[Neurons] 2021 Neurons #67 WHY SELF-HELP BOOKS DON'T HELP

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

2021 Neurons #67

October 11, 2021

 

WHY SELF-HELP BOOKS DON'T HELP

 

That was the question Geraldine asked.  "Why is it that self-help books
don't help?"  "You mean 'a lot of people'" I added to clarify the question.
"Yes, for a lot of people it doesn't seem to help very much or at all.  Why
is that?"  I was busy reading at our favor coffee shop and so I answered her
briefly, "They don't know how to read and they read too fast."  But, as
usual, my brief answer did not satisfy her so she re-engaged me and we
continued the conversation.  At the end, she said, "You ought to write an
article about this!" And I knew what that meant!

 

Here's the thing.  The process of actually reading any book and using it for
significant and effective learning and development involves a set of skills
that the majority of people have simply not learned.  That means that they
actually do not know how to read a non-fiction book to mine it for its
riches and transfer that wealth into themselves.

 

For the first thing, most people read too fast, too passively, and too
shallowly.  The shallow part goes to a person's intention.  Most people read
in order to get a general idea about something.  Many are looking for
something specific and so as they read, they filter out anything and
everything that doesn't fit.  Many read a non-fiction book the same way they
read fiction.  They skim through the paragraphs.  They're looking for the
story.

 

Non-fiction books are, for the most part, not written to convey a story.
They are written to present an understanding, a concept, and a procedure.
In Executive Learning I recommended applying the seven dimensions to your
learning in order that your learning be active and dynamic.

Get in the right state, establish how to record (represent) the information
you gather in your mind, sort out the background information you already
have about the material that helps and that may hinder, encode the higher
level concepts as the knowledge to be constructed, identify the meta-level
principles of learning the specific subject, make the information
experiential, and then identify pragmatic steps for incorporating it.

 

The problem for most people is that their learning is passive.  They "cover
the material."  They "finish the chapter."  They follow the line of thinking
or reasoning and they then conclude that they "know" the material.  In all
likelihood, they do not.  This is one of the great illusions about learning.
By following what someone is saying or writing, you assume that you thereby
know it.  If so, then let's test it.  A good way to test it is to explain
what you read, or heard, to someone who doesn't know it.  That will test to
see if you actually know it.  The bottom line: If you can't explain it to
another, you don't really know it.

 

This is also why most people read too fast.  They try to read a book in the
same manner that they read a newspaper or magazine.  They need to slow down
and see if they can summarize a paragraph or a page in their own words.  For
years, my habit of reading is that at the end of each page, I stop and write
one to four words at the top of the page that identifies the subject of that
page.  Even better, write a summary of one sentence on a blank sheet of
paper that succinctly sums up that page.  That will make you think!   Which
is what most people are actually not doing when they're reading.  They are
not thinking.  They are just mentally following along.  There's no real
mental work, just a passive following.  But to truly think is to consider,
to question, to explore, to doubt (see Executive Thinking, 2018).

 

It is in getting yourself to actually digest the ideas in the text that
begins the process of actually beginning to learn it.  Next comes the
process of integration wherein you make it yours.  This means making the
material, the ideas, experiential.  Plant this question in your mind as you
read: "Given that I am reading, or listening to this, how specifically will
I make it part of my inner and outer experience?"  If you think that reading
or listening is just a mental activity, you have cut off half of the
learning process.  Learning is inevitably experiential. 

           So, what are you experiencing?  What actions will occur?  

           After all, you are reading for a purpose, are you not?  What is
that purpose?  

           What difference will reading X make in your life?  

           How will it change you- your person, your skills, your
relationships, etc.?  

 

If you don't know, stop and establish a learning intention.  Self-help books
could help, but to help you have to take an active stance.  You can't read
for entertainment.  Instead, read for transformation.  Identify the change
that you want.  Then, using the seven dimensions of learning, use that
structure to organize your learning experience.

 

For more, check out: Executive Learning (2021) on
<http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com 

 

 

 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director 

Neuro-Semantics 

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

132607 NeuroSemantics Executive Learning Front Cover

 

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