How to Read a Book

I attended a very rigorous college prep high school, graduating 4th in my class (from the bottom) back in 1982. Our principal Mr. May took great pride in saddling us all down with loads of homework as did all of the teachers. I guess in the spirit of “college prep” we were being prepared to handle the academic workload of college. I didn’t appreciate it then, but it helped 10 years later when I had to figure out how to multi-task with college and full-time employment in the Navy.

Mr. May made it a point to tell us how to read a book for homework.

“Read it five times,” he said.

1. Skim it
2. Read it slowly
3. Read it and highlight key points
4. Read it again
5. And read it again

Goodness! Who has time for all that?

But as somewhat of an educator now myself, I think there is a proper way to read a book (and I’m talking about non-fiction, educational or motivational books).

1. Read it once. Digest the contents. We call this reading for INFORMATION.
2. Then, if you found the book to be really useful, read it a second time for application. We call this reading for TRANSFORMATION.

There are probably about 10 books that I consider transformational and have read each one multiple times. If the book has information that could really help you out, why would you NOT read it multiple times?

I had this experience when I read Built to Sellby John Warrillow. I read it twice, listened to it on Audible.com twice and then read it again. It helped me transform how I did business and I’ll probably listen to it several more times.

So, this week, if you’re not doing so already, try picking up a book. And read it of course. In my opinion, your brain is like a muscle. It has to be worked out to be of any use. Reading (and listening to books) is the best way to keep that thing in shape!