Limitless - Jim Kwik Page 0,89

idea of reading a 300-page book akin to walking from New York to Georgia. People tend to read slowly for a few reasons. One is that they stopped learning to read relatively early—maybe second or third grade—and their reading level (and, more importantly, their reading technique) never increased much beyond this, even as they continued to learn in spite of this constraint. The other is that they don’t allow themselves to focus when they’re reading. They’re listening for the kids, half-watching television, checking e-mail every few minutes, and so on. They therefore find themselves reading the same paragraph over and over again, because they’re not focused enough to comprehend what they’re reading.

There are a couple of primary reasons why people read slowly. Your reading efficiency is made up of two main parts: Your reading rate (speed) and reading comprehension (understanding). Before we look at various ways to increase your reading efficiency, we first need to look at three of the barriers and obstacles that prevent us from reading more quickly.

1. Regression

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever read a line in a book and found yourself rereading that same line again? Or do you ever find yourself “wander reading” (going back mindlessly and rereading words)? Regression is a term used to describe the tendency that your eyes have to go back and reread certain words. Almost everyone does it to some degree, and most of the time it is done subconsciously. By doing so, people believe they will increase their comprehension, but usually they hamper it. By regressing, or back-skipping, it is very easy to lose the meaning and essence of your reading. Regression seriously disrupts the reading process as well as slows down reading speed.

2. Outdated Skills

Reading is not so much a measure of intelligence as it is a skill and with any skill, it can be learned and improved. When was the last time you took a class called reading? For most, it was back in the 4th or 5th grade. And if you’re like most people, your reading skill is probably still the same as it was back then. Here’s the challenge: Has the amount and difficulty of what you’re reading changed since? The complexity of material has likely increased dramatically, yet our reading skill has remained the same.

3. Subvocalization

Subvocalization is a fancy word for your inner voice. Do you notice a voice inside that is saying the words as you read this? Hopefully, it’s your own voice. Subvocalization limits your reading speed to only a couple hundred words per minute. That means your reading speed is limited to your talking speed, not your thinking speed. In reality, your mind can read a lot faster.

Where did subvocalization come from? It occurred, for most people, when you were first learning to read. Then it was necessary for you to read out loud so that your teacher knew you were doing it correctly. Do you remember when you would have to get into a circle with the other children and you each took turns reading aloud? For a lot of us, this was a very stressful event. There was a lot of pressure on you to say the word properly. How you pronounced the word was very important. It was then that your brain made the association: If I want to understand a word when I am reading, I must be able to correctly say it.

Later on, you were told to no longer read aloud, but rather silently, to yourself. This is when you internalized that “reading voice,” and most of us have been doing it ever since. In essence, you believe if you don’t hear the words, then you won’t understand the words. This is not the case.

Here’s an example: We know that President John F. Kennedy was a very fast reader, reading somewhere between 500 and 1200 words per minute. He brought speed-reading instructors to train his staff. He also gave speeches at approximately 250 words per minute. Clearly, when he was reading, there were a lot of words he wasn’t saying in his mind. It is not necessary to say the words in order to understand them.

Take a moment and think about a specific car, yours or someone else’s. What does it look like? What color is it? Do this now.

What was it that you thought about? You might have said, “It is blue, has four tires, and brown leather seats.” Question: Did the words blue, tires, or leather appear in your mind, or