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How to Read and Digest a Book!

There's been an increase in blog postings on strategies to improve reading effectiveness. This is my take on the subject and some of the strategies I personally use to improve my reading effectiveness. How I read for leisure is different to how I read to learn. This post is focused on improving the reading we do for personal and professional development, rather than leisure reading.

Charles Tremendous Jones believes that:

"The only difference between who you are today and the person you will be in five years will come from the books you read and the people you associate with"



I agree with Charles, this is why all effective leaders are readers! Rudi Guliani mentioned in his in his book, "Leadership", that "great leaders lead by ideas", I can relate to this, I have personally experience how great ideas from books have help me to develop and shape my leadership ideas and principles. To read and digest a book I use the process as show in the figure below:




Selection

When selecting a book its important to remember that the impact that a book has on your life is greatly affected by the season of your life, and where you are in your personal journey. Its necessary to choose the books you read wisely, you want to ensure, as far as possible, that the book you read is worth the investment of your time and energy. Some of the criteria I use when selecting a book to invest my time and energy in are:

* I select a book based upon what do I need to learn or develop, given where I am in my personal journey.

* I select books from authors that have previously impacted my life and with whom I connect. For me these are authors like Jim Collins, John Maxwell, Peter Senge, Warren Bennis, Tom Peters, and Noel Tichy.

* I select books that will help to improve my strengths.

* I select books in key subject areas I'm interested in, such as, leadership, communication, management, and strategy.



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