How to Get 9x the Value From Every Book You Read

The Learning Pyramid into practice

When I started reading, I had no clear agenda about what book to read. That’s how everyone starts —from scratch.

Over the years, I read multiple books in various genres and made a lot of improvement in my awareness. But I still feel imposter. One reason is because I am guilty of forgetting what I read.

That’s a serious problem.

I was leaking knowledge.

It was pointless to read a non fiction book and forget everything later.

I needed a robust approach that would help me retain and apply what I read.I needed to think a level up. So I searched the web and found some useful stuff called the Learning Pyramid.

The Learning Pyramid [Image by the author]

Reading = 10% Retention

Teaching = 90% Retention

One thing was clear. To retain least, I need to continue what I was doing. But to retain most, I need to teach others and immediately use the knowledge.

If this was 18th century, I’d have joined a university as a professor to make that happen. But thankfully I can do that without being a coach or a professor. Thanks to the times we live in.

I can write online.

Here’s how you can think reading.

Build A Mindset

To become a great reader, think as if your life depends on reading. Think of creating value from your reading time.

Think like an entrepreneur writer.

Write what you learn and share it online.This way you achieve four objectives:

1. You retain what you learn
2. You help others learn
3. You build credibility in that subject
4. You become a better writer

The Approach

1 — Define objective

Set an objective you want to achieve. Suppose you are a content creator and your company expects you to grow social media audience.

Your objective is to learn content strategy.