The Party Escape That Became a Superpower

Ever been stuck at a party where the conversation drifts into mortgage rates and lawn fertilizer? That was me in eighth grade, trapped at my parents' friends' house, desperate for a way out. I saw a dusty pile of books in the corner, headed for the trash, and I was told I could take as many as I wanted. SCORE! I grabbed a couple of poetry collections and started reading them to survive the party. I took them home and kept going every night at bedtime.

Then something strange happened. My thoughts started rhyming. I'm serious. I wasn't trying to; they just did.

A few weeks later, my math teacher assigned an essay on René Descartes. Somehow, poetry slipped into my writing. She loved it! She complimented my writing style and read it aloud to the class. She even got it published in the local paper. Word spread fast. Before long, I was trading candy money for writing my classmates' papers. (And that, my friends, is how I landed my first freelance writing gig!)

What Reading Does to Your Brain

Here's what happened to me, and I promise it can happen to you. Those poetry books didn't just get me through the party. They actually changed how my brain worked. Scientists call this neuroplasticity, which means your mind rewires itself around whatever you put in front of it, and it keeps doing that your whole life—even if you are 30, 50, or even 80 years old.

Whatever you feed your mind can shape how you think. So feed it something worth becoming. Want to think like a strategist? Go read a book about a wartime general for a few weeks. Trying to lead people through change? Read about the innovators who got laughed at, pushed back, and kept going anyway. Want to shape policy or push for real reform? Dig into political theory and history.

But I Don't Have Time

"I read all day long. Emails, reports, briefs," you say.

I get it. That's reading, but when was the last time you read a book you actually wanted to read?

"But I don't have time."

You don't need a free weekend or a retreat at a cabin to read. You just need a few minutes in your day, and I bet you've got that.

1. Use your commute. Throw on an audiobook and push the speed to 1.25x or 1.5x. You'll be surprised how fast the miles turn into chapters, and one day you'll sit in your driveway because you can't stop at the good part.
2. Steal from the margins. Listen to an audiobook while walking the dog or folding laundry. Those minutes were going nowhere anyway, so take them back. I've even used a Bluetooth shower speaker, and yes, it works.
3. Give yourself a micro-read. Take just 15 minutes with your morning coffee or right before bed. That's all. Do it every day, and it adds up to roughly 20 books a year.

Where This Takes You

Keep going, and you'll notice the difference. The more you read, the more your mind will start taking on the shape of the people you read. You'll pick up how they win an argument or how they pull apart a problem that looked hopeless. You'll absorb it all without even trying. So find a book. Any book. Start tonight.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of War.