JOINING THE BANDWAGON
I really enjoyed reading this book and I am so glad I decided to follow what most people were reading during quarantine. This book was on top of the charts for non-fiction books during the middle of the lockdown. I was still reading a different book but I really wanted to start reading Limitless. I decided I would just read both books. And it's probably the best way to read Limitless, reading it with another book.
I am going to share my two best takeaways from the book, namely, reading faster and memorizing better. I think those two skills are very relevant if you want to continuously learn and improve yourself.
THE BOY WITH THE BROKEN BRAIN
I first encountered Jim Kwik in one of the ads that were playing on my Instagram feed. He was talking about his Masterclass on learning and memory. It was interesting but I was not really looking to enroll in any Masterclass soon.
I knew more about him after reading Limitless. He was once viewed as "The Boy With The Broken Brain" after suffering from a head injury when he was a young boy, resulting in him developing a learning disability.
He had a hard time in school because of his disability. But that did not stop him from improving himself and achieving his dreams. His learning disability was to be his main life challenge which he amazingly conquered. He is now advocating and working hard towards helping people 'learn how to learn'.
BEING LIMITLESS
Before I go down to my takeaways, allow me to explain what being "Limitless" means. According to Jim, we have inaccurate and restrictive perceptions of our potentials which are our limits. And that it takes embracing the reality that with the right mindset, motivation, and methods, we can remove those limits.
The image above is The Limitless Model showing the areas of our lives that we can work on in which the intersection of the three is where we can become limitless. The book is also laid out according to these areas. I will not be going into the details of these areas but I will focus on the Methods part of the book particularly on Memory and Speed Reading.
SPEED READING
I will first share about Speed Reading because surprisingly, I was able to pick up the skill after just doing one exercise from the book. My reading speed immediately went from 200 WPM to 500 WPM. Now, I think I'm at 520 WPM and practicing to go higher.
I've heard people who can read so many books in such a short time and now I realize that they can do that because of their incredible reading speeds. The book mentions Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, and Oprah Winfrey as voracious readers and I could just imagine how high their reading speeds must be. The book also highlights the importance of reading in staying ahead because it facilitates learning and exercises our brain. Great leaders are, supposedly, great readers.
Speed reading is unexpectedly simple. But just like any skill that has to be learned, you need to have the right reason for learning it. The book makes you think of the extra hours you can spend on other things if you can finish a book faster or to think of the other books that you've been wanting to read and knowing that it will now take you a shorter time to finish reading them.
Speed reading, as to how I view it, comes down to three things: (1) visual pacing, (2) removing subvocalization, and (3) increasing peripheral vision.
VISUAL PACING
To read faster, your eyes need to move through the words as fast as possible. The book recommends using a visual pacer such as a pen when reading a book. You use the pen to move through the words and have your eyes follow it just like how you were taught to read when you were young. The difference now is to move the pen as fast as possible while keeping comprehension.
Another important point to visual pacing is to avoid "regression" or going back to previous lines. We often do this to make sure we understand what we are reading but it will only make you slow down your reading speed. Keep on reading and understand the words as they go.
One of the advantages of being a speed reader is having the flexibility to fly through a text that doesn't need to be read very critically or to choose to slow down and pick the details of an important or technical text.
REMOVING SUBVOCALIZATION
One of the limits to increase visual pacing and reading speed is subvocalization. It is when you hear inside your head the words you're reading, usually in your own voice. Our talking speed is much slower than our actual reading and comprehension speed. This is why subvocalization slows us down. You don't need to say the words to understand them. You just need to associate the word with its meaning. When someone asks you to think of a rainbow, you only imagine the colors and not how the word is spoken.
This part is quite difficult to remove and it takes some practice. The book recommends to avoid reading very common words such as "the," "is," "to," etc. You don't need to say those words in your head to understand what you're reading.
The book has a technique to stop your mind from subvocalization but I found it extremely difficult. Instead, I discovered my own technique that helps me remove subvocalization. It's simple. You just have to consciously take deep breaths while reading. I sometimes even hold my breath and just breeze through the words.
