If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent a fair bit of money on books, ebooks and course materials over the years.

Maybe you’re keen to learn something new – computer programming or website design.

Maybe you want to accomplish a big goal – losing weight or getting your finances sorted out.

You probably get a little surge of excitement whenever you pick up a new book or sign up for an online course. You’re sure that you’re going to finally achieve something great.

The problem is, reading isn’t going to get you anywhere. You need to put what you read into action.

And that, for most of us, is the tough bit.

Here’s how to put all that great advice into practice:

#1: Do the Exercises

You know how lots of books have exercises for you to try out?

How often do you do them?

Probably rarely – or never. And maybe you finish each book feeling a bit disappointed: you thought that this  time, you’d really get somewhere.

By simply doing the exercises – even just a few of them – you’ll massively increase the value that you get from the book (or course). Theoretical concepts will suddenly become clearer as you put them into practice. You’ll find yourself making real progress towards your goals.

#2: Keep a Reading Journal

When you finish a book, you probably put it straight back on the shelf. You might remember one or two key points, or recommend it to a friend – you might even re-read it in a few months or years. But you don’t necessarily use what you’ve learned.

A reading journal gives you a space to reflect on books, while you’re reading them and after you’ve finished. You can use your journal to:

• Jot down ideas that were new to you
• Copy out any key sentences – especially any inspiring ones
• Describe what you thought or felt about the book
• Record any “aha” moments that occurred while reading

#3: Decide on Action Items

Unless you’re engaged in academic study, you’re probably not reading for the sake of absorbing information. You’re reading because you want to do something.

Next time you finish a chapter of your book, or read a great blog post or magazine article, decide on one action that you could take as a result. Write it on your to-do list.

One small to-do item might not seem like anything worthwhile – but if you have one action per chapter, or one per article, then you’ll soon be making far faster progress than if you’d just read that material.

#4: Take a Real-Life Course

Online courses are great for many reasons: they’re often cheap, you can participate from anywhere with an internet connection, and lessons will normally be recorded so that you don’t even have to show up at a particular time.

The drawback to this is that you may well find yourself signing up for courses, attending one lesson, and then drifting away.

Real-life courses involve turning up at a specific time, often every week. They may well include assignments and deadlines. They’re also likely to be a bit more pricy. All of this means that you’ll be far more likely to take action on the course materials.

#5: Form a Mastermind Group

If you’ve got a couple of friends who’re working on a similar goal to you, get together with them and form a mastermind group. Get hold of copies of a good book/ebook/self-study course, and agree to read a certain amount each week.

Every week (or every couple of weeks), get together – face-to-face or on the phone – and discuss what you’ve read. Make sure that every member states a specific action that they’re going to take during the next week.

When you meet again, start off with a check-in so that members can report back on whether they achieved the goals that they set for themselves.

Having the support of like-minded friends – and a sense of accountability to them – will help you achieve your goals much faster.

Do you have stacks of dusty books and magazines (or ebooks clogging up your hard drive)? How are you going to start using the great material that you’ve collected?

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain of Twitter!

Related Articles:

Words That Overcome Fear and Dread

Words That Heal and Empower

If you were to look up the term “personal growth,” the words that would most likely pop up would be self-improvement, success, goal-setting, etc. But I believe that personal growth also involves deepening one’s relationship with God. In this Easter season, I’d like to offer you five books that I return to over and over because they nourish my soul.

5 Books That Nourish Your Soul:

Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton
Merton, a Trappist monk and bestselling author who died in 1968, wrote this classic about monastic prayer. But I find its guidance and description of contemplative prayer extremely helpful for me as a layperson. Merton clearly writes from experience, and his words about union with God simply resonate with truth. I highly recommend the book for those who are inclined toward a practice of contemplative prayer.

Lost in Wonder: Rediscovering the Spiritual Art of Attentiveness by Esther de Waal
I discovered this book on a Holy Week retreat five years ago. Rather than highlight passages in the book, I took notes when I found some gem of wisdom or insight. As a result, I have pages and pages of quotes—about silence, listening, prayer and awe. The poetry she includes and the quotes she cites are somehow especially appropriate around this time of celebrating the Easter mysteries.

Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence by Anne D. LeClaire
LeClaire took up a practice of a day of silence (and eventually two days of silence) a month and wrote about its impact on her creativity and her spiritual journey. Married with children at the time, she explains how she managed to keep silence in an active household. That alone would be tremendously useful for moms and dads who seem daunted by the very idea of such a practice. But the real benefit of the book for me is her beautiful description of the fruits of silence.

The Artist’s Way Every Day: A Year of Creative Living by Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way is an international bestseller in which Cameron outlines very practical ways (morning pages, artist’s dates with yourself, etc.) to nourish your creativity and live a creative life. This volume culls passages from several of her books, all based on the same theme. I have used it as devotional reading after my morning prayer.

