Gathering strands of hope: seeing the positive in even the most disastrous of situations.

Hello again dear reader.

Today's conversation is another one of those interesting little meditational excerpts that I come across while digging through the remnants of forgotten libraries. Today's excerpt is about hanging onto all of the small strands of hope and positive will. Even when it doesn't seem like they're worth holding onto. This excerpt is a perfect answer to my friend asking me "how do you manage to stay so positive all the time?" I'm not saying it's always easy by any means, but there is always something even on my worst day. That is worth hanging on to, so hopefully the reader this little excerpt will help you contemplate how to gather up and hang on to the strands of hope and positivity in your life.

From The Simple Life, 1903
By Charles Wagner

In its dreams, man’s ambition embraces vast limits, but it is rarely given us to achieve great things, and even then, a quick and sure success always rests on a groundwork of patient preparation. Fidelity in small things is at the base of every great achievement. We too often forget this, and yet no truth needs more to be kept in mind, particularly in the troubled eras of history and in the crises of individual life. In shipwreck a splintered beam, an oar, any scrap of wreckage, saves us. On the tumbling waves of life, when everything seems shattered to fragments, let us not forget that a single one of these poor bits may become our plank of safety. To despise the remnants is demoralization.

You a ruined man, or you are stricken by a great bereavement, or again, you see the fruit of toilsome years perish before your eyes. You cannot rebuild your fortune, raise the dead, recover your lost toil, and in the face of the inevitable, your arms drop. Then you neglect to care for your person, to keep your house, to guide your children. All this is pardonable, and how easy to understand! But it is exceedingly dangerous. To fold one’s hands and let things take their course, is to transform one evil into worse. You who think that you have nothing left to lose, will by that very thought lose what you have. Gather up the fragments that remain to you, and keep them with scrupulous care. In good time this little that is yours will be your consolation. The effort made will come to your relief, as the effort missed will turn against you. If nothing but a branch is left for you to cling to, cling to that branch; and if you stand alone in defense of a losing cause, do not throw down your arms to join the rout. After the deluge a few survivors repeopled the earth. The future sometimes rests in a single life as truly as life sometimes hangs by a thread. For strength, go to history and Nature. From the long travail of both you will learn that failure and fortune alike may come from the slightest cause, that it is not wise to neglect detail, and, above all, that we must know how to wait and to begin again.

In speaking of simple duty I cannot help thinking of military life, and the examples it offers to combatants in this great struggle. He would little understand his soldier’s duty who, the army once beaten, should cease to brush his garments, polish his rifle, and observe discipline. “But what would be the use?” perhaps you ask. Are there not various fashions of being vanquished? Is it an indifferent matter to add to defeat, discouragement, disorder, and demoralization? No, it should never be forgotten that the least display of energy in these terrible moments is a sign of life and hope. At once everybody feels that all is not lost. During the disastrous retreat of 1813-1814, in the heart of the winter, when it had become almost impossible to present any sort of appearance, a general, I know not who, one morning presented himself to Napoleon, in full dress and freshly shaven. Seeing him thus, in the midst of the general demoralization, as elaborately attired as if for parade, the Emperor said: My general, you are a brave man!

Learning to enjoy the struggle of life: life lessons from the perspective of a butterfly.

Hello again, dear reader.

Here is another motivational excerpt found on one of my late-night forays into the depths of lost literature. This one caught my eye because it is all about learning to enjoy the struggle of life and the strength that can be gained from overcoming such struggles. As seen through the eyes of a butterfly, or rather, a butterfly that is assisted out of its cocoon by a well-meaning naturalist who later learned that he has not helped the butterfly. But instead has "crippled for life. By offering too much assistance because of butterfly to not have to endure the struggle of exiting its cocoon it’s wing muscles were unable to develop properly rendering the butterfly flightless.

As a person living with a severe disability is message appeals to me, because of my need for continuing assistance in daily life. However, too much assistance can be detrimental to one's development, both physically and mentally. So I suppose the reader. The important take away from this passage is to make sure that your health is always warranted or wanted before any assistance is rendered as it is important for everyone to learn to enjoy the struggle of life.

