I always get excited by the thought-provoking ideas backed by research, literature, anecdotes, and common sense in the self-development books I read. Sadly, I forget most of them after a few days. The same is true for the next book, and the cycle repeats.
Does this sound familiar?
There is a critical step missing in this process: integration. Practising the things you learned from the book while reading it has many benefits.
The act of practising enforces the messages from the book. It deepens your understanding through your first-hand experience while the memory is still fresh. Many books are organised in a linear structure, meaning the later chapters build on the previous ones. If you don’t understand the early chapters deeply, you likely find the later chapters less interesting.
Practising while reading works especially well with books heavily on theories. I’ve learned the Zettelkasten note-taking method this way from reading How to Take Smart Note. By the time I reached the last chapter, “Make It a Habit”, I’d written 28 Zettles and had made it a habit of taking Zettelkasten notes.