A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew by Stephen Mitchell
I can’t tell you how worn the pages are in my copy of this book. I once used this too every morning as a devotional. But I also dove into its pages when leading centering prayer groups or when simply feeling distressed or anxious. Mitchell uses very colloquial language in his translation of the psalms, so purists beware. But for those of us who simply seek solace from the psalms, I would highly recommend this book.

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!

Related Articles:

Why You Shouldn’t Care What Others Think About You

How To Choose The Right Goals For You

Do you have shelves full of unread books? Does it seem like you never have the time – or the energy – to read?

A lot of us want to read more – whether that’s for work, education or pleasure. But even if you love reading, it can still be tough to find the time to sit quietly with a book.

If your books are gathering dust on the shelves, here’s how to read more this year.

Choose Books You Want to Read

Perhaps you have a stack of books that you feel you should read. They might be books that friends have praised, books which won prizes, books which are work-related…

The thing is, you don’t have to read anything. Sure, there are some fantastic classics out there that might change your life – but not if you can’t get past page ten.

What really matters is that you pick books which you want to read. Not the books that “everyone” is talking about, not the books that’ll impress your friends. If you want to read the classics, read them for good reasons – not just because you’re embarrassed that you’ve never read them before.

How do you know what you want to read? Look for:

• Recommendations from people who like the same books that you like.
• Genres which you enjoy – science fiction, romance, historical, etc. There’s plenty of great genre fiction out there.
• Books written by authors who you’re already familiar with. Perhaps you’ve read their other books, or their blogs.

Give Yourself Time to Get Into a Book

Not all books grab you from page one. When you start reading, you might know nothing about the subject matter (if it’s non-fiction) and you won’t feel any particular attachment to the characters (if it’s fiction).

So give yourself time to get started. Don’t pick up a new book when you’ve only got five minutes to spare. It takes a while to get “into” a book, but once you’re engaged, you’ll find that it’s easy to keep reading.

Conversely, if you’re not enjoying a book after you’ve read 50 pages or so, then consider ditching it. There’s no rule that says you have to finish every book you start.

Keep a Book Nearby

I’ve spent the past two weeks doing jury service, and I was very glad I’d taken books along with me! There was a lot of sitting around, waiting for things to happen – and I ended up finishing one book and reading three more.

It’s good to get into the habit of keeping a book near you. Any time you go out – particularly if you have an appointment or meeting – pop a book into your bag. If you end up waiting around for some reason, you’ll have something to do.

The same applies at home. Keep your book-in-progress on the coffee table, or at the side of your bed – anywhere that you’re likely to see it and pick it up.

Try an Ebook Reader

I’ve loved books all my life. I like the smell of them, the feel of the pages, the clear text on printed paper…

But last month, I got a Kindle, and I’m enjoying that too. Of course it’s different from a printed book, but it has a lot of advantages too – I can highlight passages without damaging the book, I can carry lots of books in a single device, and I can get classic books for free.

If you’ve never tried an ebook reader, I’d encourage you to take a look at a friend’s, or try using one in a computer store. You might find that it’s a much better experience than you’d expect – and you may well end up reading more books.

What are you reading at the moment? What books would you like to get round to reading? Let us know in the comments!

Image courtesy of SwittersB
Sometimes, we can feel as though we’re stuck in a rut. The daily routine of work, chores, and family begins to become very “samey”. Perhaps we stop at the same coffee shop each morning, grab lunch from the same outlet each day, and invariably spend the evening slumped in front of the tv or computer.

If you’re trying to get inspired – whether for a creative project, or simply towards life change – a routine can actively work against you. Your mind is comfortable with the small bit of world that you see each day, and you never challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone.

Here are some simple ways to take small steps outside your usual routine, to dip your toe into the bigger world beyond the wake-work-home-sleep model, to expand your horizons and get inspired…

Take a Different Route to Work

Do you travel to work (or college, or your kids’ school, etc) every day? My bet is you always take the same route – and you probably feel quite put out if you have to divert to a different one. Once a week, why not set off ten minutes earlier and take a different route? Walk down a street you’ve never been through before, or stop off for coffee in a different part of town.

This is a very easy way to give yourself new input from the world: new sights, sounds, perhaps new people to meet along the way. If you’re lucky, you might even find that your new route is better than the old one!

Another way to mix up your commute is to try a different form of transport. If you usually take the train, can you get the bus instead? (It’s often cheaper.) If you normally drive alone, how about carpooling? You’ll save money and have someone to chat to on the way.

Ask a Friend to Recommend a Book

Most of us are quite conservative in our reading habits. Perhaps we only read crime novels, or wouldn’t touch science-fiction with a barge-pole. Maybe we think “literature” is all boring and worthy, or conversely, that “commercial” fiction is trash. Or, we only read non-fiction, or would never dream of picking up a book of poetry.

