As author and avid reader Ryan Holiday explains : "Whatever problem you're struggling with is probably addressed in some book somewhere written by someone a lot smarter than you."

Every story has been experienced, recorded, and published by someone at some point in time. Beyond just stories, books provide life lessons-a set of proven theories and anecdotes that you can apply to your own life.

So there's the why of reading, but what about the how ? Too often we get through a book, flip the last page, sit back, and think, "What the hell did I just read?" Reading and being able to use what you've read are completely different things.