Take the valuable knowledge from your bookshelf and put them into action. 5 tips to help you gain the most from your self-development reading.
Non-fiction and self-help books were my way of learning for self-development as a young manager starting in my career in the early 90s. The internet was not yet the worldwide encyclopedia at our fingertips like it is today. Google wasn't founded until 1998. And YouTube didn't appear until 2005.
Professional coaching or career development courses were not easily accessible to the average young entry-level employee. Training and development courses were costly and reserved for the top performers in middle management roles or those who were being primed for promotion.
If you were learning the ropes as a new manager or trying to improve as a leader, non-fiction and self-help books were the most accessible tools available back in the day...
Fast forward to 2022 and two years into living through a pandemic, the self-help and self-development category has gained even more market share across print, digital and virtual media platforms. More than ever, people are looking for solutions, inspiration and motivation in a vast array of topics in personal and professional development.
Studies show that just the act of buying a self-help book can make people feel better. Like they are already taking a step toward whatever transformation is being offered on the cover of that book.
Now let's be honest for a moment. How many self-help books do you have collecting dust on your bookshelf? How many self-help books sit only half-read? How many self-help books have you read and been inspired by, but then forgotten about once you're finished reading?
"Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile."
Abu Bakr
For all the time and money invested in the books that we buy and read, are we making the most of the knowledge and applying the learning in our lives?
As a training and development specialist for over 20 years, reading and learning from non-fiction and self-help books continues to be a valuable tool for my development and my ability to help develop others.
As a training and coaching content creator, I've learned how to internalize and maximize the valuable content from the non-fiction and self-help books I read into teachable lessons to help others.
Here are my 5 tips to help you gain the most from your self-development reading so that you can put the knowledge on your bookshelf into action.
Tip #1: Find a Format That Works Best For You
Some believe that modern technology is the death of books and people reading books. While I agree the distractions of our devices may prevent us from spending more time to read books, I think they can also enable us to read more.
With the options of a physical book, a digital book or an audiobook, how we can access the knowledge in books can be tailored to our specific preferences and lifestyle needs.
Think about how much book listening can be done while you are commuting to and from work or while you are walking your dog. Can't decide which book to carry with you to read, download the digital version and carry a whole library on your phone or tablet device so you can read whatever you are in the mood for. Today, it's easier for us to read from anywhere at any time.
When choosing your book "reading" format, take into consideration how you like to learn.
I am a visual and auditory learner. This means that I am more sensitive to sight and sound when receiving and processing information. I find having the narration of the audiobook as I am reading the physical or digital book much more impactful for retaining information. Whereas tactile (kinesthetic) learners, tend to like holding a physical book in their hands.
Technology has also made it easier for us to sample various books before we invest the time and money into purchasing and reading them. There are a myriad of book summary websites and apps that give you a 5-10 summary of the book so that you can determine if the content is what you are looking for.
With so many options for tailoring your book reading experience, it's easier than ever to benefit from self-development reading.
See the link below to find out more about learning styles and how you best absorb information.
Learning Style Assessment - Bentley University - bentley.edu
Tip #2: Read With The Right Glasses On
It is important to read with glasses if you need them to see the words on the page. It is equally important to take off any outdated prescription lenses that may stop you from learning the content without bias and preconceived opinions.
The essence of self-development is to move forward with new mindsets and skill-sets. We can't do that if we are not willing to let go of old views and behaviours that no longer serve us.
When reading new concepts or when learning new skills, often it is the discomfort with newness that stops us from absorbing and adapting the learning into action. We get complacent and comfortable with knowing what we know and doing what we do on autopilot.
Autopilot is fine for fixed routes where there are no detours or unexpected events, but that's not real life.
Just two years ago, in-person client meetings and training classes were the norms for my daily work in my learning and development consulting business. My content design and delivery methods were easy and comfortable for me to execute. Speaking gigs, and teaching workshops were familiar and fun as I knew how to connect and engage with my audience and feed off their energy.
Then along came the pandemic and my world of consulting and training and development was turned on its head. My HR clients were initially shaking their heads with dismay and disapproval of virtual training platforms. My fellow counterparts were wondering how we could survive let alone be effective in coaching and teaching online. All of us were suddenly thrown way out of our comfort zones.
We were forced to work outside our comfort zones. We suddenly had to learn, adapt, and let go of our traditional concepts and methodologies. I had to read up on online course design and learn new digital content delivery skills to be effective in the new learning and development environment.
Two years later, digital learning has become an accepted part of many training and development programs. In fact, online learning has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of self-development.
Knowledge and skills we excel in can become obsolete almost overnight. If we don't update the prescription lenses with which we see the world, no self-help book will be able to help.
Tip #3: Take Notes To Capture The "Ah-ha" Moments
If you have a photographic memory, this tip may not be relevant. However, for most of us, just reading a book or article once will not be enough to retain the crucial information that we want to learn, remember and apply.
Studies show that taking handwritten notes on actual paper activates the hippocampus in our brain which allows for recalling richer spatial details. (The hippocampus is an area in our brain that plays a major role in memory and learning.)
In one interesting study conducted by the University of Tokyo in 2021, volunteer students were divided into two groups and given the task of filling in a monthly calendar schedule. One group was given a paper calendar and a pen. The other group was given electronic devices like phones and tablets. All volunteers had to enter the same information onto their monthly calendar.