Ask a friend or colleague to recommend one of their favourite books – ideally, something that changed the way they think, or that they’ve read time and time again. Get hold of a copy and read it. You might be surprised how it sparks new ideas, or opens your mind to a new way of thinking.

Do Something Different in the Evenings

Are your evenings packed with emails and chores? Or, do you spend the evening hours drifting around the house aimlessly, watching television and pretty much filling time until you go to bed? Neither is especially healthy.

Why not go out on a weeknight, for a change? This can make your evening into an event – you’ll go to bed feeling satisfied that you’ve done something interesting and enjoyable. If your weekends are busy with family obligations, going out on a weekday evening can be a great way to do some things out of your usual routine: perhaps a trip to the theatre, to a gallery, or even a museum.

Take a Day Off

One of the most powerful ways to break out of a rut is to take a whole day off. If you don’t have any leave left at work, use a Saturday or Sunday. Cancel all your usual activities and obligations, and give yourself permission to do anything you want with the day. Go for a long, solitary walk; write poetry; go shopping; read a whole blockbuster novel; lie in the grass and gaze at the clouds…

If you’re one of the many people who find it almost impossible to identify what you actually want to do, that’s a good place to start. Write a list of things you might like to do, see, or achieve. Can you do any of them in a day? If you’re really stuck for ideas, try rolling a dice or flipping a coin. What you do doesn’t matter so much as the fact that you do do something!

Have you ever felt stuck in a rut? Do you follow the same routine, day in, day out? What small changes could you make?

Related Articles:

Why You Should Read Personal Development Books

Image courtesy of Moriza

Since you’re reading Pick the Brain, it’s a safe bet that you’ve got some level of interest in self-improvement, personal development, or simply getting a bit more from life. Whatever your goals, you’re hoping that you’ll find some advice that will help you reach them. You might well read a number of other popular blogs on similar topics, such as Dumb Little Man or Zen Habits.

Yet, although you’re getting some good advice and putting some tips into practice, you might feel like you need a bit more. You’re skimming blogs on coffee breaks at work, or in between childcare duties at home. And with bite-sized posts of 600 words or so, bloggers are only covering individual topics in discreet sections.

If you want to take yourself to a new level, you need to read books as well as blogs.

Why Should I Read Books?

Don’t get me wrong, blogs are great, and you can get true and deep insights from individual blog posts. They’re also easy to fit into your day, and there tends to be a focus on practical, easy-to-implement advice. But books can complement blogs powerfully:

Books Give You Greater Depth

It’s an obvious point, but a three hundred page book allows an  author to fully explore a particular theme or theory: a three hundred word blog post doesn’t allow for much depth. Books can help you to make a paradigm shift or step up a level in your thinking.

When You Read Books, You Focus More

Are you skimming this? Look how I’ve put in subheaders to help you follow the argument. If this was a book, the paragraphs would be longer and you might have pages and pages without a subheading. When we read on paper, we tend to be much more focused than when reading online: no stopping to answer emails or see what’s being said on Twitter.

You’ve Paid For The Book

We often value things we’ve paid for over things that are free. Whilst I’m fully in favour of the amount of free content available online, I do find that I’m more likely to commit myself to in-depth reading when I’ve paid for a book.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you of the “why” – now you just need to find time to do some reading…

Finding Time To Read Books

With most of us spending a lot of the day in front of a computer screen, blogs slip easily into little gaps of time, with content designed to be read in just a few minutes. Books are trickier – do you buy books and leave them unread on a shelf for months, even years? Do you make resolutions to read every day, but end up falling into bed each evening without having cracked the spine of your book?

I find that the best way to “make time” is simply to get into a book: once I’m hooked, the extra time seems to materialize from nowhere! Having said that, you might find it easier if you can establish a routine of reading at a particular time of day:

First Thing In The Morning

Reading something motivational can be a great start to your day. The beginning of the day is a great time to work on any big goal: it means that your reading won’t be squeezed out by other demands on your time.

In Your Lunch Hour

If you tend to work through lunch – or if you end up watching YouTube clips and looking at LOLcats – try reading a book instead. It gives your eyes a break from the glowing screen. Find a park bench (which means you’re actually outside!) and steal half an hour away from fluorescent lights and glowing computer screens to really immerse yourself in a different world. Just this switch in environment will allow more absorption and enjoyment of the material.

End Of The Working Day

If you’re a freelancer, or if you have a lot of control over your own hours, you might find that reading a few pages of your book is a good way to close the working day. This can also help you to “switch off” from work mode.

What Should I Read?

So you’ve got the time and the desire to read some useful, insightful books … now you just need to find the reading matter.

