Every one reads for different reasons. There are people that would never pick up a fictional book to read because they regard it as a waste of time, what a pity! We will talk about that in another post. There are people that go on to read thousands of non-fiction books especially self-help books and never get anything from it.
You know your friends will say a book changed their lives and you read it but you missed that effect. I know some non-fiction books especially those that lean towards self-help or motivational are pretentious and not practical, also you cannot go around consuming everything and not building a system around it. The magic does not only happen at reading, continue reading this post to discover game changing principles.
An article, a blog post, a tweet, can change your perspective about life or have a great influence on how you lead your life but today’s post is to help you in those moments you read self-help, how to articles or things that should help you.
There are three things that can change the way you view these things:
Taking Notes:
You nod your head while reading and feel you have absorbed all the information, my dear friend I am glad to announce to you that you will forget. Your brain does not remember as great as you think and there is just so much going on. You need to take note, make highlights and develop a system that manages the knowledge or concepts you encounter while reading non-fiction books or articles. You can use your Phone’s note to start, Notion/Roam/Evernote to develop a system or have a journal dedicated to it.
Do your research on Personal Knowledge Management and build a second brain.
Self-Reflection:
After consuming so much, it is important to sit with yourself and evaluate what you want for yourself, if you want to apply the principle. Was it something Dave Ramsey or Tim Ferris said that impacted you? Was it a highlight from Fervent by Priscilla Shirer? Do you think it is time to start applying the 5 Minute rule? Sit with yourself and reflect on what you are learning and what it means to you.
Experiment:
Try the concepts or principles. Do not just think or reflect on it. Is it high time you built an emergency fund? Start it, go ahead. Build a momentum and keep showing up.
By taking notes, reflecting and experimenting, you will gain more from reading those non-fictional books: self-help, how to articles or general life advice. Keep reading! Non-fiction, fiction, whatever. Read what you enjoy.