Reading, nonfiction in particular, is undoubtedly one of the most useful, productive, and potentially life-changing activities one can do in their spare time.
And like anything else, reading is a skill that is improved with practice.
Reading nonfiction can help improve our understanding and skills in a field dramatically and give us access we would not otherwise have to an expert’s mind. When readers read nonfiction books in particular, it is usually to improve their knowledge and/or skills in a particular field or body of knowledge.
So, since reading is an essential way to develop oneself, it’s absolutely imperative that it is done correctly!
The biggest problem with most people’s reading styles (even many experienced readers) is that they don’t read to fully comprehend the material of the book. Often times, they don’t want to take the time or simply don’t know how to make the most out of the books they read.
Thus, whether they intend to or not, they end up reading mostly to pass the time. Some of the lessons of the book may stick, but not nearly as well as if they had taken the time to highlight important points, put lessons in their own words, visualize and/or apply techniques explained in the book, and review their highlights several times as necessary.
Readers must understand that reading for self-improvement is not only about reading. The knowledge you obtain by reading is essential so that you can start doing.
In other words, you read in order to obtain the knowledge, but you must act on that knowledge in order to improve your life!
Here’s An Example…
Let’s say that you are interested in the subjects of meditation and relieving stress. If you read Self Compassion and Mindfulness for Healing and Acceptance by Jason Jacobsmith, you’d note a lot of tidbits of information on meditation and stress-relief that could change your life forever.
The amount of material doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the material — and just as importantly, what you do with it.
Although the book is short and priced accordingly at $2.99, the quality of information is the same as any high-quality longer book on the same subject. Shorter length books like this one typically make it easier for the reader to focus on the quality knowledge within. That way, it’s easier for them to put in the effort to apply the information.
The advice within can dramatically reduce your stress and learn meditation skills if you take the time to comprehend and apply it.
A short read like this doesn’t bog you down with unnecessary details and teaches you very quickly whether you are interested in the subject or not. You can read this type of book in about an hour, then easily refer to it again down the road until you have mastered its information. Since the book is short but full of high-quality information on meditation and mindfulness, again, it’s easier to focus on the content within so you can understand and master it.
But whether you read a short or long book, you have to read the information to understand it, put it in your own words, and then visualize and/or actually use the techniques explained.
If you do all of this and make it a lifetime habit, you will be able to maximize the information you have obtained from any book you read. This will have a dramatic improvement on the results you get from any nonfiction book, which will carry over into your own life as well!
Conclusion
Let’s make one last point here.
This article is less than 800 words. It’s short, persuasive, and to the point. Its content is potentially very useful to many readers.
If you spent the time to fully digest this article and take it to heart, then you shifted your mindset to read more effectively and act on your knowledge when you previously didn’t, you would change your habits, behaviors, and mindset for the rest of your life.
This would be a dramatic improvement for most people, and would make the short amount of time you took to read this article absolutely worth it!
The length of this article does not matter. What matters is the quality of information by the writer, combined with whether or not you, the reader, take the time to comprehend and apply the information.
If you found value from this article, stay tuned. Another article will be out soon on exactly how to go about the process of greater understanding and application of nonfiction books.
PS. If you liked this article, you’ll love our books. They are very reasonably priced and full of entertaining, thought-provoking, and life-changing content. Be sure to check them out here.