INCREASING PERIPHERAL VISION
Once you get the hang of increasing your visual pace and removing subvocalization, the next limit is how to focus your eyes on the words and comprehending them. It can be strenuous to the eyes to just keep on moving word for word and sometimes, it can make you just look at the words as fast as you can without reading them.
In order to break this limit, you need to increase your peripheral vision. That means reading words as a group. If you're familiar with the language you're reading in, you already know the rules to it and that means you can expect the words that may come after other words. You don't need to read each word at a time. Again, you only need to associate the meaning of the set of words and not say those words in your head to understand them.
SPEED READING EXERCISE
Let's have a go at it. First, you need to measure your current reading speed. Look for a physical book that is fairly easy to read. You will also need a timer. Set the timer to 3 minutes and start it as you read the first word. Continue reading at your regular pace and normal reading style. You can subvocalize. Stop reading when the alarm goes off. Take note of where you stopped. Go back to where you started and count the words of the first three lines. Then, divide the number by 3. That is the number of words per line. Next, count the number of lines from where you started to where you stopped. Don't include incomplete lines. Multiply the number of words per line with the number of lines you counted. Lastly, divide the number by 3 (since you read for 3 minutes). You will get your current reading speed in words per minute or WPM. The normal reading speed is 200-250 WPM.
Get a pen for your visual pacer and set the timer to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. You will be reading the same part of the book as the first exercise with the goal of finishing it at 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Start the timer once you read the first word. Use the pen to pace your reading. Try to avoid subvocalization. Stop at where you ended in the first exercise. If the timer goes off before you reach the end, start the timer again and go back to the beginning. Proceed to the next exercise if you finish reading before or at the same when alarm goes off.
Next, set the timer for 2 minutes and do the exercise until you finish reading before the timer goes off. Avoid subvocalization and don't worry about comprehension.
Then, set the timer for 1 minute and do the same exercise. Avoid subvocalization and don't worry about comprehension.
Lastly, set the timer for 45 seconds and do the same exercise. Avoid subvocalization and don't worry about comprehension.
Take a deep breath and sit up straight. Set the timer again to 3 minutes. You will be reading from where you ended in the previous exercises. Put down your pen or your visual pacer. You will not be using it. Start the timer as you read the first word. Read as fast and as comfortable as you can. Stop reading when the alarm goes off. Calculate your new reading speed using the same method detailed at the start of the reading exercises.
IMMEDIATE RESULTS
If you were able to do the exercises, then most probably your reading speed has increased dramatically. Mine increased more than two-fold! I was quite amazed. I wanted to just keep on reading and checking my actual reading speed. I mentioned that I was reading another book while reading Limitless and I was able to practice speed reading a lot with that other book.
I set a goal for myself to read one book every two months after failing to do my last year's goal of reading one book per month. After learning and practicing speed reading, I was able to finish three books in a month which included Limitless and Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia.
Now, I am working towards trying to increase my reading speed. The book mentions a woman learning speed reading from one of Jim Kwik's classes where she was able to get her reading speed to over 800 WPM. I find that it's difficult to practice speed reading when you're reading from an e-book. It's good to use an actual and physical book to practice your speed reading.
I think once you've picked up speed reading, you wouldn't want to go back to being a normal reader again. Imagine how much time you will be able to save and how many more books you can read if you were only able to read faster.
MEMORY: PART TWO
I don't want this post to be too long so I will be saving my second best takeaway from the book for Part 2 of this post. Be sure to check it out.
And that's it for now! I hope I was able to share clearly what I learned about speed reading from Limitless. The book has so much more to offer. I highly recommend you read it if you want to level up your brain.
I know it's been a while since I posted. I've just been very occupied with writing my research proposal for my master's degree and doing my sideline work. I powered up on the first of November but unfortunately, I wasn't able to write about it. Hopefully, by December, I'll be able to power up again and join the Power Up Day constest/s.
I still have a lot of content lined up for Hive. So be sure to check them out in the future. Cheers!
