According to the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans aren’t reading as much as they used to. That may be because social media and television take up more and more of our free time. And even though reading is an underrated habit, it’s a daily habit of many highly successful people. Adding reading to your day could help you reach success, too. 

In his book, Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, Tom Corley found that 67 percent of wealthy individuals spend less than one hour in front of the TV each day.

What are they doing instead? Corley found that reading is a top priority for people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Tony Robbins, just to name a few.

But why reading? According to Buffet, reading 500 pages per day is “how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.”

That’s probably why Bill Gates carries a book with him wherever he goes. Sure, he can meet with any expert, anytime. But for him, reading is still the chief way to learn new information and challenge himself.

And Gates isn’t the only one challenging himself with reading. When Elon Musk wanted a rocket, he realized it would be to expensive to have on built. So, he figured out how to build one himself by reading.

This was the same tactic of self-help guru, Tony Robbins, who read 700 books over seven years to figure out how to make a difference in his life. It must have paid off, seeing that he has gone on to coach thousands of people all over the world, including Hugh Jackman, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa and others.