Personal Development Drip Drip

OK this is going to be a little cryptic but hopefully all will be clear by Friday.

I have been studying Personal development for over 25 years (I skipped "Janet and John go Fishing" and went straight to The Magic of Thinking Big when I was 4 ;-))

I first read The Magic of Thinking Big when I was 16 and it amazed me, I couldn't believe people could think like that. My goal at the time was to own my own market stall, I decided to think big and try to get into university. I then thought I made it and stopped reading Personal development.

About 5 years I got back into it and for the last year I started to study it in the same way I studied for my degrees. Not just reading but making notes, and summarising books.

Something happened recently that made me realise how far I had come. I don't think you notice a difference, in the same way you don't see children grow when you see them everyday.

The same set of circumstances were presented to 6 of us and I was the only one that reacted differently, positively.

It made me realise how good Personal development has been for me. There are a few things you can do to get the most out of Personal Development.

I used to be a bit precious about my books, keeping them pristine. Then I realised they are a tool and we are a team, I use them to help me, making notes, underlining and scribbling in the margins. If this shocks you and it would have done me until a year ago, remember what the books are there for - they aren't an ornament they are to be used. If you want them to look nice by a vase instead. - Of course I don't treat my rare first editions like this but you get the gist!

Secondly learn to speed read - if you have as many books you want to read as I do you will benefit so much from speed reading. Not only will you read a lot faster but your understanding will improve. There are lots of good resources online, I would recommend Tony Buzan's book on speed reading. Being able to read 4 or 5 times faster means I can read a book 3 times, once just reading it straight through, then underlining and scribbling and finally going through my underlinings and scribbles and transferring the good points into my journal.

Finally - listen. I travel an hour a day, I used to listen to the radio, now I have a huge library of stuff on my I-pod that I play through the stereo for an hour a day everyday.

This week I will see the benefits of it. But more about that later..........