Dec 12
If you are spending a lot of time researching how other people did it perhaps you’re afraid to be a little different?
You can learn on your own terms. Courses usually teach you what to do step by step.
Yet some people are afraid to start in case they fail. They want to make sure they have [...] [...more]
Posted: under expectation, frustration, learning.
If you are spending a lot of time researching how other people did it perhaps you’re afraid to be a little different?
You can learn on your own terms. Courses usually teach you what to do step by step.
Yet some people are afraid to start in case they fail. They want to make sure they have everything right before opening the books. They want to have everything 100% perfect with minimal to no effort. Failing means they might be different to those who succeeded before them.
I’m often amazed at how much effort people put into researching. Seeking to know from others, ’How long did it take you? How many hours did you put in Is there anyway that I can learn faster than you? Are there any short cuts? What’s the secret?’
Now it’s interesting when I tell them just start the course it will take you as long as it takes you. Three months later they are still asking me how long will it take when I start and can you guarantee me that I will succeed?
Well no I can’t guarantee you’ll succeed. Sad to say if you’re still researching whether you should start the course three months later I’m not sure you’ll succeed because you might not start.
Is it really difficult to be that little bit different and just start the course and perhaps not be a master at it the first time you do it? How can you make it okay to be different that it takes you a different length of time than someone else? Why must your ability match their time frame?
Dare to be different.
The sooner you start the course the sooner you reach a destination.
Consider this for a moment. If you spent 3 months researching 2 hours a day to prove that the course you are interested in works. You’ve spent roughly 240 hours researching. If you start a course with 8 to 24 CDs that require an hour of listening and perhaps an hour of work each the total time to complete the course is 16 to 48 hours.
If you started 3 months ago you’d be using a new skill now.
So don’t ask
- how long did it take you?
- how much have your grades improved
- what are your grades now?
The answer is who cares? You’re not really asking to be inspired. You’re asking to be guaranteed that the effort is worth it. Yet expending more effort looking for that guarantee. Just Do It and see.
Ask instead
- what are you doing that I am not?
And I can answer immediately. I’m applying what I learned.
We are all different. So there is little point to fear what is reality. Dance to the tune of your own drum. Just make sure you recognise where you are putting your energy. Into procrastination? You don’t need to research reasons why you shouldn’t do something you don’t want to do. Don’t do it. If you’re not interested in a course right now then it’s okay to say it.
I see people spend three months researching before they take a risk and do the course. They stoke the fear that they will fail.They rob themselves of the valuable time they have to start learning and then are rushed by desperation and panic because they used so much time researching. If you need to prove that you can or cannot learn what is taught in a course you need to start the course and see. No one else can do that for you.
Experimenting and discovering it doesn’t work for you isn’t failure and you’re still okay. You’re allowed to be different. You don’t have to be good at the same thing as everyone else. You just found out what doesn’t work for you.
What do you think?
© Alex Viefhaus
Aug 16
Adults shun necessary reading to keep up with their career. There is just too much to read in our information age. There was a report in one of the Australian papers back in 97 or 98 that pointed out that less than 1/8 of all the self-help and information books bought are read beyond the [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, comprehension, frustration, reading, speed reading.
Adults shun necessary reading to keep up with their career. There is just too much to read in our information age. There was a report in one of the Australian papers back in 97 or 98 that pointed out that less than 1/8 of all the self-help and information books bought are read beyond the third chapter. By today’s average reading speeds it would take 7.5 hours to read a 220 page book. People don’t even think they have the time to start an exercise program for 30 minutes a day let alone read books that help them.
The solution to slow reading?
Read more.
How many books is it going to take at 7.5 hours a book till you get your speed up. Speed reading courses say an hour a day for 2 to 4 weeks. They don’t say when you get your comprehension levels up; that’s a whole different problem.
Late last year there were report in the Australian news after checking in to school reading levels and they found the biggest problem why kids have trouble reading is the teachers were never taught how to teach reading. They still do it by pot luck.
The solution to reading problems?
Read more.
If you’re a slow reader you know how much time it takes to read. I am amazed at how few people actually manage the “average” reading speed when they first take my class. It’s frustratingly boring for the mind to read that slow. So here we are teaching kids to read; the same book over and over again. It’s easier to memorise than read. They look at the pictures and tell the story. That’s how they sneak through the system.
Then when they hit secondary schooling the reading problem becomes a real problem. The amount of reading required increases and they were never taught comprehension. The solution for comprehension is (sorry) read more. Who on earth has the time? Based on surveys in the UK and US and tentative ones here in Australia. Less than 50% of the kids are capable of reading to a year 9 level by the time they finish high school. They don’t have the resources to cope with higher education.
The horror of spending more time reading than it already takes you to read.
PhotoReading allows you to read more and read 3 times faster as a beginner. Just PhotoReading books can help you to at least accomplish the first step in solving the reading problem of reading more. It takes 2 to 5 minutes to PhotoRead the average books. If you have always been a slow reader and shunned reading in general then just PhotoRead 3 to 10 books a day for a month or two. If you PhotoRead different books you mind is exposed to text without the painful slow paced reading that others who managed to learn to read okay have done.
What about comprehension?
Of course comprehension is still another factor in the reading equation. It’s possible to recognise words without understanding what the author has to say. That is the main problem of passive reading. We don’t understand when we don’t know what we should understand.
Many students can tell you of their frustration in reading text and re-reading it and reading it yet again and still not understanding what they are supposed to learn from this text.
Reading and comprehension are not usually considered two separate problems. So the solution for reading comprehension is hit with the same hammer for developing reading skills. Read more. As many have already experienced this doesn’t always solve the problem. Just how often do you need to re-read something before you understand it?
Reading on it’s own is a passive activity. Looking at, and recognising, a string of words doesn’t equal understanding. Something more is required.
What is the secret for comprehension?
It begins with a purpose. If you look closely at any speed reading program they all tell you you first need to decide what it is you want to know from the book. Otherwise you will be passively reading every word repeatedly like when you first learned to read. When you combine your purpose with PhotoReading you’ll be getting your reading done in 1/3rd 1/5th or even 1/10 and that is possible within the first two days of learning the system. No, 1 hour per day for 2 to 4 weeks of training to push your eyeballs faster across the page learning speed reading. And if you don’t have a purpose for reading you can train in speed reading for months and never be satisfied with your comprehension.
So no matter what your approach to reading. Decide why do you want to read this? Why do you want to spend time with this person? What is it that you think they can teach you? Who else is interested in knowing what you learned this to? When do you think you can use what you learn here? How could you use it in your life? Where is information like this relevant? Have a purpose for reading or don’t bother reading. More useful things can be done rather than spend 7 to 12 hours passively reading ONE short book.
© Alex Viefhaus August 2006
Yet some people are afraid to start in case they fail. They want to make sure they have everything right before opening the books. They want to have everything 100% perfect with minimal to no effort. Failing means they might be different to those who succeeded before them.