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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Stan Skrabut
Read between
January 8 - February 24, 2023
Lesson Learned from Theodore Roosevelt
Learn to skim and scan a book to identify essential passages. · Always have a book with you to read when an opportunity presents itself. · Block out times to read. Make it a priority.
“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” —Abraham Lincoln
Lessons Learned from Abraham Lincoln · Make reading a priority. · Capture essential information in a commonplace book.
If you want to become an expert in a new field, start reading in that field.
Humphrey Bland’s A Treatise on Military Discipline
Someone who takes the time to read, reflect, and build mental models of responses is more able to recognize the patterns and respond.
An individual who can read can learn everything else.
“Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun.”182 —General James Mattis
Lessons Learned from General Mattis · Read to learn about the experiences of others so you do not make their mistakes. · Build a library that will serve you throughout your life.
Patton wrote: “I think that it is necessary for a man to begin to read military history in its earliest and hence crudest form to follow it down in natural sequence, permitting his mind to grow with his subject until he can grasp without effort the most abstruse question of the science of war because he is already permeated with all its elements.”199
Lessons Learned from General Patton · Learning only about your niche is not enough; to be truly successful you must read widely. · Learn the lessons of others, so you do not repeat their mistakes. · Encourage reading throughout your organization. · Create a library to help you with your decision making.
Lessons Learned from General McChrystal · Adapt consumption methods to your situation. · Supplement your workout with reading.
Binge reading on a topic is a great way to become fluent in a new field of study.
“The bottom line is that leaders have entrusted to them the most precious commodity this country possesses: the lives of America's sons and daughters. Consequently, they must have a thorough understanding of their profession.”
Lesson Learned from Major Dick Winters · Increase your competence with a regular reading habit.
According to a study of 1,200 successful business leaders, they all use reading as a self-improvement strategy.
Successful leaders develop libraries filled with books to help them be more successful, whereas the general population tends to read for entertainment.
“Serious leaders who are serious readers build personal libraries dedicated to how to think, not how to compete.”219
Lessons Learned from Bill Gates · Take mini-holidays simply to read and reflect. · Share what you are reading with everyone around you. · Dedicate part of your day to reading.
Lessons Learned from Thomas Edison · If you want to gain deep knowledge about a topic, read about it. · Public and academic libraries are great places to learn.
Lessons Learned from Mark Zuckerberg · Establish reading goals. · Share your reading goals with others and invite them to participate.
Lessons Learned from Elon Musk · Read widely. You never know what ideas will combine with others. · Quickly gain knowledge on a topic by reading as much as you can on it.
Lessons Learned from Mark Cuban · The knowledge you seek can be found in a bookstore or library. · Read daily to stay abreast of new trends and research. · Out-read your competition.
“Read five hundred pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will.”
Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett · Read every day. · Read to find opportunities for growth.
“The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one’s encounter with it in a book.” —André Maurois
Reading comprehension on an e-reader is not as strong as when reading a printed book.284 Focusing on a novel is more difficult for someone who does a lot of e-reading. Reading a printed book thirty to forty-five minutes a day strengthens linear reading skills.
Reading allows you to stand on the shoulders of those who have walked before you.
Taking time to think about what is being read and not merely assuming the thoughts of the author is important. We need to digest, synthesize, and organize the thoughts of others in order
to understand. This is the grunt work of thinking. It’s how we acquire wisdom.
The better you can read, the more worlds you can enter.
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” —Jim Rohn
By spending time with successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, and influential people, a reader will in turn raise his or her game.294 Reading is one of the cheapest ways to improve operations.
“Challenges help to build internal motivation, confidence, discipline, and willpower.”
Perhaps the most important benefit of reading is that it is a means for acquiring new knowledge and, over time, wisdom.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” —Stephen King
As with anything else in life, if it’s not measured, a person will not do it.
By reading first thing in the morning, you’re dedicating time for self-improvement before you dedicate time to others.
In the Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge, participants were asked to read the following book categories: · a book published this year · a book you can finish in a day · a book you’ve been meaning to read · a book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller · a book you should have read in school · a book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child, or best friend · a book published before you were born · a book banned at some point · a book you’d previously abandoned · a book you own but have never read · a book that intimidates you · a book you’ve already read at least
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“Surviving and thriving as a professional today demands two new approaches to the written word. First, it requires a new approach to orchestrating information, by skillfully choosing what to read and what to ignore. Second, it requires a new approach to integrating information, by reading faster and with greater comprehension.” —Jimmy Calano
“The art of reading is the art of adopting the pace the author has set. Some books are fast and some are slow, but no book can be understood if it is taken at the wrong speed.” —Mark Van Doren
you want to read more, you may need to improve your reading skills. Improving vocabulary and reading faster are the two essential reading skills.
Subvocalizing
Annotate
saccades,
Saccades are the movements from one fixation to another.
To conduct professional reading, you must read with purpose, which is different from reading for simple enjoyment. For professional reading, a book must be read with the goal of understanding the author’s message.
Adler and Van Doren describe four levels of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical, and syntopical.
These are active reading methods because the reader is trying to answer four questions:
