Give it 20 minutes before you get up: Zac Perna on the life-changing power of the right book
Wellness expert and social media star reveals habit that gave him game-changing success. Unlike most “life hacks”, it’s actually enjoyable – but it’s probably not what you think.
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Wellbeing expert, trainer and Aussie social media sensation ZAC PERNA puts such faith in one past-time, he dedicates an entire chapter to it – titled The Daily Habit That Changed My Life – in his new book Good Influence. Take it away, Zac …
In 2019 I had the good fortune to meet Ross Edgley, the man who had just swum around Great Britain. An intimidating feat, but he’s a lovely bloke: unbelievably positive, always seeking to pump other people up.
So when he sent me a copy of his book documenting the swim, I was all for it. I wasn’t reading a lot at the time, however. I read as a kid and loved it, but the habit probably died with the numerous torturous books forced upon me in high school. For that, I blame my teachers, mice and men and also twelve angry men. So I hadn’t finished a book willingly for a few years, but I was prepared to try and pick the habit up again.
I sat down one morning and began Ross’s book, The Art of Resilience. He spoke about his journey at sea intermingled with his philosophical beliefs on stoicism, which, at that point, I had never heard of. I was so intrigued. I would read every morning as part of my morning routine. Even 20 minutes of reading would have me feeling absolutely pumped. I gained perspective and it forced me to internalise certain principles of mental resilience.
I was hooked. I finished his book in a couple of weeks and went down the rabbit hole, branched out into various other books on productivity, business, psychology, happiness and inspiring life stories.
It felt like I had just found a superpower to be able to live inside someone’s head for a week and absorb their thoughts. I read every morning and evening. There was no way I would skip out on learning as much as I could and enhancing my perspective of the world. My morning books were the ones to influence my daily thinking (so business and psychology), while the evening books were more general interest (science, biographies or fiction).
I read on average a book per week for the next year and noticed my mindset completely shift. I even forced my brother to adopt the same habit, and he was the furthest thing from a recreational reader.
Reading is the one habit that I’ve stuck to for years and I attribute quite a lot of success to it, even if it’s not success in the monetary sense but success in being a better person. It took me out of the bubble that I was living in and gave me perspective and ideas from hundreds of other people. I constantly tell people that they should try reading as part of their routine. My advice would be to do it first thing in the morning, when the world isn’t demanding anything of you yet. Just get up 20 minutes earlier, sit in bed if you like, and give yourself over to reading a book.
Your day will improve, your mood will improve and you’ll see things positively – and that will open you up to opportunities and ways to better yourself. I don’t think you’ll get the same self-improvement from reading The Hobbit as you would from books on psychology, but if reading something completely fictional starts your habit then go for it.
In fact, my three favourite novels of all time would have to be Yellowface, Project Hail Mary and Boy Swallows Universe. I credit a lot of my success and reflective thinking to nonfiction books, however I can’t ignore the impact that reading fiction has had on my life. Fifteen years ago, I would retreat to the comfort of my bunk bed with nothing but a book and a torch and escape into a world of adventure. A world created by the convergence of the author’s and my own imagination.
Reading as a kid would provide a means of escape, not in the sense of escaping from any bad circumstances but in an imaginative sense. It was through books that my mind could run wild with stories of adventure and endless possibility, and I still get that same feeling today when I read novels. This is why I tend to save my evening reading for fiction or any time I need a slight imaginative escape.
Fictional reading adds balance to the mundane and gives us permission to enter a new universe free from the responsibilities and personal narratives we constantly tell ourselves in the real world. It’s alone time, free time, down time and one of the most under-utilised forms of relaxation that we have.
Plenty of people tell me that they would like to read, but they just can’t finish a book. To which I say, start with any book that you like. Hopefully my book! As many habits do, this simple positive habit bred even more positive habits, like meditation, journalling and now writing. I just needed a catalyst to kickstart it into gear – thanks, Ross Edgley!
Zac Perna’s new book Good Influence will be published by HarperCollins on November 29 and is available to pre-order now. Come share your tips for getting people into reading at the Sunday Book Club on Facebook. And check out our Book of the Month: Tania Blanchard’s A Woman Of Courage, which you can get for 44 per cent off the RRP at Booktopia.
Originally published as Give it 20 minutes before you get up: Zac Perna on the life-changing power of the right book
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