Hello!

I purchased the PhotoReading home training kit a few years back and experienced an enjoyable degree of success with the system. However, in the following years I have fallen out of practice.

For many personal reasons, I've decided that it is time to get back into practice. As I think about the course again, I recall some familiar questions from the first time I did PRing, and now that I've found this board, I intend to ask them!

For this post, I would like to ask about purpose statements, for I know that the purpose statement is crucial to PRing. If you don't have a purpose for reading a book, then why try to save time and effort by PhotoReading it, when you could save even more time and effort by NotReading it?

I have seen Alex post the following "formula" for purpose statements:

"I am reading / learning about. [fill in blank] so I can use this knowledge / skill in my life to [fill in blank]."

Let's say that I am going to PR an Accounting textbook for a college class. The reason I am taking accounting is not for the sake of accounting, but for the sake of getting a degree. I want a degree so that I can get a respectable job. I want the respectable job so that I can provide a reliable income for myself and my family. I want to provide reliable income for myself and my family to secure our financial future.

With this chain in mind, I form my purpose statement as follows:

"I am reading 'Principles of Accounting' so that I can use this knowledge to help secure the financial future of myself and my family."

It feels more effective and meaningful (purposeful) to me than "so I can ace the next test." However, it assumes that my other-than-conscious mind understands the chain of causality that I described above. I believe that this is a fair assumption. After all, I am trusting that my other-than-conscious mind can preconsciously process an entire book, I'm sure I can trust it to understand a simple chain of causality.

First, am I right to assume this?

Second, is it fair to have two, three, or even four purpose statements for a single book? (I might want to actually use the knowledge I gain from the Accounting book for more than simply attaining my degree.)

Finally, is it better to have a close sighted, specific purpose, or a long sighted general purpose like the one above?

Thank you all for your help!

[This message has been edited by KosmikConundrum (edited April 05, 2006).]