AlexK’s Blog


The damaging limiting beliefs in learning PhotoReading


Sep 30

Posted: under Activation, Change, Persistence, Photoreading, frustration.
Tags: , , ,

In my previous post I introduced some insight into the abilities we have and the flawed thinking that PhotoReading is something mystical that only a special few can learn.

In this post I want to show the stumbling blocks of our thinking and beliefs that can prevent us  from learning the PhotoReading system.

There are a couple of other stumbling main blocks that affect the belief of the learner. One is the stories and videos of expert PhotoReaders. The ones who flip the pages of the book or scroll the computer screen and then answer questions about the text. First it must be understood that they are experienced in PhotoReading. They would have been unsuccessful in the early days of learning to PhotoRead as any beginner now learning PhotoReading. They had build the non-conscious to conscious mind connection and trust by applying the full system and applying it often. Something  the beginner has trouble believing they are capable of.

This creates a paradox. If you don’t believe you can do it and then test the system, you’re going to score as you believe. The way to do what the expert does, is use the system enough to own the system. This means shifting out of limiting reading and passive reading habits that you learned in elementary or primary school.

This brings us to the second stumbling block. The passive reading habit. The PhotoReading system is an active reading system. By active I mean you need to know what you want from what you are reading and be able to recognise when you’ve consciously grasped that. The techniques are straight forward and the activation step when applied quickly help the beginner to get through their reading material 3 to 5 times faster in a live seminar. However the deceptive simplicity of the activation step leave the beginner to believe they don’t need to work on this part of the system. They believe they aren’t getting the PhotoReading step right when they don’t see instant results at the beginning of activation.

Here again we run into a problem of habit. It’s habit that keep us in the passive reading approach. By applying the PhotoReading  system a beginner can get their reading done three to 5 times faster. However because they measure themselves against the PhotoReading  experts they hold the belief they cannot do it well enough. Their belief that it’s difficult keeps them stuck working with one book for 12 to 18 hours because they think the experts get through all their books in 3 to 20 minutes. They see 4 to 6 hours as a failure to apply the system. Their belief that they are failing because they don’t match the expert time becomes a barrier to learning. Photo042

What you see and the success stories are exciting experiences however even experts spend more time with the books they really want to know. In fact the more books they have used the full system on the better their conscious - nonconscious mind connection that such demonstrations become possible.

I offer my own experience here to help the beginner.

I consider myself an expert PhotoReader and a book of about 350 pages that I really want to understand and expect to learn something important from would take me 30 to 120 minutes. It depends on my reading purpose. By the same token there are many books I only spend 5 to 15 minutes with to discover they have nothing of interest to me. These books I have put on my mental bookshelf. I can always come back to them if my circumstances change and it does become important.

If you can believe that you can read you have the necessary skills to become proficient at PhotoReading . You won’t be demonstrating the PhotoReading skills you might find on the  web overnight.  The only person you should be measuring your progress against is your own. If it takes you 18 hours to read a book and in the process of learning a system you could reduce that to 9 hours with the same or even better comprehension isn’t that progress?

Focus on believing it is possible for you to learn PhotoReading. Don’t compare yourself with others and give up. Aspire to progress to that level.

© Alex K Viefhaus Sept. 2009

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KL Activation – Getting Comprehension


Jun 08

Posted: under Persistence, PhotoRead, Photoreading, comprehension, reading.
Tags: , ,

Been busy the last couple of weeks developing an activation technique which I believe will help those who have trouble with comprehension. I’ve been working on this because so many students who participate in my class complain most of all of not being able to comprehend what they are reading.  They struggle with this with traditional reading and hope that PhotoReading will help them.

It seems to me that many who look for ways to read faster with techniques like PhotoReading  are hoping speed will help them comprehend what they are reading faster. Comprehension isn’t about reading it’s a way of thinking.

PhotoReading can and does help with comprehension however we still have the initial hurdle of activating enough. Too many give up before they are done. Those who have difficulty with comprehension stop the activation process way too soon. Usually on the first activation.

Since comprehension is a way of thinking, I’ve been working on a way to teach that way of thinking. I’ll hope to present it at my next PhotoReading class. I’ve been devising an activation process that I believe will help leverage comprehension. For now I simply refer to it as KL Activation.  I am hoping that it will be the switch that gets them activating.

© Alex K Viefhaus June 2009

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How do I know that I am PhotoReading?


May 13

Posted: under Blip page, Mind Stuff, PhotoRead, Photoreading, confusion, photofocus, success.
Tags: ,

People have often asked me how do I know I’m in photofocus? `In the seminar I teach how to see the blip page. That is one of the ways to know you are in photofocus. However most people find it challenging and try too hard to get the blip page. They won’t trust the rest of the system until they get this right.