“Crippled for Life”
From Climbing Manward, 1924
By Frank H. Cheley

I once crippled a fellow-creature for life! Ignorantly, of course, but nevertheless effectively. He was a wonderfully attractive fellow too, in his bright clothes, and would have made a great stir in his own world if I had not interfered. As it was, he turned out to be a helpless cripple and died in a few hours. But perhaps some good came out of the incident after all, for it set me thinking. I could not get it out of my head for days. I want to tell you about it.
It happened like this. For months I had carefully fed what was at first a tiny striped wiggler. What an appetite he did have! He grew just like things do in fairy stories, until at last he was a magnificent full grown worm. And then, after attaching his rear end to the top of his little glass cage, he deliberately chewed off his black and yellow suit and transformed himself into a lovely green and gold chrysalis.
Day by day I watched that beautiful bungalow for some signs of life. How curious I was to know what sort of a creature would come out of it! One day I noticed the little chrysalid shaking. Finally it split, just a tiny bit to be sure, but I was all excitement, for I was certain that my butterfly was going to be such a big, strong, beautiful fellow that he would easily break his winter prison wide open and emerge for my inspection. I watched expectantly. How the poor thing did struggle as it tried to get out through that tiny split! But for some reason it seemed to make little or no headway. Finally, growing impatient and thinking to be kind, I carefully tore away that chrysalid and helped, as I thought, that struggling insect to get an easy start in life.
At last it tumbled out into my hand, a crumpled, undeveloped thing, its lovely swallow-tailed wings crushed as a soft bit of silk might be crushed into a thimble. Gently I laid the helpless, quivering thing in the bright sunshine, and waited and waited for it to stretch its wings and fly away. But it did not. In fact, it made no further effort to unfold them. By and by it did move about a bit as if looking for food or nectar from a flower, only to become motionless again.
How disappointed I was! All those days of careful feeding and care gone for naught.
In disgust I went to a scientific friend and told him what had happened. He listened gravely and then, with his hand on my shoulder, he said to me, “You have crippled the poor thing for life. It will never fly among the flowers or soar into the bright sunshine. You have made that impossible.” Then he explained to a very surprised and chagrined boy that only by long hours of struggle is it possible for an emerging butterfly to gain strength and work up sufficient circulation to expand its wings so that it can fly. By making it easy for that insect at the start I had ruined its whole future.
“Struggle” is a wonderful word. All of the good things that we have in the world today are the result of struggle. If men everywhere should cease to struggle, in a surprisingly short time civilization would slip back to barbarism. The best fruits always grow highest and to get them one must climb. If one would have a strong body, he must struggle physically for it. All of our team games are just an organized struggle, and how we do revel in them. If one would have a strong mind, he must struggle through years and years of mental application. If one would be good, he must forever fight evil. All development is a fight upward. Edison says genius is ninety-nine parts struggle to one part genius. Luther Burbank says struggle is the mysterious key to the lock of success.
Pick up the biography of any of our great men in the arts, in science, in politics, in invention – in any field – and you cannot but be impressed with the large part struggle has played in their lives.
Read that wonderful tale of Scott in his dash for the South Pole. Read the story of Theodore Roosevelt, that sickly, puny boy who was placed on a western ranch to struggle back to health and vigor and world usefulness. Then sit down and ask yourself: “Have I got that sort of ‘scrap’ in me, or am I one of these unfortunate boys who has everything in the world done for him, from having his clothes picked up after him to being helped with every difficulty that happens to cross his path?”
Someone has told us that “When ye houses were made of straw ye men were made of oak, but when ye houses were made of oak, ye men were made of straw.”
Which kind are you?
In these days of marvelous conveniences are we to allow life to become so easy and comfortable and soft that all of that wonderful pioneer quality that made America great among the nations is to be lost? Instead of men, is it possible that we are becoming mollycoddles, more interested in how we look that in what we are or can do? Take care if life is too easy, if there are no problems, no burdens, no loads. Fatty degeneration is dangerous!
Struggle is the flywheel that makes life run smoothly.
Struggle is the governor that makes it possible to use the engine’s power.
Only the things that must be struggled for are worth the having.
Who wishes to play in a game when there is no opponent?
Who would care to climb mountains if they were all downhill, instead of up? It’s the hours of tremendous struggle that enhance the view from the top.
Train yourself to struggle. Take it on gradually. See it through one day at a time – but see it through. A man who has been wonderfully successful in developing teams of horses to move almost unbelievable loads says that he starts with them as colts by hitching them at first to an empty stoneboat and then adding one stone after another until they can pull with ease a load that most other teams could not move out of their tracks.
Struggle a little every day with something. Do not forever seek the shady path where all is roses. Strength is gained by fighting. Wishbone is a poor substitute for backbone. Beware of the friend who wishes to carry all the load for you – he is “misfortune” in disguise.
Stand on your own feet.
Fight your own way.
Ask favors of no man.