The experiment was conducted inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning facility, which could measure blood flow around the brain. The scans showed that the volunteers who used pen and paper had more brain activity in the hippocampus than those who used phones and tablets.
Then the volunteers were given an hour break and distracted with other activities before completing an assessment to see how much they remembered about the calendar schedule.
The volunteers who used pen and paper scored better on the assessment than those who used phones and tablets.
"Our take-home message is to use paper notebooks for information we need to learn or memorize."
Professor Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, a neuroscientist at the University of Tokyo.
This is just one of many studies that support the benefits of analog note-taking for better learning and memorizing. So if we want to make the most of the knowledge from self-help books, why would we not do the same as if we were learning from any professor or class?
All my life I have been an avid note-taker in classes, meetings and even when listening to podcasts and audiobooks. This habit has helped me to retain valuable insights, ideas and quotes that I may need for future projects. The trick is to keep all your thoughts and "ah-ha" moments in one place where you can revisit them.
While I prefer and enjoy writing in a notebook, you may prefer keeping a digital notebook. If you are really ambitious, you could do both with apps and tools that let you scan your written notes into digital form with just a couple of clicks.
Click here for the full article on the University of Tokyo study if you are curious.
Tip #4: Reflect and Reframe to Process and Internalize
Our brains need time to process new information and connect the relevant value and meaning to our lives. That's why tip 3 of capturing the "ah-ha" moments is important; so that we can easily access the pearls of wisdom and think about how we can apply them.
We often feel a huge sense of accomplishment once we are finished reading a self-help book and proudly grin as we place it onto our bookshelf. Unfortunately, that is the moment the learning stops and the book starts to collect dust on the bookshelf.
I learned a facilitation technique many years back that helped me to encourage attendees to take notes and process the new concepts and ideas more effectively in the workshops I taught. I told the attendees that they would be required to take turns to teach a summary of the key information presented to other attendees at various times of the day.
They didn't know who would be selected and the attendees they presented were responsible for adding anything that may have been missed by the presenter. This element made for much more alert attendees who were actually using the principle of "Learning by Teaching". (This method was originally defined by Jean-Pol Martin in the 1980s.)
The premise is that when you learn in order to teach, you absorb and internalize the information more deeply.
So once you've finished a great self-help book, take some time to reflect and reframe the information and how you can apply it in your life. Go back over your "ah-ha" moments and teach them to a friend who you think can use the information.
Not only are you sharing valuable information with someone who may also benefit, but you will internalize your self-help learning more deeply. And you are more likely to apply the knowledge and skills.
Tip #5: Set Goals and an Action Plan for Growth
"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."
Zig Ziglar
We often save goal setting for our professional lives and in our work projects and career aspirations. When it comes to our goal setting for personal development and life ambitions, most of us are usually not as disciplined.
How many of you can relate to these comments?
One day, I'd love to learn to play the guitar.
Someday, I'd love to learn how to paint.
One of these days, I'd love to take that (you fill in the blank) course...
We know that goal setting is essential to business and in our professional lives. We do it because that's how progress and growth are measured in business. That's how we are rewarded and promoted.
The same principle applies to our personal growth and development. "Someday" is not a specific timeline and if we keep on saying "someday" we will run out of days.
If you are invested enough to buy that self-help book and disciplined enough to actually read it, why not fully invest in your growth by setting personal goals to apply the knowledge and skills that you have just learned?
A good way to break down the ideas and skills from a self-help book into actionable bits is to organize, categorize and prioritize the key concepts. I list out the key information and access where it is applicable to my life skill needs. Then I prioritize and set realistic goals to apply the ideas and skills daily, weekly or monthly.
By setting self-development goals and applying the valuable knowledge from self-help books into action, the reward is actually becoming the "someday" version of you that you strive to be.
Here are some great articles on the benefits of goal setting.
8 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important to a Fulfilling Life - Online Article - lifehack.org
Benefits of Goal Setting - 8 Top Tips From the Happy Manager - Online Article - the-happy-manager.com
Invest in Your Self-development
There's a reason why the "self-help" book category continues to be the fastest-growing segment in literature. We all aspire to be better at something, and we all aspire to improve in our professional and personal lives.
I love a good biography of someone that I admire for insight and inspiration. I love a good "How-to" book to learn new skills or improve upon my own skills. I could never resist a compelling title on thought-provoking self-help books that make me aspire to improve and grow. But none of that knowledge helps me if I let them collect dust on my bookshelves.
So I hope you will join me in making the most of your self-development reading by:
Find a Format That Works Best For You: Personalize the way you read to match your learning style.
Read With The Right Glasses On: Don't let outdated views and opinions prevent you from learning new information and skills.
Take Notes To Capture The "Ah-ha" Moments: activates the hippocampus in our brain to learn and remember information by taking analog notes.
Reflect and Reframe to Process and Internalize: Learn and teach your knowledge to internalize better and to share with a friend.
Set Goals and an Action Plan of Growth: Setting goals for your self-development is just as important as your professional and business goals.
Your self-development is worth it!
I would love to hear your comments!
When was the last time you read a great non-fiction or self-help book that inspired you?
What recommendations do you have for putting ideas to action from your self-development reading?
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