How To Read Faster - A Life With Intention

This blog is about how you can cut your reading time in half, while doubling the amount you learn.

Before I show you some reading strategies on how to read faster that will inspire you into your reading nook, I have some questions for you…

Would you like better relationships?

Even if your relationships are on point, there is always room for improvement right?

Would you like to earn more money?

Having money gives you choices and it puts you in a position to help others. You may earn enough but would like better mindsets to manage your money so it goes further and you are investing in your future.

Would you like to scale your business or start a business?

You may be running a business and reached the ceiling with you skills and you want to find a way to scale it up. Maybe you have just started a business and want to know how to build a strong foundation for it, or maybe you want to start one but don’t know where to start.

Do you know the place you can find the answers to these questions?

BOOKS

The Hidden Treasure

Books are hugely under utilised resource. There is treasure trove of knowledge, wisdom and experience to be found in many of them, yet so many people miss out. Books give you timeless and time relevant knowledge from some of the greatest thinkers, at a unbelievably cheap price.

Using the knowledge you find in books can help you avoid making crucial mistakes and open up possibilities you didn’t even know existed.

Why Is Learning Important?

Continual learning is essential to winning in life, whatever winning is for you. “Winning” sounds so “self development” but don’t be put you off.

“Winning” just means being the best version of yourself. When you have an attitude of learning it means you are humble enough to know that there is always room for improvement.

My Reading Habit

Reading has been hugely important shift in my development and without it I would have made a lot of costly mistakes. The knowledge I have got from books has guided my business life, protected me from getting into bad relationships and inspired me to keep going when things are tough.

I used to be a lazy reader. I knew it was a good thing to do but I just couldn’t get motivated to do it. A course that really helped motivate me to read more is The 67 Steps. That course helped me see that if you develop the habit of learning and reading which can literally change your whole life.

The Thing I Hate About Reading

The issue I still have with reading is that it can take huge chunks of my time. Books are the cheapest way to get knowledge but they cost you in time; it takes time and effort to sit down and study a book.

I have also found that a lot of books have a huge amount of fluff surrounding powerful ideas. Ok fluff is a bit of a harsh description of what is going on here. In many books you have stories and anecdotes that support the themes and I have been told that they can’t just publish the main themes…it would just be too short!

In fairness the stories can actually really help illuminate the idea. If you just had the concept but you didn’t really understand it, a story can really help to bring the idea home.

My First Time Hack For Reading

The first time hack I found for reading is audiobooks. Audiobooks are amazing! *mic drop* I am not sure if that statement qualifies for a mic drop but audiobooks are amazing! 🙂

Why do I love audiobooks so much? Audiobooks save you time as you can do two things at once.

Here are some things you can do while listening to audiobooks…

– Walk

– Drive

– Cycle

– Cooking

– Cleaning

– Yoga

This has been a huge time hack for me as I can do menial tasks and get some knowledge in at the same time.

Another way of saving even more time is to play the audio at a faster speed. This hack will depend on what device you use. I am currently using an iphone which has a feature to speed up the playback of audiobooks. If the narrator is clear in his or her diction you can get through the book at twice the speed.

A good place to find audio books is Audible. Click the link below if you would like to check out Audible as it is an amazing resource.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means that at NO additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. If you do click through and make a purchase THANKYOU!

My only issue with audiobooks is that I can’t study the book in the same way I would with an ebook or the hardcopy.

I like to underline quotes and make notes; my end game is simply to internalise the wisdom. I am not trying to remember quotes so I can come across smart at a dinner party, although having something interesting to talk about is never a bad thing!

My Second Time Hack For Reading

Life is busy and time is my biggest commodity which is why I do my best to guard it and use it wisely. As I mentioned before, I love books as they can literally change your life and I am always looking for ways to get the most amount of juice out of reading with the least amount of squeeze.

We found a resource that can help you cut your reading time in half and double the number of books you read.

Mentorbox

Mentorbox is an online resource that helps you study the best books in self-development in a fast and effective way. Their idea is to take the best books on business, career, wealth, investment, productivity, leadership, team building, creativity and have the author of those books teach you the main concepts.

Part of their mission statement is to help you read more in the most fun, fast and effective way possible. This is great concept and it will help you learn from the best at speed.

Why Was Mentorbox Made?

Book are an older form of recording and sharing ideas. They are amazing but by using modern technology you can speed up the learning process by using workbooks, audio summaries and videos presented by the authors of the books.

Mentorbox gives you multiple avenues to learn life-changing concepts from some of the leading thinkers. They want to help speed up your learning process and teach you the things can help you with your life and your business.