Win because you have trained to win – by always struggling to do your part.
I once crippled a fellow-creature for life! Ignorantly, of course, but nevertheless effectively. He was a wonderfully attractive fellow too, in his bright clothes, and would have made a great stir in his own world if I had not interfered. As it was, he turned out to be a helpless cripple and died in a few hours. But perhaps some good came out of the incident after all, for it set me thinking. I could not get it out of my head for days. I want to tell you about it.
It happened like this. For months I had carefully fed what was at first a tiny striped wiggler. What an appetite he did have! He grew just like things do in fairy stories, until at last he was a magnificent full grown worm. And then, after attaching his rear end to the top of his little glass cage, he deliberately chewed off his black and yellow suit and transformed himself into a lovely green and gold chrysalis.
Day by day I watched that beautiful bungalow for some signs of life. How curious I was to know what sort of a creature would come out of it! One day I noticed the little chrysalid shaking. Finally it split, just a tiny bit to be sure, but I was all excitement, for I was certain that my butterfly was going to be such a big, strong, beautiful fellow that he would easily break his winter prison wide open and emerge for my inspection. I watched expectantly. How the poor thing did struggle as it tried to get out through that tiny split! But for some reason it seemed to make little or no headway. Finally, growing impatient and thinking to be kind, I carefully tore away that chrysalid and helped, as I thought, that struggling insect to get an easy start in life.
At last it tumbled out into my hand, a crumpled, undeveloped thing, its lovely swallow-tailed wings crushed as a soft bit of silk might be crushed into a thimble. Gently I laid the helpless, quivering thing in the bright sunshine, and waited and waited for it to stretch its wings and fly away. But it did not. In fact, it made no further effort to unfold them. By and by it did move about a bit as if looking for food or nectar from a flower, only to become motionless again.
How disappointed I was! All those days of careful feeding and care gone for naught.
In disgust I went to a scientific friend and told him what had happened. He listened gravely and then, with his hand on my shoulder, he said to me, “You have crippled the poor thing for life. It will never fly among the flowers or soar into the bright sunshine. You have made that impossible.” Then he explained to a very surprised and chagrined boy that only by long hours of struggle is it possible for an emerging butterfly to gain strength and work up sufficient circulation to expand its wings so that it can fly. By making it easy for that insect at the start I had ruined its whole future.
“Struggle” is a wonderful word. All of the good things that we have in the world today are the result of struggle. If men everywhere should cease to struggle, in a surprisingly short time civilization would slip back to barbarism. The best fruits always grow highest and to get them one must climb. If one would have a strong body, he must struggle physically for it. All of our team games are just an organized struggle, and how we do revel in them. If one would have a strong mind, he must struggle through years and years of mental application. If one would be good, he must forever fight evil. All development is a fight upward. Edison says genius is ninety-nine parts struggle to one part genius. Luther Burbank says struggle is the mysterious key to the lock of success.
Pick up the biography of any of our great men in the arts, in science, in politics, in invention – in any field – and you cannot but be impressed with the large part struggle has played in their lives.
Read that wonderful tale of Scott in his dash for the South Pole. Read the story of Theodore Roosevelt, that sickly, puny boy who was placed on a western ranch to struggle back to health and vigor and world usefulness. Then sit down and ask yourself: “Have I got that sort of ‘scrap’ in me, or am I one of these unfortunate boys who has everything in the world done for him, from having his clothes picked up after him to being helped with every difficulty that happens to cross his path?”
Someone has told us that “When ye houses were made of straw ye men were made of oak, but when ye houses were made of oak, ye men were made of straw.”
Which kind are you?
In these days of marvelous conveniences are we to allow life to become so easy and comfortable and soft that all of that wonderful pioneer quality that made America great among the nations is to be lost? Instead of men, is it possible that we are becoming mollycoddles, more interested in how we look that in what we are or can do? Take care if life is too easy, if there are no problems, no burdens, no loads. Fatty degeneration is dangerous!
Struggle is the flywheel that makes life run smoothly.
Struggle is the governor that makes it possible to use the engine’s power.
Only the things that must be struggled for are worth the having.
Who wishes to play in a game when there is no opponent?
Who would care to climb mountains if they were all downhill, instead of up? It’s the hours of tremendous struggle that enhance the view from the top.
Train yourself to struggle. Take it on gradually. See it through one day at a time – but see it through. A man who has been wonderfully successful in developing teams of horses to move almost unbelievable loads says that he starts with them as colts by hitching them at first to an empty stoneboat and then adding one stone after another until they can pull with ease a load that most other teams could not move out of their tracks.
Struggle a little every day with something. Do not forever seek the shady path where all is roses. Strength is gained by fighting. Wishbone is a poor substitute for backbone. Beware of the friend who wishes to carry all the load for you – he is “misfortune” in disguise.
Stand on your own feet.
Fight your own way.
Ask favors of no man.
Win because you have trained to win – by always struggling to do your part.
