N.B. I am not affiliated with LSC. Mods if you want to take this down, edit etc. Feel free to do so. I am not a PhotoReading instructor. My photoreading experience has come from the old cassette course and an updated print version of the book.

I am not a student, I’m noy in formal further (advanced) study. I’ve a family. I work full-time. I have to constantly learn and then train others as part of my job.

My main book topics appear to be MS Excel, Money Management/Psychology. Productivity, finding easy solutions to difficult problems. This will be this will be my advanced study.

Without making reading or using The PhotoReading Whole Mind System (PRWMS)frequently (daily) in the beginning, you cannot master the PhotoReading or reading process. From studying I’m sure you know that A grade student study differently to lower grade students. If you are studying you are going to have to study and read as successful people do.

It might seem obvious, but no skill (The Photoreading Whole Mind Systems is a skill set) mastery happens after 1 exposure or sitting. It’s a journey.
You have to practice PRWMS until it becomes an automatic habit.

I have been a bit of a book hoarder/collector. I gather lots of recommendations, wish lists etc. I’ve a growing pile of to be/not read (yet) books. These need to be read.

I have been thinking about a PhotoReading challenge/goal for 2021. This is where I am at. Feel free to join in.

I’ll be starting this on Jan 5th 2021. It will be my 1st day back at work, allowing me to gather everything together.

My Challenge to Me/You is as follows.

1.Gathering all books in your house where you live, that you have not read. Physical and electronic.
2.Discard, bin, recycle any books that you no longer wish to read.
3.Do not gather/get any more books until you have applied the PRWMS to your existing pile. The only exception to this is if you have to read something i.e. for work, school or univ. or a particular book is mentioned you notice 3 or more times in quick succession.
4.Commit to using the PhotoReading Whole Mind System on each of these books. Including notes to review later.
5.Commit to using one or more from the PRWMS daily (yes, weekends if you can as well.)
6.Journal your experience for yourself and review as part of a weekly review. You need to notice how far you are moving forward, rather than just the end goal.

Notes that I have thought about.

Schedule time in your diary each day to use the PRWMS in your diary. Diaries can be flexible.

For how long should you do this challenge? You can set yourself a deadline. Personally, I’ve set myself a 12-week deadline. I’m seeing this as a mini project. The deadline date is already in my diary. It could be a semester, every day until your appraisal etc. You get to decide.

The other alternative is to do it until it’s done.

Notice your beliefs, self-talk as it comes up. Anything negative interrogate. List how many ways these negative thoughts are BS. Question these beliefs. This is something I shall write on further in a later post. You can always ask what is this happening to me for? What will it mean about you when you can use the PRWMS successfully? What will it mean about you if you stop? What will you do when others start commenting? How will I find the time to do this? How will I fit in listening to a paraliminal recording as well? This sounds like a good idea, but I’m not going to do it.. Why have I been holding onto all these books for so long? Why did I not complete any of the exercises in the books or audio recordings?

Success is different for everybody. How will you know that you have been successful?
Will you pass a test? Write a paper and truly know that you have done your best? Give a talk? Teach somebody else? Get an aha moment. Compare an on-line summary to my own notes.

For me it’s not actually mastering the PhotoReadnig Whole Mind System. It’s reading all the books that I have had lying around. PRWMS is the system that I am going to use to accomplish the goal.

Mastery for me is being about to list all the steps of the system, forwards and backwards. Understanding why other people love reading. (I certainly have not growing up). Being able to spend say 2hrs with a book and know that I have everything that I need from this particular book at this particular moment in time.

Think about where you spend your free time or where you sit at home. Always have a book available on hand (physical or electronic.) Instead of reaching for the TV remote, reach for a book, even if it is only to activate somehow 1 chapter or the next 5 pages.

Turn off all notifications on your mobile phone, instead of reaching for FB, IG etc, reach for a book instead. Certainly, in the beginning.
Only watch the TV if you are watching something with somebody else. Box sets etc. can wait. How many binged The Queens Gambit or The Crown recently? They are not going anywhere.
YouTube – I will be watching some YT videos – certainly for my job, but I will limit my research to 30 mins maximum each time. I may even shorten this.
Podcasts – I have started to listen to these at 1.5 – 2.0 normally speed. Again, these are something I’ve been hording – I think I’ve been afraid I’m going to miss the silver bullet that will change my life. They can also act as an activation option.

I haven’t got the time – don’t think of this as a skill worth learning any more then. Make time for it. Read other notes on TV and scheduling in your calendar above.

How or Where to Start. – Some suggestions.

Start with the books that draw your attention.
If in doubt apply the 5-day test to each book. I believe you can do more than 1 day on each day. The goal is to become comfortable with the PRWMS and books. Perhaps the bigger goal of the PRWMS?

Group books into topic areas and use the system for each of the topic area. One of my books is about note taking which I wish to apply to all that I read. I think this will help when it comes to the synoptic reading process.

If you have questions – post them in the forum. The most successful way to study and learn has been proven is by asking questions. Asking questions is more successful that making mind maps,
If you are struggling, read the testimonial pages in the book. Read/listen to the following post (here) for inspiration.
How to PhotoRead on a Kindle or Iphone

Free MP3 recordings on Photoreading

How to use PhotoReading in college

Remember why you were interested in PhotoReading in the first place?
Then ask yourself why this is important to you. Each answer, ask again, why is this answer important to me? I think it is worth asking this question 5/6 times. Write your answers down.

Many things we want to learn are actually skills. Whilst you can learn lots from books, you will have to practice what you are learning – again add this deliberate practice time to your calendar.

Weekly review – When/where up to you. I personally like Friday mornings
What went well?
What could be improved on?
What will you do differently next week to improve my results?
What 3 things did I take from my books and started using, implementing, added to my calendar.
There are plenty of other questions you can ask yourself in your weekly review.

Drew