Saving Time Has Become A Business Model

In a interview with Tai Lopez and Gary Vaynerchuck they have a very interesting exchange about ideas in the modern world. Gary Vee makes a great point about Uber by pointing out that Uber sells time.

We all care about time because we live in a 24-7 world. Their business model is buying time and selling it back to people.

This is part of what Mentorbox has done with their product. They know that learning is an important asset and so they have found a way to give you the learning you need, in a fast effective way. It is a great idea as they empowering people with the knowledge from books in a fast, effective and painless way.

“Building products and services that buy time and sell it back to people, is probably the quickest path to real financial success in the next decade for the average to the above average thinker.”

This interesting quote from Gary Vee and worth keeping in mind if you are thinking about starting a business and don’t feel you have skills but I digress…back to the reading time hack!

What Type Of Learner Are You?

It is worth deploying some self awareness about how you learn as it will help you learn faster. Most people are a mixture of Visual, Auditory and Kinethestic learners.

For those of you who are not sure what these learning styles are, here is a quick breakdown.

VAK Learning Styles

V – Visual

Visually-dominant learners absorb and retain information better when it is presented in pictures, diagrams and charts.

A – Auditory

Auditory learners prefer listening to what is being presented.

K – Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners prefer a physical experience. They like a “hands-on” approach and responds well to being able to touch or feel an object or learning prop.

Some people are dominant in certain forms of learning but most people are a mixture of all three. Mentorbox has used all three styles of learning in the books they teach you.

Reading books cover to cover is very difficult when you have a busy life and the VAK style of learning allows you to absorb information quickly.

Mentorbox is huge time hack! You get the main concepts from a book taught to you using visual, auditory and kinesthetic methods by the authors who wrote the books.

They have combined the main modes of learning by working with one of the leading learning scientists Barbara Oakley to help you learn in a fun, fast and effective way.

What Type Of Books Does Mentor Box Cover?

One of the objectives for Mentorbox was not to teach random information just for the sake of you learning it. They are teaching you valuable knowledge through curated books. They review hundreds of books a week but only a few get shortlisted to get taught from and enter the Mentorbox vault.

The books in Mentorbox cover a range of topics like business, career, wealth, investment, productivity, leadership, team building, creativity. The themes are based on things that will help you in modern life.

The content is top notch, these are not random books. These are New York Times bestselling authors, professors from Stanford, Georgetown and Berkeley. Fortune 500 CEOs, top-ranked life coaches, top psychologists, marketers, businessmen and businesswomen.

The only drawback is that they choose all the books so you don’t have direct control. That being said, the books they have chosen are good.

Who Has Taught From Their Books In Mentorbox?

People like Arianna Huffington who is a businesswomen & co-founder of The Huffington Post. They have one of the most cited modern psychologists of the modern era Robert Cialdini author of Influence and Daniel Coyle, author of The culture code who is a New York Times bestseller and a performance coach for the Cleveland Indians.

There are others authors like Cal NewPort, Charles Duhigg, Mo Gawdat, Terri L. Sjodin, Kim Scott, Amy Cuddy, Anthony Iannarino and Ryan Holiday.

Disclosure

Click The Images To See The Books.

As part of Mentorbox, these any many other authors will walk you through what they are teaching in their books. For example…

Arianna Huffington teaches wellness.

Pulitzer prize winner Charles Duhigg teaches productivity.

Body Language From Harvard Professor Amy Cuddy.

Dealing making from the women who help negotiate Brexit Natalie Reynolds.

Running a one-person million dollar business from the Forbes writer Elaine Pofeldt.

How Often Are The Books Updated?

They add new books every week (5 new lessons a week) so you will always have new content to check out.

The books are available to Mentorbox members before they are available to the public so you are literally getting the books hot off the press.

Are Mentorbox Trying To Replace Books?

Mentorbox doesn’t replace books but it helps you learn the knowledge faster. They are trying to help you consume more books in one week than you would have in a year. It is smart reading and a HUGE time hack.

Another thing we really liked is that after a book is published the author may have had new insights on that subject and so you get the benefit of hearing the authors afterthoughts.

What You Get When You Subscribe?

You have two options for subscription one is online the other is a mailed to your door.

What You Get With The Mail Out

– 2 books sent to your door each month

– 2 video programs with the authors of the books

– 2 never seen before workshops

– 2 laminated speed reading cheat sheets

– 2 workbooks

– 2 audio executive summaries

– 1 advanced audio program

– USB flash card containing videos and audios that you can carry in your purse of wallet

– Additional Bonuses (included for free)

– FREE Shipping to anywhere in the world

Their promise is that if you don’t like the first box, you can return it and they will refund the whole amount to you.