I once crippled a fellow-creature for life! Ignorantly, of course, but nevertheless effectively. He was a wonderfully attractive fellow too, in his bright clothes, and would have made a great stir in his own world if I had not interfered. As it was, he turned out to be a helpless cripple and died in a few hours. But perhaps some good came out of the incident after all, for it set me thinking. I could not get it out of my head for days. I want to tell you about it.
It happened like this. For months I had carefully fed what was at first a tiny striped wiggler. What an appetite he did have! He grew just like things do in fairy stories, until at last he was a magnificent full grown worm. And then, after attaching his rear end to the top of his little glass cage, he deliberately chewed off his black and yellow suit and transformed himself into a lovely green and gold chrysalis.
Day by day I watched that beautiful bungalow for some signs of life. How curious I was to know what sort of a creature would come out of it! One day I noticed the little chrysalid shaking. Finally it split, just a tiny bit to be sure, but I was all excitement, for I was certain that my butterfly was going to be such a big, strong, beautiful fellow that he would easily break his winter prison wide open and emerge for my inspection. I watched expectantly. How the poor thing did struggle as it tried to get out through that tiny split! But for some reason it seemed to make little or no headway. Finally, growing impatient and thinking to be kind, I carefully tore away that chrysalid and helped, as I thought, that struggling insect to get an easy start in life.
At last it tumbled out into my hand, a crumpled, undeveloped thing, its lovely swallow-tailed wings crushed as a soft bit of silk might be crushed into a thimble. Gently I laid the helpless, quivering thing in the bright sunshine, and waited and waited for it to stretch its wings and fly away. But it did not. In fact, it made no further effort to unfold them. By and by it did move about a bit as if looking for food or nectar from a flower, only to become motionless again.
How disappointed I was! All those days of careful feeding and care gone for naught.
In disgust I went to a scientific friend and told him what had happened. He listened gravely and then, with his hand on my shoulder, he said to me, “You have crippled the poor thing for life. It will never fly among the flowers or soar into the bright sunshine. You have made that impossible.” Then he explained to a very surprised and chagrined boy that only by long hours of struggle is it possible for an emerging butterfly to gain strength and work up sufficient circulation to expand its wings so that it can fly. By making it easy for that insect at the start I had ruined its whole future.
“Struggle” is a wonderful word. All of the good things that we have in the world today are the result of struggle. If men everywhere should cease to struggle, in a surprisingly short time civilization would slip back to barbarism. The best fruits always grow highest and to get them one must climb. If one would have a strong body, he must struggle physically for it. All of our team games are just an organized struggle, and how we do revel in them. If one would have a strong mind, he must struggle through years and years of mental application. If one would be good, he must forever fight evil. All development is a fight upward. Edison says genius is ninety-nine parts struggle to one part genius. Luther Burbank says struggle is the mysterious key to the lock of success.
Pick up the biography of any of our great men in the arts, in science, in politics, in invention – in any field – and you cannot but be impressed with the large part struggle has played in their lives.
Read that wonderful tale of Scott in his dash for the South Pole. Read the story of Theodore Roosevelt, that sickly, puny boy who was placed on a western ranch to struggle back to health and vigor and world usefulness. Then sit down and ask yourself: “Have I got that sort of ‘scrap’ in me, or am I one of these unfortunate boys who has everything in the world done for him, from having his clothes picked up after him to being helped with every difficulty that happens to cross his path?”
Someone has told us that “When ye houses were made of straw ye men were made of oak, but when ye houses were made of oak, ye men were made of straw.”
Which kind are you?
In these days of marvelous conveniences are we to allow life to become so easy and comfortable and soft that all of that wonderful pioneer quality that made America great among the nations is to be lost? Instead of men, is it possible that we are becoming mollycoddles, more interested in how we look that in what we are or can do? Take care if life is too easy, if there are no problems, no burdens, no loads. Fatty degeneration is dangerous!
Struggle is the flywheel that makes life run smoothly.
Struggle is the governor that makes it possible to use the engine’s power.
Only the things that must be struggled for are worth the having.
Who wishes to play in a game when there is no opponent?
Who would care to climb mountains if they were all downhill, instead of up? It’s the hours of tremendous struggle that enhance the view from the top.
Train yourself to struggle. Take it on gradually. See it through one day at a time – but see it through. A man who has been wonderfully successful in developing teams of horses to move almost unbelievable loads says that he starts with them as colts by hitching them at first to an empty stoneboat and then adding one stone after another until they can pull with ease a load that most other teams could not move out of their tracks.
Struggle a little every day with something. Do not forever seek the shady path where all is roses. Strength is gained by fighting. Wishbone is a poor substitute for backbone. Beware of the friend who wishes to carry all the load for you – he is “misfortune” in disguise.
Stand on your own feet.
Fight your own way.
Ask favors of no man.
Win because you have trained to win – by always struggling to do your part.

