I signed up for PhotoReading Mindfest Event by Paul Scheele in week 30 and throughout week 31, I managed to sit through the entire event and learn something new( although during the weekends, I fell ill and ended up in doctor's dispensary due to lack of sleep).
The basic element here is recognition. When we use our conscious mind, we just look and try to comprehend the meaning of words. However, we use subconscious mind, we use a broader perspective. We look into the words as well as beyond it. When the author writes, he is putting his feelings into his words. he is trying to interpret what he wants you to know through words. So we need to look beyond words.
What did I learn here?
1. I learnt that I am a visual learner.
Whether it is a technical book or a novel or an article, unless and until I am able draw a picture in my mind, I will not be able to comprehend it. My reading will be a complete waste. Till I am able to identify with the author, it is a big task for me to understand what the author is saying. Also reading a novel is like watching a movie.
2. You cannot comprehend unless and until you have a purpose in mind.
That is true. Whenever you are doing something you need to have a goal in mind. When I prepare to go to my office, my goal is to reach office. When I study for an exam, my goal is to pass that. In fact, when I decided to sign up for the mind fest, my goal was to learn something new to improve my life. Similarly, when you read a book or article, if you do not have a purpose you will never be able to comprehend what you are trying to read.
3. Recognition is the doorway to everything you need.
There are five steps to photo reading.
Prepare
Preview
Photo read
Post read
Activate
The basic element here is recognition. When we use our conscious mind, we just look and try to comprehend the meaning of words. However, we use subconscious mind, we use a broader perspective. We look into the words as well as beyond it. When the author writes, he is putting his feelings into his words. he is trying to interpret what he wants you to know through words. So we need to look beyond words.
Hence, if you wan to understand something, learn to recognise.
4. I got to know my fears and trepidations
I have a very bad habit. I try to judge myself based on what people think about me. What will people say if I do this and what will people say if I am unable to do something? What if I am not good enough? Because of this, I killed myself over the books I hated throughout my school and college life and continue doing it even today just to be better than others.
I regret about the amount of time I could have saved if I had come across such courses during school days but again it is never too late to learn.
5. Now I would know which book to buy from store
One of the fears that I have is buying the wrong book.We shell out a great amount of money from our pockets. Therefore, I go through a lot of reviews before the purchase. But now I can photoread and see if this is the book I want to buy and then only proceed to pay for it. What is the use of paying for something that you would not use at all.
6. I learnt to use both my senses to read a book
When I learnt to read, I was programmed to use my eyes first to read the word and then memorize it by reading it again and again. This is a waste of time and effort. What I learnt in the photoreading taught me to use my conscious +subconscious+superconscious mind along with my eyes. This saves y time and I would not have to waste my time on reading unnecessary material when what I intend to read in the entire book is just a line.
7. I have the power to do other things
There was a time when I would take a lot of time reading a book. I would stay awake at night to finish a book or an article. Now I know that I would have time to do as lot of other things. Do things that make me happy.
8. I learnt to boldly accept a challenge
There were lot of activities in week 31 which would discourage me to accept this photoreading challenge, but since I had made a decision and I stuck to it, I feel a lot more powerful. I am sure that I would be able to take a lot other decisions in future as well.
What Photoreading is not
Photoreading is not speed reading. I personally feel that speed reading is just learning how to move your eyeballs faster through each line of text. As far as my opinion stands, it is useless when you want to read a book to get knowledge and transform that knowledge to wisdom.
Photoreading is more about using your whole brain to comprehend what the author wants to say. It is more about how to use alternative way for your brain to process the information that is there in the book.
What is the final verdict?
Yes, Yes, Yes
Please sign up for this course whenever the next mindfest event takes place. I loved it and it is really very useful to everyone and that is why I decided to share my experience with you. There are lot of free resources available on the web. Please use them and share to the others.
Try to understand that our forefathers and our fathers were never this lucky to get so many resources at their beck and call as we all are.
