Have you ever wondered why so many people read books? There are a significant number of benefits for reading a good book. These benefits range from improving your mental and physical health, to creating good healthy habits. Books have been around for so many years and they are not about to go away (thankfully).

Let’s take a look at the benefits of reading where you will definitely be inspired to pick up a book and start reading:

1. Mental Stimulation and Brain Exercising

There have been countless studies done around this and it has shown that by staying mentally stimulated it can slow down the progress of (or maybe even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, the reason for this is that if you keep your brain active and engaged it prevents you from losing power.

Your brain, like any other muscle in your body requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy. As the saying goes “use it or lose it” is especially relevant when it comes to your mind.

2. Knowledge

When you read a book, you are learning new pieces of information that your brain retains and you never know when this one piece of information will become handy! Knowledge can never be taken away from you.

Each time you read a book you will come across a word that you may have not heard of or perhaps you don’t quite understand what it means. Always keep a dictionary handy to look these words up. This will help your vocabulary expand over time, these words that you learn will begin to integrate themselves into your everyday vocabulary.

3. Expanding your Vocabulary

The one way you can do this is by reading more, it will expose you to new words and these new words will end up in your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is very helpful in any profession, and it will boost your confidence and self-esteem.

4. Helpful for Depression and Dysthymia

Reading helps to lower your stress levels which also stimulates the part of your brain that deals with depression. By reading, you are actually focusing on the present story and not on the things that cause you to be depressed.

5. Strengthens your Writing Ability

People that write understand how important it is to read. No matter what kind of writing you do, doing lots of reading will improve your writing skills and abilities. Many writers are big readers, when you concentrate on the way a book is written, you can take on these styles which will improve your writing skills.

6. Sleep Boosting

Reading is a great way to help you have a good night’s sleep. You may not fall asleep instantly, however, it will improve your overall sleep pattern and restfulness. Reading is a great way to relax and unwind. Reading at the end of your day is a great way to relax and ensure that you will get a good night’s sleep. It will help you to de-stress from all the things that happened to you during the day, allowing for you to completely unwind and help you have a restful sleep.

7. Improve your Memory and Focus

Reading a little bit each day will improve your focus and memory function. It allows you to stimulate your brain, especially the part of your brain that helps with memory and attention. When you are reading, your brain retains information about what you are reading about. This means that the part of your brain that controls your memory is being stimulated which results in improved memory.

Your focus improves because it is strengthened when you read as it requires focus. Each time to exercise this part of your brain you are improving the overall function of your memory and focus.

8. Relieve Tension and Lower your Stress

As we know, reading can be a way to entertain yourself, however, it is also very good to help you lower your stress levels. The reason this happens is because you are focusing on the story and not what is going on around you. It immediately pulls you into another world and new characters. You are allowing yourself to be taken into their story where you can stop, breathe and relax. Reading will lower your stress levels and make you feel much better mentally as well as physically.

9. Increase your Imagination and Empathy

Your imagination is a very powerful tool that can be helpful in all aspects of life. Having a good imagination allows us to be more empathetic to people. Reading often will increase your imagination, because when we get lost in a good book our imagination is stimulated by seeing all the places and people in the book just by reading the words.

10. Broaden your Mind

Reading about different cultures will allow you to see how others live and differ from how you live. Books allow you to see life from a completely different perspective. Books can also give great ideas, and they are very educational on so many different levels.

The benefits of reading a good book is not just entertaining, it is also beneficial both mentally and physically. Reading is a tool towards a healthy lifestyle, so what are you waiting for?

What are you reading currently and how is it of benefit to you?

Writing and publishing your book has many benefits that you may or may not realise. I will share some of these below in the hope that you may find something on this list that you have not ventured into as yet.

Let’s first look at the unexpected rewards you receive when you become a published author:

• A sense of achievement
• Self-expression
• Experience a sense of heightened self-worth
• The feeling of personal satisfaction of writing your book
• Increase your writing skills
• A huge tick off your bucket list
• Being able to share your unique experiences with others

Now let’s take a look at the marketing benefits of being an author:

• An overnight sensation – It’s true, you do become an accredited expert practically overnight. Being a published author will provide you with a major shortcut in building your reputation and it will boost your credibility in your industry
• Promotional opportunities – this is for both online and offline opportunities that you will receive unlike before you were a published author. Launching and publishing your book will give you instant opportunities
• Local book signings – Check out local bookstores that will happily do book signings for you
• Run workshops – create a workshop around your book and then run a workshop, making sure you sell copies of your book at the workshop
• Guest author – become a guest author for your local paper, magazine, TV or radio station
• Boost Branding – boost your business branding by becoming an instant expert by allowing others to see your branding that includes your website, logo, photo, colours and graphics as a published author. People remember brands and you want them to know what yours is so that you become the go to person in your industry
• Confidence booster – Many people don’t feel like they are qualified in their field even though they know it inside and out. Remember that most of the people in your industry are lucky if they have written an article, so be proud and confident in your amazing achievement
• Seeking attention – Your book will get the attention of pre-qualified customers, clients or people that need your book. Your book will get you more visibility and these pre-qualified people are much more like to take you up on your offers as they are already interested in what you have to help them
• Book awards – There are many local, national, international and online book awards that you can enter. Having an award under your belt will strengthen your reputation and allow people to see you as the leader in your field
• Social Media – Go Viral! Make sure you get your book going crazy on social media, you want to be the latest sensation by appearing everywhere. You want to make sure that people are recommending your book to their audience
• Getting an endorsement – Think of ways you can get a celebrity or person of authority endorsement, this will propel you to all kinds of success
• List your book online – if you want a greater return on your book investment then why not list your book online

Think about what you want to achieve with your book and then look at the information in this article to see how you can start to develop a marketing and promotional plan for your book.

What benefits have you received by being an author?