Getting in touch with your literary soul: how to find more time for reading in your life.

Hello again, dear reader.

I was recently discussing some of the books on Seattle history that I have been reading lately, with a friend of mine when they asked me how I managed to read so many interesting books from start to finish. I smiled and said "well, it's easy to find time to read when you're paid to do research and book reviews for a living." My friend chuckled at this and then said "seriously, where do you find the time to read all those books?" So I explained that you simply have to make time to read. Instead of watching a television program, for instance, read a chapter of a new book or if you are commuting to work. Use an audio book, or if you commute by bus or train and spend time reading instead of watching movies or playing games on your smartphone this practice will help you to get in touch with your literary soul. The same goes for traveling on a plane instead of watching movies or playing video games take advantage of the "no WiFi distraction time." And read a book, hopefully, dear reader. Today's conversation will help you make more time for reading in your life...

I’ve developed some tactics during my years of reading for both work and pleasure, and I share them below. If you’re looking to increase your physical and mental library and read more books this year, maybe they’ll work for you too.

The Biggest Trick to Reading More

When people ask me how I read so many books, they’re usually fishing for a speed reading technique that will allow their brains to swallow books whole.

Speed reading certainly plays a role in my reading technique (more on that later), but it’s not my killer secret.

Lean in. I’m going to whisper the secret to reading a lot of books.

Are you ready?

You need to spend more time reading.

I spend a lot of time reading because it’s part of my job.

Being amazed at how many books I read in a year would be like being amazed at how many leaky faucets a plumber fixed in a year. It’s not that impressive when it’s what you do for work.

With that said, in addition to the books I read specifically for the Art of Manliness last year, I also managed to read 2-3 books every month for pleasure. That’s more than two dozen non-work related books in 12 months. It’s an amount that I think most men with even the busiest of schedules can very viably knock off in a year too.

So the #1 secret to reading more is to spend more time reading. 

How can you find this time?

