Are You Learning, Or Are You One Of THEM?

By Gary Vurnum

I met an old friend recently who didn't know what I was doing on the 'net.

As we talked...I heard it. (And not for the first time)

"I've read over 200 personal development books"

It's like a talisman.

A sign of achievement. Look at how many books I've read.

"But are you living the life of your dreams, then?" I asked.

"Well, er, no. In fact I'm still unhappy, in debt, and hate my job."

Suddenly the alarm bells start going off. Ah, he's one of THEM!

A Reader! A gatherer of knowledge.

I used to be one of them. Anthony Robbins. Brian Tracy. Napoleon Hill. I'd read them all. Then left them on my bookshelf for a few years to gather dust.

Then I had given them to charity. Never to be seen again.

Then...something changed.

I realised that each of these authors had put hours of work (in Napoleon Hill's case — years of work) into writing down what they knew. And I was throwing their knowledge away.

I was treating their knowledge and wisdom as I would a novel. Read once. Put on the shelf.

What if I had been in a room with them and they taught me what they knew one-on-one?

What if I had spent a couple of thousand dollars to go to a seminar to see them? Wouldn't I at least take some notes to justify my time and expense?

Yet here I was — spending up to two weeks at a time reading each book — and then not bothering to work out a way of getting a 'return' on that precious time I had just used up.

Not bothering to USE the knowledge that had been passed onto me.

Sure, little snippets of information stayed with me — but I realised that I had wasted the best part of ten years of my life reading — but not actually LEARNING.

So I decided to do something about it.

I decided that from that moment on — I wouldn't read a non-fiction book without finding a way of using the information that was presented inside it.

Here's what I do:

1. I read the book as normal.
   
   
2. I then go through the book and highlight the sentences or paragraphs that I believe are valuable.
   
   
3. I then write my own summary of the book based upon the highlighted words.
   
   
4. I review my notes regularly.
   
   
5. If it's a book related to my business — I look at ways to apply what I have learned immediately.

This method ensures that I read the book at least twice — and makes sure that I fully understand (in my own words) what the author is saying.

Being an 'information junkie' it can be difficult to hold myself back from starting a new book (or ebook) before I fully 'complete' the previous one — but I always remind myself that it's the quality of learning that's important, and not the amount of books you read.

It's a very good way of getting past all of the 'padding' that seems to be the vogue in personal development books.

By having the essential information at your fingertips — it will be much easier for you to actually use, and benefit from, the books you read.

My life has changed dramatically since I began to really work 'with' the books that I had just read before.

Find a method that works for you — and you will be amazed at how much you can really benefit from the books you read. •

© Gary Vurnum