3 Reasons Why Reading Makes You A Better Person

1) Reading makes you a better communicator

Words give form to our thoughts. Without words, our thoughts would sit in an undifferentiated swirl in our minds, never seeing the light of human connection. How many of us, in our conversations with others, find ourselves struggling for the right words… only to give up and settle for an unsatisfying “I don’t know how to say it”?

Reading saves us from this struggle, as it builds our vocabulary and strengthens our command of the language. As we accumulate an arsenal of words and the knowledge of how to assemble them, no thought becomes too complex or nuanced for us to express. And as we become better communicators, our interactions with others become more enjoyable!

2) Reading makes you more empathetic  

Research has shown that people who read more fiction books score higher on empathy tests. Among other reasons, this is because when we read, we gain access to the interior worlds of characters and experience their joys and sorrows as though they were our own. By the time the story ends, we come away with a perspective we did not have before.

This makes it as though we have lived more, turning us into people with more open minds who can empathise with those whose experiences do not match our own.

So what if I’m more empathetic? Well, people gravitate towards those who understand them, so reading more books can quite literally make you a more likeable person!

3) Reading makes you more knowledgeable

This sounds like an obvious point but we can’t emphasise enough how reading makes you so much more knowledgeable! Both fiction and non-fiction books teach you things you would otherwise take years to learn about on your own – or never get to know at all!

These little lessons are woven so seamlessly into the story that you don’t even realise how much you’re effortlessly picking up. And when you learn about something in the context of a story, it’s easier to integrate it into your long-term memory and make it a part of your knowledge storehouse.

There’s really no reason not to read more – who wouldn’t want to be a smarter, kinder, more likeable person? These are qualities that reap rewards in all areas of our lives, from our relationships to our studies and careers. 😊 Start today!