 A few months ago, I was at a bookshop in Lagos, Nigeria. As it is my habit, I started picking out a whole lot of books, and after I and the friend I went with had taken out so many books, the bookseller, who was obviously surprised by how many books I'm buying, asked me a common question, which goes like, do books change anything in you? As we had the conversation, this guy confessed that though he sells books, he doesn't read them simply because when he reads, books don't change anything in his life. While you may be among a few people in the world who are convinced that books change lives, most people don't. And this is apparent from the fact that only a very few people are committed readers. To most other people in the world, reading books is a waste of time, and that can be very true. In today's video, I'll share with you three reasons why you might not get anything out of reading, hence, reading becomes a pure waste of time. Before I continue this video, if you're one of the people who have been wanting to know who was behind this channel, I'm now available on my personal channel and you can get to see me, know more about me, or learn from me, or even download my free books if you check the description box of this video. Now, let's get into this video. 1. Most books leave you with two to three takeaways, and that's not a big deal. Tell me about the best books you've ever read and I'll tell you something you already know. Those books really didn't give you a hundred ideas. Most books will only leave you with one or two takeaways, and that's a big problem for many people. I mean, these books are usually between 200 to 500 pages. Who in the world sits down with 300 pages book only to stand up after several hours and see that he can only remember a few things he actually learned from the book? This is one of the reasons why most people don't read. It actually resembles a big waste of time, doesn't it? Wait for the next point. 2. It takes a whole lot of little ideas to transform your life. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of books. If there's anything at all I'm addicted to, it will be a book. I love books. I genuinely do love books, and I'm convinced that books have transformed my life, but not by reading a book or two. If you've ever heard about a book that transformed someone's life, then you've heard a lie. The truth is that no single book can change your life completely. Like most things in life, there's compound interest in how our lives are being transformed. So it usually takes a whole lot of little changes, and I'll explain with some practical examples. Around the year 2007, I read The Magic of Thinking Big, and that book changed the way I see myself. But that wasn't enough to completely change the history of my life. In 2006, I read Reach Dad Poor Dad. The book confirmed my suspicion about the school system and taught me about assets and liabilities. Yes, those were good lessons, but again, your life will not suddenly change because you know those two things. Around the year 2007-2008, I read Awakened the Giant Within. The book left me believing that I can achieve whatever I wanted if I called model other people who had done it before, among a few other things I learned. Again, your life will not completely change just because you know these few things. In the year 2015 thereabout, I read The Purple Cow and Idea Virus. Those are some of the best books of my lifetime, but again, few lessons you take away from those books will not automatically make you rich. Then something will suddenly start to happen in your life, and that is the combinations of the little takeaways you've heard over the year will actually be sufficient to transform your life. That is what I call learning compound interest. Think about investment. Even the greatest investor the world has ever known, Warren Buffett, needed to wait so many years for his investment to make him a billionaire. He needed compound interest, because that's where the real money is. Think about your marriage. You might feel that you love your partner the day you meet her, but just wait for a few years and you'll see the effect of compound interest. As a guy who is married to a woman he met a decade ago, I can tell you that if you get it right, relationships simply become better and unbelievably better. It's a relationship's compound interest. Now, let's get back to books. People who think books cannot transform their lives usually don't read a lot, and because they only read a few books, the few ideas they got from the books are not sufficient to really transform their lives. That's like investing a thousand dollars for three years. Well, if you invest in the stock market with an average of 67% returns on your investment or in any other similar investment, you've only got a few dollars on your money. If you read three books a year, well, if each of the books leaves you with two ideas, you've only got six ideas. Reading 10 to 20 books means a different thing, and reading 50 means a whole lot more different. You get the point. Your life will not change because you read five books in five years. Your life will not be transformed simply because you read a bestseller. Just as you can never build a business with a single idea, you can never build your life on a single idea. If you need me to explain this, I will. Anyone can start a business with a single idea, but for that business to grow and thrive, you need a thousand ideas, often little ideas. Again, it's about compound interest. Your life will not change because you read five books in five years. Your life will not be transformed simply because you read a bestseller. Just as you can never build a business with a single idea, you can never build your life on a single idea. If you need me to explain this, I will. Anyone can start a business with a single idea, but for that business to grow and thrive, you need a thousand ideas, often little ideas. Again, it's about compound interest. So here's my advice for people who don't read books because they think it's a waste of time. Read a whole lot more because you need the combinations of several little ideas to get your life transformed. 3. Reading for knowledge actually changes nothing in you. When I advise that you should read a lot, if you want to see the effect of knowledge compound interest in your life, some people would tell me, but I read so much and nothing happened. Well, I know a few people like that. I have friends who read many books about money and they are still broke. But guess what? They really never do anything with what they read. A few times they did something, they run back after a few failures. So here's the thing. The purpose of reading shouldn't be to get you knowledge. Yes, you heard me correctly. You are not reading for knowledge, but for actions. Books are not supposed to make you know. They are supposed to make you do. It's about doing. Before the year 2008, when I went fully into the business world, I had read about 250 books and you might be tempted to think that the reason why I had the courage to go into the business world, even though I had almost no money, was because I read a lot about business. That assumption would not be absolutely correct because there are so many people in the world who read more than I do and they are still broke because they never really get themselves to take action. For such individuals, reading books is a waste of time. So what is my point here? Well, reading a book about marriage wouldn't necessarily make your marital relationship better except you follow the simple advice you read in the book. Reading 10 books about money won't automatically change your financial situation except you stop spending the money you don't have and learn about investing or start in your own business. And listen, start in your own business or start in an investment plan is even nothing. If it is about starting, everyone will do it because everyone can start anything. Anyone can go to the gym for one week because they want to lose weight. Everyone can be a good husband for one week because they just attended a marriage seminar. Everyone can start a business and run it for three months. These are not a big deal. I failed in the business world for eight long years before I had my breakthrough. Listen, that's what most people cannot do and that's the real deal. So you don't want to read books just to have the knowledge but to use the knowledge. You don't just want to apply the knowledge for a few weeks. You want to stick with it and remain persistent for as long as it takes you to get the desired result. So here is the summary of this video. First, every book, no matter how big they are, is likely going to leave you with only a few ideas on how you can change your life. Don't be discouraged. It's absolutely normal. Second, because of the above reason, you have to read a lot. So there will be a kind of compound interest in knowledge. Third, don't read to know. Read to do. And when you decide to do, decide to remain a doer for as long as it takes you to achieve your desired result. I'm a doer and I love people who don't only learn but also force themselves out to take action. If you're one of the people who want to know who is behind this channel, now you can see me or even have some relationship with me. Simply join my personal channel in the description box of this video. I love you.