insert_linkWhy Should You Be in the Hot Pursuit of Knowledge?
The successful person is always learning—always absorbing knowledge.
Fact-machine. This would have described a mere school-age boy back in the day, and what a title it was! Above all else, this boy knew exactly how to absorb knowledge at an exceedingly alarming rate.
For instance, he read books ceaselessly like an unstoppable choo-choo train. Not just that, but he was able to retain the extensive vaults of knowledge encapsulated within them.
The child—whose mind bulged with raw information—has, in all likelihood, read more books than you will ever read. And that’s solely in his childhood. If you think you’re shaking your head at this, would you like a bet, m8?
All right, then see if you can match yourself up to these juicy facts:
- He read all the books in his neighbourhood library
- He read all the books in his school’s library
- Finding himself exhausted of information-yielding material, he subsequently went on to absorb the knowledge of two entire encyclopaedias.
“I started to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That was so helpful.”
— Elon Musk
While the young learner evidently struggled to make friends, you could imagine the great feats he went on to accomplish. In fact, don’t just imagine them—look at them yourself!
The boy’s name was Elon Musk. Indeed, this immensely successful figure is the same person as the previously discussed book-hungry sponge.
How did he get to where he is? An inextinguishable flame, confident in posture, burned strong within him; his sheer determination to absorb knowledge fast and effectively in order to achieve his goals.
This, in my opinion, demonstrates the power of knowledge and learning perfectly.
So, when are you going to start achieving great things?
Learn more about Musk: Future of the Space Industry: Why Should You Be Excited?
insert_linkThe Keys to Absorb Knowledge Quickly and Effectively
Admittedly, the admirable achievements that Musk pulled off were quite astonishing—extraordinary. Therefore, with no surprises, you may be wondering how exactly you can follow in his footsteps.
After all, an entire library is a lot of books.
Another question you may be having:
“What about books that I’m not interested in, or books I don’t find useful?”
If you want to absorb knowledge effectively, you better make sure that it really is valuable knowledge. In other words, the information you consume must, in some way, be useful to you.
I would go as far as to say that fictional storybooks are (generally, for most people) a complete waste of time. Of course, this genre may be valuable if you’re studying literature etc.
And no matter who you are, this is the type of knowledge to absorb:
- Technical skills relevant to you and your interests
- Subjects that grab your attention
- Personal development
- Social skills
- Finance
- Mental toughness
- Productivity
- Fitness and diet
- Stuff that you, in reality, need, but you don’t take an interest in
Mastering all of these areas indicates a huge volume of information that must be processed by your brain; sounds intimidating. Nevertheless, you can follow these following three sneaky ‘secrets’ to help you absorb knowledge like a sponge.
And, no, it does not involve taking out all the books in your nearest library!
insert_link1. Listen to Books with Epic Speed (Using Audible)
It involves getting all the books necessary from the audiobook service, Audible. In fact, we’re lucky to live in this digital age, where computing technology has the capability to skyrocket our productivity.
To illustrate, it has been almost a month since I started re-reading a life-changing book, on paper. What’s more, I haven’t even reached the point of finishing it given the limited time in my life!
Take a peek at my resources page for some quality books
On the other hand, I scooped up an Audible subscription the other week—only to find impressive results. In under a mere two weeks, I became empowered to consume the knowledge of 2 whole books. Maintaining the same amount of spare time each day, that’s an overwhelming improvement.
To clarify, I ploughed through 664 pages by listening to them. And I did so significantly faster than I could have if I had read them. Even so, it is certain that my knowledge-absorption rate is yet to see further improvement.
But what makes audiobooks so powerful if you want to absorb knowledge much faster? What difference does it make to listen rather than read?
Here’s how:
insert_linkAudible Allows You to Consume Sentences Faster
If you’re like me, you would find it difficult to read text at any considerable speed. Okay, perhaps you can read the words quickly, though I often find myself having to re-read a sentence. It’s not the most effective way to retain knowledge.
That being said, reading a book quicker will actually help with your learning. Reading more words per second, that is to say. This is due to the additional effort required by your brain to concentrate on the information buried in the book.
Likewise, listening to a book quicker will also help your learning. As a bonus, you will inevitably finish the book sooner, too!
As a matter of fact, you can listen to words at a substantially faster rate than you can read them. In addition to that, engaging your hearing increases the retention rate of the knowledge in the book.
So, what’s not to love about audiobooks?
Thanks to Audible, you can turn the listening speed up to 4× the normal rate. However, you would have thought that increasing the speed results in obfuscation of your highly beloved knowledge.
Much to the contrary, I find that a speed of around 1.9–2.5× enables me to distinguish, understand, and learn. Although, this may not be the case for you; perhaps you can get away with 3× the speed, which is far better!
The speed at which you can listen is affected by the maximum sustained attention you can give the book. For example, you’ll be able to listen faster in a quiet room with your eyes shut. Conversely, you might have to simmer down when running around town, being simultaneously watchful of your surroundings.
insert_linkYou Can Take Audio Books Anywhere, and Listen Anytime
Alas, with physical books, you actually have to have them in your access to read them. Whereas with audiobooks, the need for carrying around a chunky box of hefty paper becomes absolutely unnecessary.
