The Funny Thing About Reading Books

And how it has always eluded me.

Ok, so Shopflo is not the first company that I've started. I've done it once before, in college, and some could successfully argue that it shouldn't count. Fair enough. What it means is that it's not the first time I've found myself in a position where it's natural to receive a barrage of advice every day. One piece of advice that stands out significantly more than the rest is to read books.

And most founders do it quite well. I think it’s a big part of the job. When you're expected to provide guidance and advice daily, you need to shore up your own learnings and be inspired at all times. Books, podcasts, and the like, come to your rescue. Anecdotes that used to be personal start having citations. “I was reading a book by — & they said something quite insightful. Cue: the insight”. I've seen it in action.

The bottom line is, this approach works. You learn what you read, and you share (or practice) what you learn, and then you keep doing it over and over again. It’s a strong feedback loop once it sets in.

In an ideal world, I should have tried this a long time ago. I have been gifted books in the past. I’ve bought so many. Now they are arranged by size on my little bookshelf. But the way it stands, the total count of books I read by choice in the decade between 2012-22 was 0.

So, I finally decided to give it a go. I started reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck” by Mark Manson in 2022. I did question my choice then, but I think it was one book that everyone around me had posted about on Instagram. I guess it was okay.

It took me 14 months to finish that book, or at least that's what I like to believe. By the thirteenth month, I probably started telling everyone I was on the last few pages, given they had seen me with that book for over a year. I think I had barely crossed 6 chapters. I had to drop it. I simply could not see it through.

Then, I did it again with the second book - “Made in America”, the autobiography by Sam Walton of Walmart. This time, it took me 11 months, but I felt great that I read it till the last page.

I tried to analyze what was taking me so long to get through these pieces of literature. It wasn’t that I hated reading. 3 things stood out:

1. I love to write notes. I write them on the top of all pages and wherever I see white space pleasing to the eye. And it takes a lot of time.

2. I struggle with focus. I can't sit and read straight for more than 30 minutes, probably due to my habit of playing slave to my packed work calendar of 15-30 minute blocks.

3. My memory is quite weak. As a result of this, when I resume a book after a time gap, I usually start a chapter behind to do a Netflix-style episode recap.

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So, where do I go from here?

Now, I sit with a pen, discuss books with my partner and teammates, and try to schedule book-reading slots during the day. I always have a pen on me now. This year I aim to read 10 books. Baby steps.

My mind frequently wanders toward analogies and lessons I could draw and share with relevant folks. Quite a few times, I've written sections with the heading "What it means for Shopflo..." in my notes on the books.

I've received some appreciation for my notes, and folks have found my inferences helpful. It's like a personal, cheap Blinkist, filled with my journey and anecdotes. In this endeavor, I will be writing my notes (from books and beyond) out loud and sharing them as much as time allows.

Most of all, I'll try not to disappoint myself.