Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week124: What I Think About The Book Reading Culture.

In many places around the world, reading books is increasingly seen as something old-school. A lot of us have life-changing books sitting untouched on shelves, in bags, or on our phones, in fact for years. We know reading is good, but we still don’t do it consistently.

Today I want to share my thoughts on reading culture in response to this thoughtful contest, I want to talk about why that happens, what I truly believe about books, my personal experience, and the one book I would recommend right now.

Yes, I strongly believe books contain information that can change lives.

Here are the main reasons why I believed so:

• Books give you decades of wisdom in a few hundred pages. Someone has already lived through the mistakes, failures, and victories you’re about to face. They wrote it down so you can avoid the pain or copy the success.

• Books reshape your mindset. One powerful idea from a book can change how you handle money, relationships, fear, discipline, or purpose. That single shift in thinking often leads to completely different life choices.

• They teach patience and focus. Finishing a book trains your attention span in a world full of 15-second videos and reels. That mental discipline spills over into studies, work, prayer, and even conversations.

• They bring hope and direction. I’ve read stories of people who came from far worse situations and still made it. Those stories remind me that progress is possible, even when things feel stuck.

Books are like quiet mentors you can visit anytime. The real transformation happens when you apply what you read, but the spark starts when you start reading on the page.

Yes, I have finished several books that truly impacted me.

Let me share some of them, and the lessons I learnt from each...

• The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
  Lesson: Life is not about me, but about living for a bigger purpose than myself. This book helped me stop living for people’s approval and start focusing on what really matters.

• Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
  Lesson: Ego is often the biggest obstacle to success. It makes us defensive, arrogant, and blind to our weaknesses. The book taught me to stay humble, keep learning, and treat both success and failure as teachers instead of enemies.

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
  Lesson: I learnt that the rich do not work for money, rather they make money work for them. It changed how I think about saving, investing, and building assets rather than just chasing salaries.

My biggest challenge when I don’t finish books is distraction and mental fatigue. After lectures, choir rehearsals, and family time, my brain is sometimes too tired to concentrate. Social media scrolling steals the little bit of time I could use for reading. I’ve been working on it by reading 10 pages first thing in the morning or right before bed when my mind is clearer.

If I can recommend just one book right now, it would be Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday.

The book is direct, and written in very clear language. Every chapter hits hard and gives you something you can apply immediately. It has helped me stay grounded, especially when things go well or when I face criticism.

In a world where ego drives so much conflict, pride, and bad decisions, this book feels like a necessary mirror.

Reading culture is fading because we crave instant gratification. But the truth is: depth wins over speed in the long run. People who read consistently usually end up thinking more clearly, making better decisions, and living more intentionally, even if quietly.