AlexK’s Blog
Jun 14
Prove that PhotoReading works and I’ll learn it. This is what people often want from experienced PhotoReaders before they are willing to learn.
Who can blame them. Reading is one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. And at the same time it is one of the most needed skills if we want to [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, comprehension, learning, reading.
Prove that PhotoReading works and I’ll learn it. This is what people often want from experienced PhotoReaders before they are willing to learn.
Who can blame them. Reading is one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. And at the same time it is one of the most needed skills if we want to succeed in school and business.
PhotoReading looks like a novelty skill that only a few can do and yet there is research out there that proves what our mind is able to do this.
As science continues to do research of the mind and more and more discoveries are confirming that we can do more than we are doing. We still need to teach and learn this valuable skill.
Science can only be assurance that it is humanly possible. If you want to do it, it still takes time to learn. With so many others showing the skill, it must humanly possible.
I can point you to pages and pages of research. Do we even have the skill to understand what all this research is telling us if we do not have the necessary reading skill?
What is reading anyway?
At school we learned to read one word at a time. This continued throughout our primary or elementary education.
When we started high school this all stopped. We were left to discover faster reading on our own. Not only that, more often than not we had to develop our reading comprehension on our own. Most of my classmates avoided reading where-ever possible. Many people I know still do.
Why? Because it’s boring. It’s a skill developed only by repetition. Doing it over and over. Hoping one day to discover the secret for understanding what we are reading and then hoping that knowing this secret enough help us read faster.
Did anyone teach us how to understand what we are reading? The accidental student figured it out. Many have difficulty with reading comprehension right into college.
While the majority of students read to their grade level skill in till about 13 years old. High school students fall behind. Current research shows less than 40% of the US high school students are capable of reading to their grade level.
Students lose their reading skills over summer.
The solution offered is “Keep Reading”. Summer Reading programs. This is the only way to hold onto and “hopefully” improve our reading skills. Yes. If you don’t read during the summer your reading skills decline. Or is it just the way to bring it up to the next grade because no time is spent on developing reading skills during the school year?
So summer reading is a must… AND another complaint is people are becoming obese. Does anyone else see a problem here?
The cycle of frustration and why bother?
What a great way to encourage exercise; make them sit down and read. When it great to be outside and exercising. It’s summer!
Is it a wonder that as children we develop the art of procrastination? We don’t want to be bored to tears reading a book that doesn’t interest us (and the majority of books they gave us were that kind). So we read it but don’t understand it which causes boredom and frustration.
It creates a cycle. It often slows us down even more. So why start reading if you know you’re not going to get anything out of it?
There you have why people are looking for faster reading methods. Not only to read faster also to understand better what they are reading. PhotoReading teaches fundamentals that a fortunate few learned in school. Add to that the PhotoReading step and you have a way of reading three, five and even 10 times faster than the old primary school reading techniques.
Perhaps what people want to know is not, “Is PhotoReading possible”, but, is it cheating? And am I allowed to do that because it wasn’t taught in school?
There are so many rules we learned when we first started to read. They were right for learning to read. Are they still all valid now that you know how to read?
When we started high school we were ready for the next level. What we had already learned was time-consuming and learned the time it took to read and the time we had available didn’t match. We knew we had to read faster yet the solution, Read More doesn’t fit either. If we need to read more then we definitely must have a way of getting the understanding we need from the text a whole lot faster.
We don’t need proof that PhotoReading is possible any more than we need proof that reading is possible. What we need is permission to let go of those old reading habits that hold us back. So we can learn what else we are capable of when it comes to reading.
© Alex Viefhaus June 2006
Jan 11
To try is to plan to fail
We hear that a lot yet we don’t really understand the significance of that. What it means is quit working on making it work just do the best you can. I know this is hard to do when we’re learning something and we’re not sure if were doing it [...] [...more]
Posted: under Persistence, expectation, learning.
To try is to plan to fail
We hear that a lot yet we don’t really understand the significance of that. What it means is quit working on making it work just do the best you can. I know this is hard to do when we’re learning something and we’re not sure if were doing it right.
So why not try?
It implies failure. Look at it. What does, ‘I am going to try.’ Really say? If you think about it or listened to yourself whenever you’ve used that expression, it says “I am going to try, BUT…, I might not be able to, I don’t think it will work, I don’t think I can.”
What does the mind really hear? Everything after the but. All that was said before it is wiped out. Gone and meaningless. You may have great intentions and they were wiped out because now your focus is on the, “but” and that highlights your true expectations.
The problem with trying is it’s an either or option with too much emphasis on possible failure.
To try is to attempt to two things at once. To succeed and fail at the same time. Giving yourself the safe way out by taking the middle of the road. Ultimately, “to try”, is a cop out. The problem is sooner or later you do wind up being squished like a grape. It’s an easy excuse to short change yourself and not live up to your true potential.
