You’ll notice that reading a book the second time opens your eyes to important little details you didn’t notice the first time.
It is called “Perceptual Learning.”
I’ll Give You 2 Tips on How to Notice These Details on Your First Reading and retain more information for longer periods.
1. Experiment First
If you’re going to read about negotiation, go out and get yourself into as many negotiation bouts as possible.
You’ll win some, and others you’ll lose.
Then go and read the book.
You’ll notice tips in the book that you followed correctly during the experiment and those that you followed incorrectly.
The dopamine from the times you used the right strategies and the “Oh, this is the mistake I made” feeling will make the wisdom from the book stick in your mind better.
The human mind finds it easier to retain stories than plain words from a book. Leverage that!
The downside of this is that while experimenting, you might get carried away with the wins and not bother to read the book.
That part is between you and your ego—I have no tips for it.
2. No One Is Chasing You — Slow Down
This will also help address the problem of missing out on important details: If you’re reading a book on a topic you have no experience in, don’t hurry to finish it.
Read one chapter, then get up and go practice what you have learned.
Let’s say you’re reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.
One of the chapters talks about “The Mirror Effect,” which helps get people to share more details on the topic at hand.
After reading it, go out and start a conversation with someone:
- Talk to a salesperson while bargaining for a price, then apply the mirror effect. It works well on them because they’re trying to sell you something.
- Ask a stranger for street directions, pretend to be confused, and apply the mirror effect.
They’ll talk your ears off and will probably end up telling you a story about something that happened on that street. Lol.
It can sometimes feel so exciting that you’ll want to go over that chapter again, just for the dopamine rush from the validation of the strategies you applied.
These two tips will help you love reading—you’ll read more, grow faster, and have your friends wondering how you know so much.
To your success.
– Ebenezer Roland
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