Getting The Most From Your Books

I've been a personal development junkie for many years now.

I love learning new things, and the beauty of PD is that you can usually start applying it to your life immediately.

Today I want to share my approach to consuming PD, along with some of my favourite recent reads.

1) Ignore Sunk Costs

This was a biggie for me.

We get conditioned to believe we should always finish a book once we've started.

Sod that.

If you're reading a book and really aren't feeling it, it's ok not to finish!

The sunk cost of the time you've already invested is nothing compared with the cost of the time it'll take you to finish it that you could be spending on a better book.

You're not reading it just so you can say that you've read it... you want to get something of value out of it that can make a difference in your life.

2) Have an outcome in mind and make notes

The clearer I am about what I want to get out of a book, the more value I get from it.

This might mean that I miss bits or skim over areas that I could benefit from, but it also means that the bits of relevance leap off the page at me.

These are the bits that I make notes on... not just what I've read, but WHAT I'm going to do with it.

3) 10% Implementation beats 100% Information

Following on from this, you don't have to understand everything in the book.

Taking away just one or two good ideas that you then put into practice is better than trying to wrap your head around 100% of it but then getting overwhelmed and not doing anything with it. 

4) Re-Read Books

This has been a game changer for me.

Every time I've done this, I've taken away another level of detail and applicable knowledge from the book.

When you read a book for the first time, it's probably new information presented in a new way.

If you then go away and apply some of what you've learned, you gain a new perspective and set of experiences.

So far so good.

But if you then come back and ?re-read the book a few months (or years!) later, you're a different person.

We learn in layers, and the same information can impact us in a different way when we've had time to try on for size what we gained on our first pass.

Don't fall into the trap of moving onto the next shiny new book... some of the real gold could be already right there on your bookshelf.

4) Consume In Multiple Formats

Most of my reading is on my iPhone Kindle app.

But I also listen to a lot of audiobooks, watch TEDx talks and read book summaries such as Blinkist.

One of my favourite books is The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. The book is great, but watching his TEDx talk gave me a feel for his approach, and what I could expect from the book.

It also meant that I read the whole book in his voice, which is always weird.

5) Book Summaries

I mentioned Blinkist earlier but it deserves it's own heading.

I find it a great way to get a high level summary of a book before I get into the detail of reading the whole thing.

And sometimes the summary can give me just enough information to take action on without adding another book to the list... or help me dodge the bullet of getting into something that wasn't what I thought it was going to be :)

6) Fit It In

Personal development isn't something that just happens (is anything?!)

Find times in your day when you can watch a YouTube TEDx talk (I do this when I'm having a shave!), listen to an audiobook (walking the dog or driving the car for me), or reading a Kindle or actual book (when I'm on a work break or in the evening).

There's no right or wrong way or amount to be consuming, but if you want to harness the potential of personal development you need to start by creating the habit.

What Happens Next

If you ever read personal development books, the most important thing is ALWAYS 'what happens next'.

Keep this in mind as you read, listen or watch, and then try it on for size in the real world.

Personal Favourites

Here are some of my favourite recent reads and rereads:

1. The Happiness Advantage (Shawn Achor)
2. Grit (Angela Duckworth)
3. Daring Greatly (Brené Brown)
4. The Mask of Masculinity (Lewis Howes)
5. Atomic Habits (James Clear)
6. High Performance Habits (Brendon Burchard)
7. Stealing Fire (Steve Kotler & Jamie Wheal)
8. The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck (Mark Manson)
9. Backbone: The Modern Man's Ultimate Guide to Purpose (David Wagner)
10. Loving What Is (Byron Katie)

Some of these are on Kindle, some are hard copies and some are on Audible.

Find a format that works for you, and then get to it.

Always be learning.