4 Tips to Unlock the Full Potential of Self-Help Books!
The two minutes you spend here may change how you read forever. These are the only four tips you'll need to master any self-help book.
Don't read. Skim
There are only a couple things in each book worth learning. Everything else is fluff. Skim the fluff and keep only the good stuff.
Highlight
Often, there is a cool one liner that leaves an impact. Highlight it.
If you're highlighting paragraphs or whole sections, you're doing it wrong. Keep it short and crisp.
In case you ever pick up the book again, you can get away with just reading the highlighted bits and ignore the rest. Makes re-reading much faster.
Make notes in the margins
If an idea is too complex or is overexploited, simplify and summarise it in the margins.
Write down reflections about how you can use what you just read in your own life. This works especially well with financial concepts. It is easier to see how the numbers play out rather than read a lengthy paragraph.
Make your own table of contents
Self help books have the worst table of contents. If I ever have to refer back to something, I have to navigate through technical jargon or worse, silly and ambiguous chapter names like 'You are the key of something or other...'
If there are interesting concepts that you want to come back to in the future, add them to your own table of contents at the start of the book. Makes re-reading a breeze.