Conversely, here is the entire extent of the list of apparatus required for today’s audiobook:
- Your phone, computer, smartwatch, or another capable device
- Earphones, headphones, or speakers
As a result of this versatility, you can now go for a run while you absorb knowledge told in The Coaching Habit. Or, alternatively, you’d like to catch the bus, lift some weights, or do some cooking.
Audible grants you the ability to read books when you can’t read a truly physical book.
Albeit, you can only really combine a brain-intensive task such as reading with a fairly mindless one. Don’t try to multitask: one thing at a time!
Optimise your workspace: Are Dual Monitors Worth It? [Don’t Make My Mistakes]
insert_linkHow Audible Can Help You Save Money
But wait—there’s more! What if I told you that using Audible can genuinely save you money over buying physical books? Now you’re sold.
- Get two free books by starting your free trial as well as by receiving your first recommendation (you’ll need a friend for that)
- Audible books stay with you forever (even after cancelling your subscription), like normal books.
- £7.99 each month buys you a credit to buy any book on Audible, regardless of price. Therefore, make sure to spend this on books worth over £8.
- Books can be swapped out if you don't like them—while on the subscription.
- Audible members have access to special offers and discounts (up to 80%)
What are you waiting for? Get a free book then boast about how much faster you can read it compared to your friends!
[bctt tweet="I'm a soggy sponge—absorbing knowledge at light-speed with #Audible" username="crypticbutter"]insert_link2. Take Advantage of Summarised Books
“You don’t know what you don’t know. You realise there are all these things out there...”
— Elon Musk
Nothing beats reading a book in all its entirety to absorb knowledge to the highest extent. Despite this, a book alone will not give you the best results.
In order to truly learn and retain knowledge, it is important that we recall information, engraving it in your scalp; you must be proactive as you absorb knowledge throughout a book, so you can make the most of it.
On the other hand, perhaps you want to benefit from the key concepts of many books. Moreover, assume that you have no desire to buy and read all of these books.
In either case, Mani Vaya over at 2000 Books has you covered—and he has you covered well. Hosting a plethora of varied courses for all the family, he has covered topics including:
- Mental toughness
- Productivity
- Social skills
- Entrepreneurship
- Meditation
To clarify, these are all essential skills that not one of us has an excuse to ignore. Carefully deliberated in nature, scores of book-summarising-videos are an effective way to absorb knowledge across a board range of books. Accordingly, they are my favourite way to learn key concepts without casting away hours of my time.
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The best part, you ask? If you’ve already emptied your bank account for Audible, so be it; you can benefit from an extensive range of wisdom for free!
- Try out a video by 2000 Books on YouTube
- The podcast on iTunes and Android
- Free bonus material
In hindsight, it does look like I’ve made an extraordinary effort to sell the brand rather than the summaries… well, whatever. It shows my belief in the brand regardless.
insert_link3. Use YouTube As a Tool, Not a Time-Drain
insert_linkFilter Your Resources so You Absorb the Right Knowledge
Finally, compliment your newly-formed bookshelf with some free online educational material.
The Internet is, indeed, polluted with unhelpful (albeit hilarious) cat videos that do nothing but promote procrastination. Nonetheless, as long as you are diligent, I guarantee that you will find numerous sources of authorities of great help.
The Cryptic Butter website should be one of those authorities, needless to say.
Also, don’t attempt to deceive yourself into short-term gratification, long-term suffering; only expose yourself to information that genuinely—no lies—aligns with your long-term goals.
Want to be an engineer? Cat videos will certainly not assist you there, m8.
For instance, if you use YouTube for the sense-engaging videos, I’ve got some homework for you:
- Unsubscribe from all channels that do not deliver you any real
- Be honest and subscribe channels that will accelerate your journey to success.
The benefit of YouTube is—due to the new videos every day—you can constantly expose yourself to ideas. And this will make you absorb knowledge like a sponge. Enforce caution, however, by making sure every individual video you watch helps you in a massive way.
Add videos to a list for later, to avoid procrastination, why not?
Get serious with 7 Online Productivity Tools: Never Waste Your Time Again
insert_linkBump up the Speed by a Factor of Two
As we have discussed earlier, increasing the rate at which you listen to audiobooks has countless benefits. So, why should we not employ the very same technique with online educational videos?
It may sound extremely odd as well as unbearable at first, but—trust me—you’ll get used to it. Eventually, the high-pitched, mouse-like voices become normal, thus allowing you to absorb knowledge at light-speed.
In actuality, you will find that jumping back to 1× speed from 2× sounds super-weird after some time; as if it were slow-motion. Your brain must adapt to rapid information streams, and likewise, slower ones.
Of course, you can absorb knowledge super-fast using YouTube’s built-in speed controls. Although, I would rather use an extension such as Video Speed Controller. Here’s why:
- It works anywhere on the web, for all HTML5 videos
- Shortcuts can be used to adjust video speed with fine control
- On-screen controls make it an effortless holiday to the Antarctic beaches
The successful person is always learning—always absorbing knowledge.
Furthermore, the supremely successful person is always learning—but they invariably absorb knowledge at a supremely quick speed.
