The Typical Behavior of Profitable Investors

To become a successful investor, you must read. Business newspapers, books, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, etc. are frequently the first resources used by those who wish to become successful investors. They uncover a lot of confusing stuff, but some of it is excellent. This makes it extremely difficult to understand “what,” “why,” “when,” “how,” and “how much” of the information one must take in.

1) How Can I Schedule Reading Time?

Lack of time is a frequent justification given by people for not reading more. Unfortunately, though, that argument isn’t very persuasive because the wealthiest people in the world—Charlie Munger, Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, and others—always find time to read. In other words, reading is more about replacing time than it is about finding it.

An example might be: You are cooking or going to work. An audio book might be a great way to pass the time in between. An hour of reading on your Kindle app can easily replace an ineffective hour of social media browsing if you’re riding the Metro to work.

Examine your whole day by conducting a time audit. It may surprise you to learn that there are three to six timeslots available for reading. These time frames don’t have to be the same, though. You may mix them up a little instead. Let’s say you have 30 to 45 minutes to read throughout your commute.

You can most likely read a book during that time, but you should also schedule these brief 10- to 15-minute breaks. The best time to read a few newsletters is usually at tea time. At first, this may seem a little haphazard, but it will all make sense. Over the course of a month, you would have accumulated a solid fifty to sixty hours of reading time.

2) How Should I Read Each Day?

In his fantastic book “Atomic Habits,” James Clear outlined many methods that anybody may use to develop positive habits and break negative ones. As it happens, several of these strategies are also easily applicable to the development of a reading habit. For example, regardless of your level of willpower, you would most likely struggle to lose weight if you have a lot of fried foods in your home.

In a similar vein, you have a greater probability of reading a few books beside your bedside than browsing social media after bed. There is a lot of discussion on little habits if you have read “Atomic Habits.” The secret here is to divide big jobs into smaller, more doable pieces. The same idea applies to a method of reading books. Let’s say you have a week to read Mohnish Pabrai’s “The Dhandho Investor.” It is around 208 pages long, or 30 pages every day.

Here’s what you can do if you want to finish it in a week. Grab seven Post-it notes. Write the names of the seven days of the week on each note. The beginning day of your reading week is shown on page 1. Then you put Tuesday on the thirty-first page. Wednesday arrives on the 61st day, and so on. In effect, you’re setting a daily goal for your brain.

Using these straightforward Post-it notes gives you a visible marker in addition to a conceptual goal, which undoubtedly increases your motivation. Therefore, give these two strategies a try to improve your reading habits.

3) Is Speed Reading Necessary?

Speed reading is regarded by many as the best knowledge hack. In any case, this has resulted in hundreds of YouTube videos that claim to teach this transformative ability. Nowadays, speed-reading is similar to viewing a movie twice as fast. You might be able to follow the main narrative, but you would be losing out on small elements like the conversation, music, and tension.

Speed reading is useful for finding material fast, which is useful while studying for tests, but it is ineffective for learning about investment or other related topics. When reading investment-related materials, your goal should not be to finish the book. Rather, it should focus on understanding the book, reflecting on what you have learned, and then applying that information to your investing model and worldview.

Audio books and certain YouTube videos that focus more on listening may be the only exception to this rule. Therefore, if the voice speed is a little slower, they can be digested at 1.25x or 1.5x. When it comes to reading materials, it is strongly advised to take your time in order to fully comprehend the content and to refrain from utilizing pointless strategies like speed reading.