Hey you don’t need to see blip page. The imaginary X-technique works just as well and if you have vision in only one eye you won’t ever see the blip page. That doesn’t stop you from being a successful PhotoReader. 

flip So how do I know when I’m in photofocus? As I’ve taught in my classes and explained on the forum to me it feels exactly like I’m day dreaming. I’m looking without looking through whatever is in front of  me into space. Looking beyond. PhotoReading to me has always felt the same as daydreaming.

Of course daydreaming has always been associated with switching off. So I think many of my students were reluctant to try this. How can the mind take anything in while one is daydreaming. How do I know it’s being processed? How when daydreaming is switching off, lazy, non-functioning aspect of brain activity?

Well exciting news! What we’ve been taught as a truth has been proven wrong with fMRI. Daydreaming is active activity. It switches on the brains problem solving functions.

“Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks."

…The study finds that the brain’s "executive network" – associated with high-level, complex problem-solving and including the lateral PFC and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex – also becomes activated when we daydream.

This is a surprising finding, that these two brain networks are activated in parallel," says Christoff. "Until now, scientists have thought they operated on an either-or basis – when one was activated, the other was thought to be dormant." The less subjects were aware that their mind was wandering, the more both networks were activated. 

This for me is the most exciting evidence that we do  gain something from the PhotoReading step. A step that to me always felt like I was switching on daydreaming. Now I know I’m switching on the brains problem solving network.

So if you want to get into photofocus, daydream. Because big stuff is happening while you daydream.

Source: University of British Columbia (2009, May 12). Brain’s Problem-solving Function At Work When We Daydream. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 13, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/05/090511180702.htm

© AlexK Viefhaus

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Getting results


Feb 04

Posted: under Personal development, expectation, frustration, learning, success.
Tags: , ,

Are you getting the results you desire with all those self help audios?

Often people use tools like meditation and hypnosis tapes to improve an area of their lives and despite committing their time to listening to the tapes they feel they have a program running that blocks them. Some even feel like they are going backwards when they use self improvement audios. They find themselves gaining weight or even more fearful or anxious than when they started.

One thing I have discovered through the years is that often people say words like confidence, determination, stamina but they don’t really know  what they mean to them. When I ask them what they want they might say, ‘I don’t want to be afraid.’  They are focusing on what they don’t want. And if you do this the meditation, the hypnosis or any audio guide you’re working with will work to keep you where you don’t want to be.

Think about it. The mind works in pictures. Need help?

Not, a polar bear in a pink polka dot bikini wearing a lime green tutu.

Did you laugh? Did you see the polar bear? Did you notice that your mind pictured what came after Not?

What do you picture when you think of not afraid? Since the mind has no meaning for not it draws up an image or memory of being afraid. Then when you listen to a program designed to help you conquer this fear it winds up reinforcing exactly what you fear.

Since the non-conscious mind takes things very literally it works with the image you bring up. This is where you need to put some conscious reasoning to work. Because if you want to change you need a different picture. The opposite of being afraid. Since using the expression not afraid with the first image or idea that pops into the mind is someone who is afraid we know the non-conscious mind is not that great with opposites so we need to think of a word that means the opposite to us. In this example it might be  “brave”. When you think of this word a completely different image comes to mind.

So when using a self help audio and consider what you want. Pay attention to the word “not”. It’s a valuable cue that you need to discover the opposite image.

Another problem area is with the meaning of words. Or rather what the words mean to you in your experience

For example if someone says the word ‘confidence’, do you get an image of yourself weak lacking in confidence because that has been how you’ve experienced yourself in the past? If you keep this image as you listen to a guided self help audio you’re going to be successful in keeping the image you have of yourself. Again you need to change this image. One of the easier ways to do this is to think of someone who exhibits the quality that you desire. Think of that person and then pretend you are that person. Play it out in your minds eye. When you are ready and can say, that’s what I want. That’s how I want to be. Then you have an image of what you can become and then the audio programs or your meditations have a greater chance for rapid success.

Just to be clear. This article isn’t saying that those audio programs won’t work.  However your mind is powerful and by focusing on what you don’t want you will keep it in your life longer. A good program will get you to make that switch to seeing the image of yourself how you do want to be, eventually. You can help yourself and accelerate that process by checking what you are seeing or sensing in your minds eye. If it’s the image of the problem that you want to end.  Clear the picture and paint the image you do want.

© Alex Viefhaus Feb 2009

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New Blog New Direction


Dec 12

Posted: under Change, Personal development, Photoreading, Uncategorized.
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Updating my blog. Imported some of the old post. May or may not import more. Mostly I hope that this blog will cover some of my musing and  perhaps some life coaching tips and PhotoReading tips.

Some reason for my lengthly silence. I’m working on a book (with my mind writing a second one). I’m also planning a class on improving the way people use the internet for research. This I expect will be a 3 hour course and will help anyone get more out of their search results and time on the internet. I think if PhotoReaders aren’t using these techniques they aren’t  taking advantage of PhotoReading skill which has to be a major improvement on the 25% loss of natural reading speed on the computer screen.

The easiest way to keep up with my post is to add my blog to your RSS feed.

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