ONE BAD HABIT

I still wonder how I passed exams sometimes because I have a bad habit of not reading. I can't read for an hour straight unless it has a purpose. Throughout my school life, If I read early it's a day to the exam, else, it would be on the day of the exam. Anytime I'm reading a day to an exam it's because I don't know much about the subject or course I'm writing, or I was finding it difficult before time. I don't do it because I like it per se, I do it because I didn't develop a reading culture from childhood. This has made me struggle to sit down and read something. I tried developing my reading culture some years back, but somehow I stopped because it was always encroaching on my exams and I did not want to read academic books.

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A lot of people don't believe I have issues with reading though, this is because I tend to know a lot about my area of study, and even teach my coursemates. I also know quite a lot about the Bible, as it was the only thing I have ever spent time reading. I've been able to finish the Bible more than three times, although I haven't done that in recent years due to time. But I really want to read books like I read my Bible. Some years back when I had more time at hand, I could study (not just read) 15 to 30 chapters of the Bible at a go, and I enjoyed every bit of it. But when you give me books, I start dozing off, looking for the next chapter to jump in when I feel a chapter is becoming too long, and before I know it I get tired and give up.

Although when I was in school I developed a learning culture that made me stay relevant and top of my class. The goal was to pass my exams so I attended classes. Entering my final years in school, my goals changed or should I say reduced because I was doing a lot to sponsor myself through school. So the goal was not to fail, a C in a course was more than enough for me. All I needed to do to get a “C” was attend classes. I'm gifted with a very retentive memory which has helped me throughout my schooling period. As long as I was in the class, I'm sure to remember 60% of what was taught, I might not remember verbatim, but I will remember enough to compose it my way. If I wanted to push more in a course and end up with a “B” I would read a few points some minutes or at most an hour before the exam. If I wanted to get an A… I would need to read a night before the exam, so I can teach my coursemates for a few hours before exams 😂.

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So most times I always read under pressure. I'm really slow at learning things on my own, especially when I have to learn them through reading. It's a habit I am still looking for a way to stop, and if I can stop it, it would indeed be a great achievement for me. Right now I'm learning to play the Splinterlands game, but I've given up more than three times in two weeks because I have to read a lot of things to know more about it. Once I look at something at first glance and my brain can not process it, I just get tired and stop. So there you see, stopping this bad habit will do me a lot of good this year.

I would be able to learn new things quickly, expand my vocabulary, and most of all get to understand a lot of things about the history of marketing, marketing techniques and strategies, great success stories, and learn about great men and women. I know reading more would also help me become a better writer and it's something I still hope to achieve this year. I'm currently looking for E-books I can start with but haven't been able to get any. I hope to start with a book a month so I will have covered 12 books in 12 months… It's not going to be easy, because I'm so used to cramming things, but now I want to know them and I pray I will by the end of the year.

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S PROMPT FOR WEEK 96 EPISODE 3