+ 5 Reasons Why You Should Pick Up Elizabeth Gilbert for Your Next Read

“All leaders are readers.”
– Harry S. Truman, allegedly wise man, possibly haunted by unread novel

Sure, I believe Harry. And if you scroll through your favorite tech bros’ reading lists — Jobs, Musk, Gates — you’ll find a lot of non-fiction gems: business strategy, psychology, maybe a memoir or two about grit. Useful? Sure.

I’ve even been victim to this hustle-heavy corner of the collective reading nook — the one that whispers “optimize or die” every time you crack open a book. So while the world was foaming at the mouth over The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck*, I was elbow-deep in The Signature of All Things, learning about entire ecosystems in moss, told from the POV of a brilliant spinster defying societal norms. To marry. To think. To feel.

So I gotta ask:
Why are we so obsessed with technical, soul-sucking literature and calling it a hobby?
Where’s the joy? The imagination? The drama?

Apparently, storytelling gets benched when it’s time to get Serious™ about success. And that’s tragic, because fiction is juicy brain food — not just a whimsical pastime for bookworms and people with reading socks.

Let’s un-bench the novels. Let’s bust the “fiction is a waste of time” myth wide open. 

And if you already love fiction? Welcome home, babe. This post is your love letter.

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1. Fiction = Emotional Intelligence Gym 🧠💪

Reading fiction is not passive. You’re not just watching a character make bad choices — you’re living them. You get front-row seats to their inner monologues, their shame spirals, their why did I text him back? moments. It’s empathy bootcamp.

Even if you wouldn’t make the same choices, you understand why they did. That’s pure EQ magic.

Especially if you work with people (read: everyone), fiction teaches you to read between the lines — to connect with what’s not being said. It’s like putting on empathy goggles. Suddenly, you see the why behind the customer meltdown or the coworker’s grump-a-thon.

Corporate translation: Better people skills = stronger teams, smoother conflict resolution, and less soul erosion.

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2. Fiction Dives into the Taboo 🕳️🧠

Fiction goes where small talk fears to tread. Racism. Abuse. Grief. Identity. Trauma. It doesn’t just name these things — it immerses you in them. It makes you feel them.

And when you feel, you understand. Not in a “huh, interesting study” kind of way — in a visceral, body-level way. And that kind of knowing changes how you show up in the world: more compassionate, more aware, more human.

TL;DR: Fiction won’t let you look away from the hard stuff. And honestly? That’s the whole point.

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3. It Fuels Wild, Disruptive Innovation 🛸

Fiction doesn’t care about your real-world limitations. Dragons? Sure. Time travel? Of course. Cryptocurrency before it existed? Already been written.

Bruce Sterling described Bitcoin-esque currency in 1994. Aldous Huxley basically predicted Big Pharma culture in 1931. And someone somewhere is building an Iron Man suit as we speak.

Fiction isn’t just escapism — it’s imagination training. It rewires your brain to ask what if instead of what now. And that’s the birthplace of every bold idea.

Even if you’re not building the next iPhone, fiction keeps your brain curious, flexible, and open to wild new possibilities. That’s where the good stuff lives.

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4. It Helps You Think for Yourself (Yes, Even You, Corporate Robot) 🤖

Hot take: most self-help books tell you what to think. Fiction? It makes you choose what to think.

It doesn’t spoon-feed you life lessons. It drops you into messy, complicated situations and whispers, Figure it out. It respects your intelligence. It lets you draw your own conclusions.

You and your bestie could read the same novel and walk away with completely different interpretations. That’s the beauty. Fiction meets you where you are. It’s personalized growth with zero spreadsheets and no smug gurus.

Mental freedom, baby. No permission slips required.

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5. Imagination is the Real MVP of Problem Solving 🧩💡

Picture this: you’re stuck in a soul-depleting sales meeting. Someone’s droning on through bullet points in a voice that could bore wallpaper off a wall.

Now imagine this: your HR trainer walks in and says,
“Pretend I’m a furious customer. What do you say to calm me down?”

Suddenly your brain lights up. You’re crafting solutions. Channeling that clever character from your last novel. Fiction trains your mind like a flight simulator — empathy, conflict, resolution, all in play.

Facts show you point A and point B. 

Imagination helps you map the in-between.

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So… is fiction a waste of time?

If emotional intelligence, empathy, innovation, independent thinking, and creative problem solving are a waste of time, then sure — toss your novels and get back to your funnel metrics.

But if you’re even slightly human? You could use a little story time.

And no, it doesn’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winner. Read what you like. Sci-fi. Romance. Gothic weirdness. Magical realism. YA chosen-one drama. Elizabeth freaking Gilbert. (Start with The Signature of All Things if you want to time travel with moss and existential longing.)

Wanna hear a conspiracy I made up just now? 👀 

What if all these billionaire business leaders are pushing self-help books and dry technical reads so we don’t tap into the real sauce… which is fiction? 🤯

Seriously — have you seen how many of them bend the rules of reality, logic, and, um, the law to get ahead? You think they’re following bullet points from a leadership manual? Nah. Their secret blueprint is probably buried in a Colleen Hoover novel.

How did I come up with that theory? I read fiction. 

My imagination is wild and free, baby.

Start with 15 minutes. On the train. Before bed. During lunch. Let your mind slow down. Let your imagination stretch out on the couch. Let yourself feel something that isn’t tied to KPIs.

Because guess what? 

Fiction might just be the most rebellious, joyful, radically human self-improvement tool you didn’t know you needed.

Now go read something delicious. I’ll wait. 📚

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