From Reading 100 Books a Year to Zero Books a Year: My Year of No Reading and the Wisdom Gained

Introduction

Many people believe that those who read a lot are very smart and intelligent. There is some truth to that, but it is not the absolute truth. Even I have been inspired by people who read a lot. Some of the inspiring quotes that have inspired me throughout my life include:

Ralph Waldo Emerson — “I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

“A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. That is why I read so much.” — Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

But I believe that reading a lot is extremely overrated. Not reading anything can teach as much as reading. Again, this write-up is not an excuse for not learning, not growing, not reading. I want to make a point that the simple projection that one who reads a lot is smart and wise is incomplete. I will go to the extent that reading a lot can hurt more than help. I have been hurt. Never had I realized that I had been hurt by reading a lot until I experimented and went a year without reading a single book.

My Reading Obsession

Among my friends and colleagues, I am known as someone who reads a lot. I am someone who reads as many as two books a week. I bragged about having a system for reading and purchasing books. For example, I have a book to read in the morning, afternoon, and night. I read self-improvement books in the morning, work-related books in the afternoon, and business books in the evening. I was in the learn-learn-and-learn mode. I listened to audiobooks at 3x speed. There was one year I read more than 100 books. I could easily finish reading two books per week.

It gave me a feeling of accomplishment without actually doing anything. People talk about being a sponge and learning it all. But it also has a natural tendency to become a know-it-all. I passed on the information to everyone.

I am so thankful that my reading habits changed. I decided to experiment with not reading after I had an epiphany during 10 days of silence meditation.

After 10 days of silence meditation, I realized the mistakes.

I have been making mistakes regarding what is information, knowledge, and wisdom.

I read a lot, which means I was accumulating a lot of information that was passive. I was mistaking that information for knowledge, and when I shared that information with other folks, I dressed up that information as wisdom. I think that gap showed up because people could sense that I was just giving too much advice and I had an opinion about anything because I read diverse topics. That gave me a false sense of superiority. Knowingly or unknowingly, I was projecting that superiority. Although I intended to help. If you have watched Big Bang Theory, perhaps I acted like Sheldon Cooper. And nobody likes Sheldon Cooper. I was simply regurgitating the information.

Let me give you an example. Who can give more information about swimming? Michael Phelps or Sheldon Cooper. And who would you listen to more? Almost everyone will say that they will listen to Michael Phelps, but Sheldon Cooper will believe that he knows more than Michael Phelps. But Sheldon Cooper would drown in three feet of water.

See my point? There is a tendency to be a Sheldon Cooper who reads a lot and who has all the information. All that information is just passive information. One hasn’t put any effort into making it a habit and hasn’t practiced enough to become instinctive. Michael Phelps wouldn’t need to think about how to breathe while swimming because it comes instinctively to him. After all, he had practiced those moves many times. I am sure he would have spent more time swimming than reading about swimming.

I am not saying reading is bad at all. But overreading is as bad as overeating. Reading a lot is not a badge of honor. Deep-rooted wisdom that comes instinctively out of experience and action is more important. That leads to true accomplishment.

A Year Without Books

So, I decided to take a complete break from reading. This is what I have discovered and learned about myself by reading 0 books for the past 12 months.

1. Information is passive, knowledge is active, and wisdom is instinctive.
2. Preface the conversation with the listener whether they want to hear about it.
3. Focus more on action than consumption of information.
4. Someone can read zero books and still be the wisest person because of the person’s experience and actions.
5. Don’t think only people who read are open-minded and growth-minded. There are several ways to be open-minded and growth-minded.

Changes and Realizations

Last year, I focused more on deliberately taking action to convert information into knowledge and knowledge into instinctive wisdom.

Now, I don’t judge people who say that they don’t read. I used to judge them as ignorant. I was mistaken. Reading a lot is not a true representation of a growth mindset. It is experimentation, action, and repetition for true mastery that is the real growth mindset. For that, one can read zero books per year and be wiser than someone who reads 100 books per year and does nothing.

That doesn’t mean one shouldn’t read anything. One should read instruction manuals before using tools, how to become better, and read books to expand the horizon. But real wisdom comes from action and repetition.

For example, if you want to learn how to make friends and influence people, yes, reading a book about how to make friends and influence people is a start. But I have made the mistake in the past and felt a sense of expertise just by reading it. True knowledge is deliberately practicing what’s in the book and recalibrating how to make it work based on experimentation until it becomes an instinctive habit to act in the way recommended in the book.

Also, there are indeed so many people in the world who have never read that book and who are extremely great at making friends and influencing people because they have been repeating and rinsing the ways to make friends and influence people until their habit comes instinctively. That’s pure wisdom.

So, it is important to do more than read more. I plan to pick up books here and there. But most of the time, I want to spend on doing.

Practical Application

I’ve since applied this approach to various aspects of my life. Below are three examples.

1. For instance, I wanted to create a newsletter. Before, I would have read books and watched a ton of videos. Now, I simply created a newsletter and kept doing it every week and iterating it. Now I have wisdoms such as what works and what doesn’t. I read to improve the specific parts. That is more useful than reading a lot and feeling a sense of expertise without actually doing anything.
2. Creating AI agents: Before, I would have read tons of books on creating gen AI agents instead of creating one. Today, I just create, use, and iterate them.
3. Exercising: I started doing HIIT exercises without reading too much. I do it. I still don’t research too much. Now I know the length, frequency, and intensity that work for me. I don’t know too much about HIIT. Previously, I would have consumed almost every content out there and tried to pontificate about HIIT. Silly me.

This mindset continues.

Do I stop reading altogether? The purpose of this 12-month experimentation of reading zero books was to realize that I need deliberate action to convert passive into active through action, and active into instinctive through repetition. I create a feedback loop instead of just accumulation.

From now on, I want to share instincts that come from action and wisdom instead of the accumulation of information. To anyone with whom I have shared information without you asking for it, I apologize. It was my mistake to do so, although my intention was not to act smart or superior. My intention was me trying to be useful to you.

In reflecting on this journey, I return to the beginning, where quotes from Emerson and Lannister once shaped my perception of intelligence. These words, while still resonant, now echo a different truth for me. They underscore that the essence of wisdom is not solely in the act of reading, but in how we use that knowledge in the tapestry of life. My year without books was more than just a break from a habit; it was a transformative exploration of what it means to be truly wise and intelligent.

Let me buck the conventional wisdom of projecting intelligence through the regurgitation of information. Instead, I advocate for developing instinctive wisdom through deliberate action, repetition, and transformation through lived experience. This is the journey from reader to doer, from consumer to creator. It’s a realization that intelligence and wisdom are not just about what we know, but about how we apply and live that knowledge. As I move forward, my path is no longer defined by the number of books I consume, but by the depth of experiences I engage in and the actions I take. This, I believe, is the real growth mindset — a mindset that values wisdom born not only from reading but also from living.