3 step framework for new readers to learn everything you read.

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Spoken English comes naturally to me, but when it comes to reading comprehension, specifically for entrance exams like CAT, I started seeing stars in the daylight.

Anything I read in those comprehensions just rolled over my head like water off a duck’s back. So I started hunting for “How to” improve my reading and comprehension ability. After some trial and error, and a lot of practice later, I was finally able to score well in the reading comprehension section.

The trick was to “Understand the main idea of what you read”.

So not beating around the bush, here is a 3-step framework to learn everything you read:

• Make sure you have a clear purpose before you start reading anything.
• Review what you have read in your head, try to think of what you read from different angles.
• Try to connect the concept you read with different ideas, and try to correlate those concepts with real-life scenarios.

If this helps you out then awesome, you can just drop off from here and hope to see you in the next article, but for those who stuck around let’s deep dive into the 3 ideas a little more.

1. Make sure you have a clear purpose before you start reading anything:

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Let’s start with this simple question, will you ever navigate a new city without a map or a guide? My safe guess is … No.

So why would you just jump into a book (or an article) and read it cover to cover without any specific goal in mind?

A goal will help you cut down all the extra fluff and help you get straight to the point. For example, say I am reading “Hooked” by Nir Eyal, my purpose is to learn what are the key levers that drive a consumer to be addicted to a product.

With a clear purpose in my mind, I will just cut through all the stuff I don’t care about and just skip to the good part! Seriously, try it …

2. Review what you have read in your head, try to think of what you read from different angles.

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Now this is kinda tricky! This is where you have to get your brain out of the passenger seat and force it to be the driver (I almost had smoke coming out of my ears).

So what do I mean by this? Let’s go back to the novel I read, where I learned something about the “heuristics that drive a human being to take action”.

This is the point where I shut the book and try to do the following:

• I consolidate what I read and try to simplify the concept in my head, so much so that I can explain it to a 7th-grade student.
• I question, is this relevant for me today? Can I apply any of this in my day-to-day life? Can I put a counter-argument to what the author just mentioned?

Will it be time-consuming and tiring? Yes!

Will it require effort? Yes!

But … will it help you solidify what you read? Yes X 100!

3. Try to connect the concept you read with different ideas, and try to correlate those concepts with real-life scenarios.

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Again let’s come back to the book “Hooked”, it mentions the idea that every habit-forming product provides the user with a sense of autonomy.

The sort of supporting experiment mentioned that people were more likely to help a stranger out, who was asking people for bus fare, if he mentioned just a few words at the end of the sentence … “But you are free to accept or refuse!”

The concept is simple … give people a sense of agency and more likely than not,, they will respond in a positive manner.

This got me thinking … where can I apply this idea in real life in other aspects of my life?

The answer … “How about I try to apply this when I am sending cold emails, requesting for either work or mentorship?”

(Honestly haven’t done it yet but hopefully, I will come back later and just give a quick update on my progress.)

Let’s wrap it up.

So you know the 3 steps you can take as early as after completing this article. So what are you waiting for? Start today .. and let me know how it works out for you.

See you on Day 2 of 30 …. Cheers !!