OWT Reads

Hi there, welcome to OWT READS!

I am an avid reader of books and I always find peace in reading after a hard day at work. It helps me find that quiet moment to slow down my thoughts and just drink deeply from the book itself. It’s sometimes through these moments that I find the solution to a problem that has been troubling me for hours before. Also, you never know when a great thought would pass through your mind while reading! Hence, I would love to use this space here to share what I’ve learned from some of my favourite books or videos.

However, I understand that not everyone is a reader. It may seem overwhelming to sit through a few hours reading a book. Here are some reading tips that I’ve gathered for you if you’re looking to pick up reading too.

Tips to start picking up reading easily:

• Start with completing a page, then ten pages, then by chapters. I usually prefer to go by chapters because it helps me tie what I’ve read from start to end.
• If you prefer to go with time spent, set aside a certain amount of time a day to read. You can play your favorite song or playlist on the lowest volume as background music and read for as long as the playlist is. I personally spend around 20 to 30 minutes a day reading.
• Schedule reading at a time of your convenience. Slot it after a daily schedule so that it comes naturally right after the previous event ends. For me, I read during my daily commute as that is a necessary routine from work to home everyday. Ever since Covid-19 happened, I set aside 30 minutes to read right after work. This reading break served to pull me out from the Work Zone to Rest Zone!
• Pick an easy book to begin with, preferably one with larger font sizes or lesser pages. Such books are less daunting and you may feel a lower barrier to start reading!

Online “Reading” Resources

One other reading tip I have is to check out alternatives to reading physical books. For those of you who love to obtain insights from books but still find reading a complete hassle, try out these online resources I’ve found! These creators have picked out the main insights from each book and translated them into very interesting visual content instead. It now takes you as fast as five minutes to complete a full book!

For those of you who already read regularly, I find these videos to be useful in giving me an overview of a book. Sometimes, I check out these summaries of a book before deciding whether to read them in detail or not. It’s like watching a movie before reading the book itself!

My Recommended Talks

• Life, Death and a Coin Flip – TEDxEmory
• Are we merely living or surviving? – Reflection from an ex-Special Force Soldier
• To overcome challenges, stop comparing yourself to others. – TED Talk

My Book Recommendations

Habits Formation

• The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy: How tiny steps compound to bring you results that you can’t even imagine when you first start out.
• Atomic Habits – You’ll understand how creating tiny changes and building small habits in your life can get you to your eventual goal.
• Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible – You’ll be able to accomplish any goal you set for yourself using the strategies shared in the book–no matter how big. You’ll also learn how to determine your own strengths, your true values in life, and what you really want to accomplish in the years ahead!

Communication

• Winning with People – John C Maxwell: Success of one can be traced down to the relationships one has with others.
• How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie: This book focuses a lot on communication and influence skills which you can apply in nearly every situation in your life. An important read to level up your communication skills!
• Personality Plus – This book gave me so much more insights in terms of understanding myself and those around me. You’ll learn how to accept and even enjoy the traits that make each of us so different. I’ve learnt to appreciate the differences of individuals even more now!

Life Lessons

• 134 books in 7 minutes – 7 life lessons in 7 minutes!
• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living – Dale Carnegie: A good read especially in this Covid-19 situation to help you manage your emotions.
• Tough times never last, but Tough people do! – Relevant for anyone who’s facing a tough period in your life, be it at work, home, personal matters or even because of the stress from this Covid-19 period that still sees no end

Reading Resources

I get my books mainly from Books Depositary. I’m a traditional reader when it comes to books, so I still love to purchase physical books. Although I appreciate the digitalised society in many aspects, books are something I choose not to digitalise. Flipping through the pages and smelling that unique print is something I find comfort in.

Why read from Books Depositary?

BooksDepositary offers good quality books and has free delivery most of the time even if you were to buy one book, so that’s amazing! I was also impressed with their customer service too at one point when I lost an entire batch of books over mail. The books never reached me after me patiently waiting for over a month. Upon contacting them over email, they responded promptly and scheduled a replacement shipment to me without any further delay. That replacement shipment reached me within two weeks! So, you can rest assure that you’ll definitely receive good quality books if you decide to go with BooksDepositary.

Thank you for taking time to READ through OneWayTicketz Reads!

I hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve shared here and maybe consider picking up reading! I can guarantee that reading will definitely add some value to your life like how it did for me 🙂 Do feel free to drop me a comment to let me know if you’ve benefited from what I’ve shared.

Also, please feel free to share your favourite resources for personal development with me too. I’ll be glad to know what works for you too! May you enjoy your reading journey~