Non-Fiction Books- Waste or Useful?
“I read a lot of books but don't remember what I Learnt from the Book! I read 100 books this year! I will read 1 Book per day this year!” Does this resonate with you? Then read ahead.
No matter how many books you read, reading is futile if you do not implement the Things you learned from the book. Hence you will hear a lot of People saying that reading Non-Fiction is a Waste of Time. But Wait really? Is it a waste of time and effort or you are reading it the wrong way! I only read Non-Fiction. I read Books around Self-Help, Business, Technology, Leadership, Health & Spirituality. Trust me the Books I read have completely changed me, my attitude, my mindset and has impacted me in a very positive way!
Retaining What you read is very important and you can achieve that using the ways I have already tested out for the last 4 years :D
Practice what you read: Practice is the Best way to remember things and the same goes with Books too. Whatever you read Put it to Practice or Choose a Book You need at the moment. For example, You want to Raise Funding for your Startup then Read Books around that, so that you can put whatever you read to Use instantly!
Read The Book Multiple Times: Nassim Taleb sums things up with a rule for all readers: “A good book gets better at the second reading. A great book at the third. Any book not worth rereading isn’t worth reading.” Reading Books Multiple Times helps you revisit things that you might have missed out on in the First Read.
Quit Reading More Books: Oh Are you crazy about reading 100 Books a Year or Maybe 1 Book a Day? I am not saying You Can’t do this but it might be quite Possible that You are just reading Books but not Grasping the things in the Book and hence my Friends reading a book this way is a complete waste of Time! Read as many books as you can Grasp. Don't Fall into the Trap of what others and doing! Maybe they have mastered the Art of Reading and you are yet to master/Explore. So go with your flow :)
Even if you Read 1 Book in a Year and You are able to implement that You are doing a Great Job! Kudos to You! Gradually Increase the number.
Create Notes: Do you remember back in School Days Notes was something that you would revisit before an exam? the same way you can use the notes of a book you have created before any situation that you need to deal with!
Here are quick prints that you can use to take down notes from the book:
What are the main ideas?
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
How would I describe the book to a friend?
Choose Books on Different Topic
For Example, if You have already read a book on Mediation, the next book you read should be on a different Topic. Implement the Idea of the Book you have already read. There are a lot of Books on the Same Topic Be Smart enough to choose the Best for You! If You keep on Choosing the same Topics you will end up reading repetitive stuff which might lead to boredom. As you have a diverse Friends List so should be your Reading List XD.
This Month I am Reading the Following Books:
i. Funding Your Startup and other Nightmares (Reading it for 2nd Time) by Dhruv Nath and Sushanto Mitra
ii. The Leader in You by Dale Carnegie
iii. Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury
Hope you make the most out of the Books you Read and That will make all the difference :)
