I often talk about the benefits of reading and the positive impact it has had on my personal development. While there's no doubt it is a valuable learning tool, I want to emphasize several vital aspects of the learning process I don't discuss quite as often: experience, observation, and critical thinking.

Indeed, these are the most powerful learning tools you have at your disposal. You can easily forget something you read within a week, but the lessons you learn through experience and figuring things out for yourself often last a lifetime.

Over the years, I've realized the primary purpose of reading is to...

Have you ever read a book and loved it, but several months later couldn't remember what it was about? This has happened to me more times than I care to admit so I know how frustrating it can be. 

Consuming an entire book is a significant time investment so if you can’t recall what you read, it feels like all that time you spent reading was wasted. Not a fun feeling.

This is especially true of books having to do with personal development, which make up a good portion of the books I recommend on TGP.

The whole point of reading these kind of books is to apply the information to your life so you can improve it. But it's hard to do if you can't remember what you read.

Not to worry -- I have some tips for you!

Below are some strategies that have helped me learn and recall information more effectively. I've arrived at these methods through years of trial and error and I am constantly updating and improving them. Sometimes I utilize all of these tools, sometimes only one or two. Apply them to your life however you see fit.