The Online Subscription

The Online Subscription

– Unlimited access to the library of books

– 500 hours of videos and audio lessons

– Downloadable workbooks and other study materials for accelerated learning

– Limited Time Bonuses: Exclusive Mastermind to network and collaborate with mentors, authors, thinkers and other like-minded members

– Bonus: Persuasion, marketing and sales academy. Taught by a team of 9 world class experts, authors and scientists

What you choose will be individual to your needs. I still love having hard copies of books but some people like the convenience of having it all online.

Facebook Community

This is the mastermind group where members share what they have learnt. I am a member of a few groups from some of the different courses I have bought.

Some of them are worth their weight in gold as you get to connect with like-minded people and if the leader of the group is active you will start to get build connections with people more experienced than you.

How It Works Online

Mentorbox online is a bit like Netflix but with books. Everything you get will be available once you get your login and password.

When your’e inside Mentorbox you will be able to see all the books that they have covered and you simply navigate to a book you want to study, click on it and start learning from the author.

Once you have clicked in the book you want to study, you will see a video from the author of the book. They will walk you through the book cover to cover, teaching you all the main concepts in a quick and effective way.

The video has a kinesthetic learning aid which helps you memorise the main concepts and put it into action.

Summary Of What You Get Online

1) Video Workshops – Videos from the author giving you the key lessons from their own book.

2) Audiobook Lessons & Nuggets – These are really powerful audio lessons that have been created in collaboration with the author to give you motivation, ideas and creative ways of thinking based on the book.

3) Cheat Sheet & Memorisation Booklet – This will help you read the entire book in about ten minutes or less using their proprietary one-page cheat sheets. Then you can dive deeper with the memorisation booklet.

4) Member Discussions – Social learning is very powerful. I am a member of many groups it has helped me make new friends and connect with people who are working on similar things; they can support your learning and vice versa.

Do They Offer A Money Back Guarantee?

They offer a 30 day money back guarantee.

The Authors Love This Concept

Here are some comments from some of the authors who have been involved with Mentorbox.

Prof. Robert B. Cialdini - Pre-suasion

“Some people learn best by reading, some people learn best by seeing videos, other people audio. Mentorbox is going to provide all of those things so everybody will get a chance to optimize their learning capacities and turn these insights into actionable steps to take. The multiple dimensions of learning, the focus of implementation and operation of these insights really sets Mentorbox apart.”

Mark Manson - The Subtle Art of not giving a f*ck

(About Mentorbox) “I think it’s brilliant, I think it’s a brilliant idea. I wish I had this 10 years ago.”

Kim Scott - Radical Candor

“I’m really grateful to Mentorbox because you’re going to get a lot of different ways to think about Radical Candor and have lot of different ideas to put it into practice.”

Arianna Huffington - Thrive

“I’m really excited to be working with Mentorbox to bring the messages of Thrive to all of you and to do it in a way that includes a workbook that makes it interactive. This will really help you work with the ideas in the book and make them actionable in your own life.”

Amy Cuddy - Presence

“I wish that all books could work this way!”

Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle Is The Way

“To me it’s not enough to just read but you want to interact with the materials in as many ways as possible thats how it sort of enters into your DNA and can change your life. As an author I just love the idea that Mentorbox is taking the time to do it.”

Terri L. Sjodin - Scrappy

“Mentorbox is your partner as you’re moving forward in a variety of different scenarios whether it’s to get scrappy, to be engage in persuasion, to be engaged in health and fitness and truly they are your friend, they are your companion and most importantly they will get you thinking.”

Testimonials

They have tens of thousands of happy customers below are a few testimonials.

What We Thought Of Mentorbox

We started A Life With Intention to share our journey of development to help other people. Learning has been hugely important to us and any tools that help speed up that process are products that we would use.

It’s a smart concept as it helps you digest ideas and concepts from some of the leading thinkers at a much quicker pace than studying on your own.

Mentorbox is a great learning tool, which features powerful lessons and you get taught by the authors of the books for optimal learning. You also have access to exclusive videos courses, audio lessons, workbooks and cheatsheets.

The only thing that could be a downside is that they choose all the books and you have no say in that selection but we found their books to be of a very high standard.

This is a really flexible learning tool that you can use in a way that best suits you to speed up your progress and there is a 30-day money back guarantee.

Mentorbox does what it says on the…it is literally a box of mentors at your disposal 24-7.

Click The Link To Check Out Mentorbox

First Time On This Blog?

Hey! My name is Rachel Swan and I am part of the team at A Life With Intention. I thought it would be good to say a formal introduction to people who haven’t been to the site before.

I write most of our blogs as part of the mission of A Life With Intention which is to share our journey of growth to help other people on theirs. Our hope is that the content that we post here will be helpful to you and if there is anything you would like to see featured please drop me an email.