Short-changing yourself
When you did the intended task and found it didn’t work perfectly. You weren’t able to do it as well as a professional or discovered there were some things you cannot do well. You quickly let yourself off the hook and say. “Well. At least I tried.” and that’s the end of that.
Right there, you’ve short-changed yourself!
You tried, with the expectation that failure is a probability. Proved you can fail and left it at that. You don’t take what you learned from the experience. You cannot look at what worked for you and where you ran into problems that led to your failure, because you’re finished. ‘At least you tried.’
So what is just do it?
When you just do it you apply what you know to the best of your ability. You’ experiment and learn because in the end you expect things to work out. You take each opportunity to develop your skill more. Like a plant pushing to the surface you know you’ll succeed because you’re moving in the direction of the sun.You’re an adventurer who knows there is no failure only learning. Just do it
© Alex Viefhaus January 2006
Oct 21
1. Read the book as suggested on the first page.
It doesn’t look important but it is. When you follow the instructions you have the opportunity to discover the time saved by layering and not reading every single word an author has written. You don’t need to read every single word to understand the message in [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, learning, learning curve.
1. Read the book as suggested on the first page.
It doesn’t look important but it is. When you follow the instructions you have the opportunity to discover the time saved by layering and not reading every single word an author has written. You don’t need to read every single word to understand the message in the information if you know what you are looking for. This little exercise with the PhotoReading book gives you an opportunity to see just that.
2. When learning with the Self-Study course, use the manual and work as you go with the course the first time you listen.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with the home study course is to listen to it while driving or involved with other tasks. The course is designed for self-teaching. The experience and the surprise at what you got when you did the exercise is important. You must remember if Paul covered every single possible experience you might have the recording would be 5 times longer. Whatever you get is fine however listening to the recording first creates limits. Instead of noticing what you got you’re busy looking for the “right” results. The right result is what you noticed you got and you don’t get it “right” the first time.
3. After learning or reading the book (if that’s how you’re learning) do the 5-day test/experiment from page 76 of the PhotoReading book.
This is one of the easiest ways to integrate and own the system yourself. Repeat it on 3 to 5 books and you find the layering and multiple passes become less with experience. As a beginner you can get through a book in 1/3rd the time. So when you pick up a book for the 5-day test consider how long it would take for you to read it in the traditional way. In a survey I conducted the PhotoReading book ranged between 6 and 12 hours. No-one from the University of Western Sydney Blacktown Campus estimated a time less than 6 hours. So estimate how long it would take you to read traditionally before you start. Then at the end of 5-days you might decide you need more time at it however compare how much time you’ve spent with the book at that point and how much you would normally need.
4. As a beginner apply all the steps (check the mind map on page 68, and summary page 146 - 148)
It doesn’t take long to do them. It’s like learning to drive. When you first learn you have to think your way through the steps. Seat, seatbelt, mirrors, ignition, clutch, break, gear… After a few times some of the steps become habit and easy to do. Others like “indicator” take a few more reminders. By following a check list through all the steps it becomes a habit that will get you the best results. If it’s not working check if you are missing any of the steps. Consciously include it to see what difference it makes.
5. Spend no more than 3 minutes entering the Accelerated Learning State.
Too often beginners spend too much time entering the Accelerated Learning State. The basic is 3, physical relaxation, 2 Mental relaxation 1, Accelerated Learning State. Enjoy it for a moment then state your purpose and affirm your intent and start flipping those pages. The state will change. The Accelerated Learning State is to prepare you for the activation step. The PhotoReading step comes naturally by soft focus and / or seeing the blip page.
6. Learn the system well before you need to apply it on material for exams or test.
Your need to do well on a test or exam is going to interfere with your ability to learn PhotoReading. If you have a test coming up now is not the time to learn PhotoReading. Do adopt some of the PhotoReading systems steps like, incubate, take regular breaks (not studying in long continuous hours) and mind mapping. Mind maps are great for quick reviews much faster than reviewing linear notes.
7. Use a timer
This one is handy for anyone wanting to get better at PhotoReading. It’s all too easy to fall in to the habit of passive reading. Like we have all the time in the world. We learned to read that way yet we don’t have all the time in the world. Exams have a set length of time, you don’t have all the time in the world to read the questions, meetings and reports have deadlines. How can we let reading take as long as it takes when we have these deadlines? You need to get your reading done in the time you have available. The best way to make sure you know how much time you have available is set a timer.
A bonus Tip
Know your purpose.
© Alex K. Viefhaus 2005
Sep 12
Have you ever had to do something but were not in the mood for it? You’re probably looking for a technique that will help you to become alert and in the flow instantly.
Even if you are in the mood for something it is useful to be able to switch yourself on when you are [...] [...more]
Posted: under Ideal State, Personal development, expectation, learning, motivation.
Have you ever had to do something but were not in the mood for it? You’re probably looking for a technique that will help you to become alert and in the flow instantly.
Even if you are in the mood for something it is useful to be able to switch yourself on when you are learning something new. Apprehension about your performance can lead to frustration. That makes learning difficult and something you want to avoid. Especially when the student no longer likes the subject. To avoid frustration we need to be alert and relaxed a place where you are calm and present to the learning task. Or we need to be able to return to that open-minded state where can continue to learn.
There are techniques and as you practice them and start using them regularly they become quick and easy to do. There will be times when you need to spend a little longer at getting there. Normally it only takes 3 to 5 minutes even for a beginner and is useful to practise occasionally to help keep the trigger strong.
It helps to practise a short relaxation exercise. You can use techniques you may already be familiar with from audio recordings. The good ones will have helped you to create anchors for each stage of relaxation. Anchors like 3 Physical Relaxation, 2 Mental Relaxation, 1 the target state. The target state has a few names, Accelerated Learning State, Level, ideal state for learning, ideal state of relaxation. The prominent feature of this state is that you are producing more Alpha. It readies your mind and body for instructions and whatever the purpose was for clearing your mind. So the name given to the state often reflects the purpose the instructor had for it. I call it the Accelerated Learning State (ALS)
I like the term Accelerated Learning State or ALS because it most accurately describes the what we can use this state for. To speed up our learning passage. We can to learn; to heal, change a habit, know our spiritual selves, learn information (ESP, Remote Viewing senses) a subject for school. Accessing this state speeds up our progress.
Finding that ideal state for learning, a technique
Create a trigger by using the same symbols each time you use your technique. The symbol can be a number, an animal, a word or phrase. When you think your symbols one after the other they will trigger the memory of your experiences. This makes it easier and faster to enter the target state each time you use it.
Close your eyes. Take a moment to take a deep breath, breath out slowly. Think relax the body Think of the number 3.You can do a head to toe scan to relax your body. Noticing any places with tension and allowing that tension to release. If you have trouble releasing tension make a fist while focusing on the tense area and think of it relaxing and relax your fist at the same time. The physical action will show your body want to do.
Take another deep breath. Breathe out slowly. Think of the number 2 or a symbol. Mentally relax. You do that by letting go of thoughts about the past or the future, You can also think of relaxing scenes for you. When distracting thoughts enter you just put them aside for later and bring your awareness back to the present. Back to what you are doing now.
Take another deep breath breathe out slowly. Think the number 1 or a symbol that for you says you’re there. It might be an image of a plant or flower, something that represents peace. You might hear some words or a phrase that signals you’re there. You might even hear the binge of an elevator door opening (indicator you’ve reached your destination). It might be a physical sensation. In this case create an easy one like a twitch of the finger or toe and use it deliberately. Twitch your finger or toe on purpose when you want to enter the target state.
What to do when you get there.
When you read the Accelerated Learning State you need to set your intent into action. This is were you give yourself affirmations. Not the kind that you parrot over and over to try and change your reality. (‘I am slim and healthy‘ when you are overweight or ‘I like to exercise, when you don’t). No, the affirmations you make here are statements of fact. You’re telling yourself what you want to get out of being in this state.’ When I open my eyes I will… ‘ I am going to notice… I am looking for… I will be alert.. my concentration is…
These affirmations are statements of your intent. They help you focus on your purpose. What you want to do next. Why and how you are going to do it. They clarify your thoughts, You moved your mind to the present moment away from the scattered thoughts and confusion.
Places where you can use Accelerated Learning State
Beginning of class. Affirm (tell yourself) how you want to participate in the class. Understanding the instructor? Asking questions? Wide awake and alert? Focused with sharp concentration?
Before exams
Relaxed & calm? Answers come to you easily? Focused? Understand the questions easily? Answers flow? Finish it with time to spare? Correctly answer the questions for your best passing grade?
For reading
To get the information swiftly? Focused concentration?
Remote Viewing ESP
To access the information important to you? Decide what to do in the future?
Healing
To shrink a foreign growth? To empower the body to fight an illness? To calm the nerves?
Sport
To make the right moves? To play tension free. the easy shots go in without fault? See the best openings?
Job application and interview, training, presentations. sales. writing. programming, meetings.
the Accelerated Learning State is even the best state to be in for prayer.
So if you are already familiar with a method use it. Once you’ve used it 2 or 3 times a day for about 21 days you’ll notice it had already become faster. Three deep breaths and you’re there because just thinking about getting into the Accelerated Learning State will trigger it.
Alex K Viefhaus 2005