I’ve got a few favorites, but I won’t recommend them here: your needs might well differ from mine. This is how I found the books that I now love…

Read Book Reviews

Most popular books are heavily reviewed on Amazon.com. Don’t focus too much on the star rating – instead, read some of the reviews. You can often get a feel for which reviewers have similar objectives to yours. Sometimes, one or two star reviews don’t mean a book is bad – they just mean that a reader thought it would be a different sort of book!

Don’t just rely on Amazon though: I’ve found it very useful to read book reviews by bloggers who I admire. You might want to check out these lists of reviews:

If you find that everyone seems to be recommending one book, it’s probably worth checking it out!

•    Steve Pavlina’s list of Personal Development Books (very short description of each book)
•    Tim Brownson’s Inspirational Books By Inspirational Authors (short reviews of each book)
•    Trent Hamm’s Twenty Big Ideas: Detailed Summaries and Reviews of Great Personal Finance and Development Books (does what it says in the title!)

Do you have any favorite self-improvement, personal development or similar books? Do you struggle to make time for reading books? Let us know about your tips, experiences and challenges in the comments…

Related Articles:

5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence

101 Self Improvement Resources

There’s so much to be gained from reading books. The mind-expanding benefits are huge – and bear in mind that, while there’s a lot of great online reading (like Pick the Brain ), anything written by great thinkers in the past is often only available in books.

If I’ve not convinced you yet, here are just some great reasons to pick up a book regularly:

Escape

When life feels like it’s all getting too much, escaping into a book for half an hour can really make a difference to your mood. The great thing about reading a book is that it’s something that can completely absorb your mind: you’ll find that you can often tune out background chatter on a train, or the TV blaring on the other side of the room.

Entering into a world of fictional characters and their problems also lets you “tune out” the chatter in your own mind. When you’ve got a to-do list that never seems to get any shorter, or when you find your attention jumping between a dozen different things (as is often the case when reading online), you’ll find that books form a welcome oasis where you can escape from the stresses of life.

Entertainment

Books are also hugely entertaining. You might be reading a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, a sci-fi novel that sets out a brilliantly imaginative view of the future, a biography of a colourful historical figure, or a scientific book that opens up a new world. If you struggle through the first thirty or forty pages of a book and you’re bored, it’s worth seriously considering picking something else (don’t feel obliged to finish a novel just because you’ve started it).

And don’t dismiss books as less entertaining and exciting than television and movies. Words can do things which images and sound can’t: they can take us deep into a character’s mind, delight us with cunning wordplay, and deliver a much deeper, richer story than is possible in an hour-long episode of your favourite show. And, of course, books don’t break off every fifteen minutes for a commercial…

Learning

Of course, escape and entertainment might be nice, but they aren’t all that books offer. One of the biggest reasons to turn to books is because they offer an outstanding wealth of learning – at a far cheaper price than going on a course. Whatever you want to learn, it’s a safe bet that there are books on it. From computer programming to Latin, DIY to planning a wedding, there’s a huge amount available in your bookstore (and your local library).

Don’t dismiss fiction as a source of learning, either; great novelists can give you insights into people’s motivations, as you read about the characters in the novel. You can also learn lots of small things along the way: perhaps new words in a literary or classic novel, new facts in a historical novel, or new scientific information in a sci-fi novel. (As a young teen, my introduction to supernovas and black holes was through Star Trek novels…)

Now, despite having loads of great reasons to read more books, many of us (myself included) complain that “there just isn’t time.” But it’s always possible to make time for something important. Here’s a few ideas:

Schedule Your Reading

Whenever you want to fit something into your life that you’d like to do but never get around to, it’s worth scheduling it. That can seem a bit silly for something like “reading”, but it really does work. How about setting aside half an hour every evening (maybe before dinner) to read?

Turn off the Television

How much TV do you watch every day? Can you find an extra half-hour to read, simply by switching off the TV? If you’re like me and spend much more time glued to a computer screen than a television screen, how about switching off the computer at a set time each night (nine pm works well), then reading for the rest of the evening? You might even find that you sleep better when your mind isn’t buzzing from emails, Twitters and trying to keep up with the never-sleeping online world…

Read During Your Commute and Lunch Hour

If you commute to work by train or bus, take a book with you, instead of buying a newspaper. If you drive, you could listen to audio books. If you cycle like me, you need your eyes and your ears on the traffic, but how about using your lunch hour to read instead? Get away from the office, perhaps to a local coffee shop, and put your feet up with your book for a bit – you’ll probably have a much more productive afternoon than you do when you try to work through lunch.

Do you read as many books as you’d like to? What reasons do you have for reading books (or for not reading books!) and what tips do you have on making time to do so?

Got a Self Improvement Question? Click Here!

About the writer: Ali is a postgraduate student and professional writer. She runs Alpha Student (grab the RSS feed), a blog which aims to help students get the most of their time at university.

Image courtesy of Striatic.