Schedule time for reading. You can’t in fact find time for reading; you’ve got to make time for it. And the best way to make time for something is to put it on your daily schedule. You don’t need to set aside an hour straight for reading. If you’re just starting off with making reading a priority, you probably don’t yet have the attention span for it, and trying to read that long in one sitting will likely set you up for frustration. Instead, block off 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night for reading. Heck, make those 20-minute blocks if a half hour still seems too long. Instead of doing your typical time-wasting smartphone scan at those times, you’ll read. You’ll be amazed how many books you can knock off in a month by reading an hour a day.

Use spare moments for reading. Even though your daily schedule may seem packed, there are invariably small pockets of time hidden in its interstices that you typically waste. A few minutes of downtime between activities or appointments may seem trivial, but they soon add up to hours, and to entire books read; there’s great possibilities in spare moments!

Standing in line at the post office? Read a book. Cooling your heels at the dentist? Read a book. Pooping? Read a book. Waiting to pick up your kid from school? Read. I’ll even read in between sets while I’m lifting weights. #barbellsandbooks

The easiest way to be ready to read when you find yourself with a little slice of time is to download the Kindle app on your phone. You almost always have your phone with you, and will thus almost always have a library at your fingertips. (And on the cheap if you want; you can get thousands of classics for free.) 

Avoid reading on your smartphone. So I just recommended using the Kindle app on your smartphone to get more reading done. Now I’m going to completely contradict that advice by recommending you avoid reading on your smartphone as much as possible.

Let me explain.

I’ve found that when I read on my phone, I tend to get really distracted. I’ll read for 5 minutes, but then get the itch to check my email or scroll through Instagram. I’ll do a quick check of other apps and then get back to reading. Five minutes later the itch comes back, and I repeat the cycle. I never get in any good, focused reading when I read on my phone.

Consequently, I try to do most of my reading with physical books. What’s more, studies suggest that reading comprehension increases when you read an analog book compared to reading on digital devices. It’s probably because you simply focus more when using the former medium.

The other advantage of paper books is that I find it easier to highlight and make notes compared to e-readers (more on that below, too).

While I try to do most of my reading with physical books, digital books still have a place in my reading schedule. I use the Kindle app for spare moment reading and nothing more. A spare “moment” lasts about 5-15 minutes, or about the amount of time I can read on my phone before the itch to check another app arises.

Of course, I read different books on my phone and in paperback; it would be a huge pain in the rear to try to switch back and forth between a digital and hard copy of the very same book. At any given time, I’ll be reading one book as a paperback, and a different book on my Kindle app, often picking a “lighter” book for the latter selection, since I won’t be engaging it with as much sustained attention.

Take advantage of travel time. If you commute by subway or bus, use that travel time to read. If you take a bus every day to work and used that time to read. You will be able to finish several books during those commutes.

The best time to get reading done is on a plane. You’d be surprised how much reading you can accomplish during a two-hour flight in the absence of Wi-Fi-dependent distractions. In fact, you can finish entire books from beginning to end in that amount of time. Short books, of course. You could reach The Road, The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, The Bhagavad Gita, and The Innovator’s Dilemma all on 2-hour trips.

Next time you’re traveling by plane, instead of loading your phone with apps and movies, stock it with books. Better yet, bring a physical book or two in your carry-on.

Listen to audiobooks. I listen to many audiobooks; it’s my preferred method of consuming literature (mostly because I don't have to worry about physically turning pages and holding the book down with one hand.) Particularly if I’m going on a long road trip where I’ll be doing most of the driving, I’ll buy a few on Audible to pass the time. If you’re on the road a lot, your drive can be a golden opportunity to consume a big ol’ library of books.

Pro-tip: speed up the narration to 1.5x or 2x. You can still understand everything, but it will allow you to get through a book much faster.

Speed read strategically. As mentioned above, when people ask me how I read so many books, they often assume I’m speed reading. But when I utilize the reading methods above, I’m typically reading at a fairly normal pace (I think my normal pace is a little faster than average, but it’s not so fast it would qualify as speed reading). 

Speed reading courses will claim that you can have fantastic comprehension while reading a million words a minute. It’s not true. While it is possible, with lots of practice, to increase reading speed while maintaining decent comprehension, there’s inevitably going to be some comprehension loss the faster you go. For that reason, I don’t like speed reading.

