DECEMBER 15, 2021
You’ve read a book. You’ve watched a video. You’ve read a tweet.
What do you do next? Just think, “Oh wow, that was nice!” and forget about it until you go through it again and think, “I really did forget a lot of things!”
By doing this, what you’ve learned won’t stick around for long at all, and you will just keep on learning and forgetting and never really put any of that into proper solid actions that help you become better and grow.
Here’s how you can change that and start understanding and implementing all that you learn!
What were you doing on 15th December 2011? What place did you go to? Was it a sunny or cloudy day? What car were you driving? Do you remember it? You might be thinking, “How can I remember so many things about a random day more than ten years ago?” And you’re right! You can’t!
Do you remember the day you graduated from college, your birthday five years ago, or the day you landed your first job? You probably do! You know what you did. What was the temperature like and so many more small details that you might not remember about the last month?
Why is that?
When something impactful and emotional happens in your life, you tend to remember incredible details about it—positive or negative. For example, you will remember all the details about the day you graduated, and it was a joyous day for you, and you were extremely excited about your future.
On the other hand, most people who were in New York City on the fateful day of the September 11, 2001 attacks have that day etched in their memory. The things that they saw, the actions they took, the weather, the tragedy, the aftermath of it; they remember it all.
Your college graduation day matters a lot to you because it has significantly impacted your life. And for the people in New York City, the day of September 11, 2001, is very impactful because it changed the city and its people. These days and events matter, and thus people remember them.
Similarly, if you want to remember what you read in a book or what you learned from a movie/video, you must know why it matters to you.
If it doesn’t, then there’s no point in remembering and understanding it, right?
The first step to remembering and truly understanding anything is to identify and thoroughly soak in the impact or change learning and implementing that concept, book, or video will bring into your life. Once you understand that, everything else becomes easier!
Then, you need to write it down. As much as we like to trust our mind, it really can’t handle and remember everything.
That’s why it is better to write what you’ve learned and understood and how you can apply it to your life. Take 15 minutes and jot that down. If you’re trying to understand and apply a book, these are the questions you can ask:
- What’s the entire concept about?
- Why does this concept matter to me?
- What are my key takeaways from the whole book?
- What are the things that I can apply immediately?
- What changes will that bring?
- How will I make sure I apply this?
You can also use this to understand how you can apply something you learn in a video, documentary, or movie.
It will take you some time, but when you consciously make an effort to write down everything you’ve learned and how you will apply it, you’ll be in that zone of action. With the act of writing, you will engage all of your senses and fully immerse yourself in it. And that’s when you’ll start to see magnificent results.
Now, we move on to the next step: Review, Reflect and Remind.
You’ve made notes. You’ve written everything down. And you’ve understood why this book or concept is essential for you. That’s great! You will clearly remember all of it for the first few days and start taking action. But after that time, you might lose touch with all that you wrote down. That’s why you need the last step: Review, Reflect, and Remind.
You must create a specific pattern of review for yourself where you take five minutes once a week or once a month to go through all the reflection points you’ve made from that one book, or from that one documentary and see if you have applied it or not. Reflect on it and just remind yourself to jump into action and keep going persistently. That way, you will not lose touch with the concept and with that constant repetition, you will understand that very deeply and go beyond what most people usually do, and that’s when knowledge will become power for you!
There is no lack of information or resources out there. What is really lacking is a deep understanding and the desire to implement that. People just read a book over the top and then forget about it. At the same time, there are other successful people who say that the same book changed their lives. What’s the difference?
Make reflection, introspection, and implementation your habit and when you keep giving your best, you will succeed!
And you’re all set! With a clear intention in mind, you’ll know why it is important for you to remember, and by writing what you’ve learned, you immerse all your senses into that one thing, and then, it will stay with you longer and change your life!
Let’s begin now! What are your key takeaways from this blog post and how will you implement them? Comment below!
Partnering in your success, happiness, and growth,
Prabhsimrat