact your work
- Sparks you to create your own concepts and innovations
- Enables you to consider options that you never considered before
- Makes you smarter by growing your knowledge base
Think about each one of these points and how they might impact and shape your career.
The possibilities are endless, and could help shape your career in unimaginable ways.
So take the time to read, and don’t just skim. You never know when inspiration can hit.