With that said, I do occasionally speed read or skim books. But I do so strategically.

Certain kinds of books lend themselves well to speed reading. Specifically, business books and “pop-y” self-development books — the kind of books you’d grab at the front of an airport bookstore. These genres of books are typically formatted for easy scanning. They make extensive use of headings, bolded first sentences, and bulleted lists. You can read and scan through these books pretty quick and still get what they’re about. The extra text in them often doesn’t actually add very much to the main points; it typically consists of anecdotes that demonstrate how a certain principle was put into action. Such stories can be interesting, but they’re often just fluff.

The other reason these pop self-improvement/business books are so easy to speed read is that they all pretty much say the same thing. If you’ve read one personal development book you’ve read them all. I can’t count the number I’ve read that have referenced the marshmallow test or that “invisible” gorilla on the basketball court study. As soon as I see “marshmallow test” in a book, I’m skipping all the pages that describe the experiment and the obligatory explanation on the importance of delayed gratification because I’ve already read about it a bajillion times.

While I’ll speed read/scan business and personal development books, I don’t speed read stuff that requires concentration and attention to understand fully, like works of philosophy, history, or science. For example, Alistair MacIntyre’s After Virtue is super hard to understand when you’re reading it at a snail’s pace; it’d be impossible to comprehend if you sped through it.

I also don’t speed read fiction. First, with fiction, there’s a lot of nuance in the story that can be lost if you skim it. Second, fiction is often filled with literary flourishes that must be read slowly and deliberately to really be absorbed and appreciated. If you’re speed reading Dickens or Austen, you’re going to miss out on prose that should be relished. Finally, reading fiction is supposed to be enjoyable. Why would you want to rush through a pleasant experience as quickly as possible? I remember how bummed I felt when I finished Lonesome Dove the first time; I just wanted it to keep going and going.

So yes, speed read — but only occasionally and strategically.

Taking Notes and Remembering What You Read

Another question I often get in conjunction with how I read so much is if I have a note-taking system.

I do – but it’s nothing flashy and may not even qualify as a “system.” If I’m reading a physical book, I underline sentences; put brackets around key paragraphs; and if there’s a point that I think is really important, I’ll put a star next to it. When I’m done with a book, I’ll skim through it again and review my notes.

If I’m on a Kindle, I just highlight passages and review those highlights when I finish reading the book. I sometimes also download those notes and save them on my computer.

That’s how I take notes. Stupidly simple. Use what works for you.

A final question I often get asked about my reading is how I remember everything that I read.

Short answer: I don’t! I just try to remember the things that are important to me. I mentally solidify those important things in a few ways.

The biggest key to remembering what you read is to synthesize and apply it as quickly as you can. For me, that means I’m either writing an article or coming up with podcast questions based on my reading notes. Those two acts help me better remember the things I just read about.

With books I read for pleasure, I’ll share some of their interesting tidbits with Kate or a friend. I much more readily retain the things I talk over with others.

Another way I remember what I read is through repetition. As I’ve spent years reading a lot, I’ve seen the same ideas come up over and over again. For example, I know a lot about WWII history because I’ve read a lot of books about WWII. I know a lot about Theodore Roosevelt because I’ve read a lot of books about Theodore Roosevelt. I know quite a bit about psychology because I’ve read a lot of psychology books. And when it comes to the self-help genre, while it’s beneficial to hear different authors’ angles on things, there’s really not much new under the sun! Each time you pass over the same ideas and sets of facts — put in slightly varied ways and contexts — they become more and more solidified in your brain.

So if you want to remember what you’ve read, find ways to synthesize, apply, and talk about it soon afterwards. That could mean writing a book report summarizing the key takeaways or bringing up some idea from a book in conversation with your friends. Heck, send out an email newsletter of your reading; this is what Jeremy does, and he said it’s helped him enormously in retaining a book’s main ideas, and synthesizing and coming to a concrete opinion on it.

The other way to remember more of what you read is to simply read more about that particular topic until it’s well rooted in your brain.

Well, there you go. How I get so much reading done and how I remember what I read. There’s really no secret. Read a lot. Apply what you read. Rinse and repeat.

Here’s to more reading this year and beyond!