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The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 89: How to Formulate Questions to Get More from Books
Dear Reader,
Before I read a nonfiction book, I write down my one-sentence purpose and formulate the questions I’d like the book to answer. As I was on my walk, it occurred to me that I often rush when I’m writing out the questions, and therefore, don’t come up with great questions. This is not good because I’m an expert interviewer, so I know how to ask great questions. I have over 20 years of interviewing experience.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this here, but I’ve struggled to learn the PhotoReading Whole Mind System. I’ve taken the audio course five times and, for some reason, my mind is resisting the process outlined in the book. An important aspect of the system is to formulate the questions you want a book to answer. I’ve previewed Behind the Red Door in preparation for reading it.
As I was walking and thinking about Behind the Red Door, I asked myself, “What kinds of questions would entrepreneurs be interested in getting answers to?” I’ve now shifted the focus from myself, to what readers would be interested in. Questions such as the following popped into my head.
- What steps did Elizabeth Arden take to achieve professional success?
- What barriers did she encounter, and did she respond to them?
- What are some key lessons entrepreneurs could learn from Arden?
- Are there lessons of what not to do that you can learn from her?
- What’s the significance of the red door?
When I treated the questions with thoughtfulness, I formulated better questions. These questions will help me to understand the book. Now that I’ve had the epiphany, I’ll preview the book again, to determine if I have to formulate additional questions. When you’re flipping through the books to see the images, you should also be looking for keywords. These keywords will help you with formulating additional questions as well.
On a different note, it’s not too late to participate in the Rainbow Reading Challenge. You’ll be reading seven books in September and each of the books will have a cover that’s one of the colors of the rainbow.
Will you participate in the Rainbow Reading Challenge? Join my Facebook group Reading Rocks: Read a Book, Discover Solutions, Change the World.
[Please Read: Introducing the Rainbow Book Cover Nonfiction Reading Challenge]
Two Programs to Help You With Personal Growth
Business Knowledge Accelerator: Read Like a Leader, Digest More Books
Art of Learning Membership Site
I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far building out the content on the membership site. Why don’t you join? It’s a great way for you to get a pool of ideas for your business.
Ask Avil
How to Formulate Questions to Get More from Books
Most of the time, when professionals read nonfiction books, they either have a problem to solve, or questions they need answered. You know the problem you’re facing. And you also know the questions that you want the book to answer. But what about what you don’t know? It’s often been said that you don’t know what you don’t know. How do you formulate those types of important questions?
You’ll be able to formulate these types of questions after you’ve previewed the book. The best place to start is by reading a summary of the book you plan to read. Behind the Red Door is a new book, so I couldn’t find a good book summary. This means I have to read the following sections. And I’ll also flip through the book to look at images and keywords.
- Preface
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Table of Contents
- Index
- Front and back sections of the book if it has a jacket.
You can also read the book description. However, I must caution you because copywriters write book descriptions, so their goal is to sell books. There have been several incidents where the book descriptions didn’t reflect the content of the books I wanted to read. And I found that very frustrating.
After you’ve previewed the book, you’ll be able to craft additional questions that you want the book to answer.
Reading List
I’m working on creating content for my membership site. So, until September 18th, I want to add an unusual amount of content to the site. This means I’ll be going at a slower pace where reading books is concerned. I’m hosting and participating in the Rainbow Reading Challenge. This means we’re reading books that have a cover the color of the rainbow. You read seven books during September, a book every three days, so you have time to connect the ideas from the various books.
I read The Power of Why, my violet book. And I’m now reading Behind the Red Door, my red book. From the list of books below, I’ll be reading books that have a cover that’s one of the colors of the rainbow first.
Reading List
- Future Mapping (read)
- Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
- The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
- Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
- Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business by Amos Schwartzfarb
- Behind the Red Door: How Elizabeth Arden’s Legacy Inspired My Coming-of-Age Story in the Beauty Industry by Louise Claire Johnson
- Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great by Carmine Gallo
- I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream by JT McCormick
- One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke
- Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager Revised Edition: Gain the Mindset and Skillset for Getting What You Need to Succeed by Ken Blanchard and Susan Fowler (read)
The Invisible Mentor Blog
Blog Posts
One of the benefits of building out the content for my membership site, is that I’ll also have fresh content to publish on my blog. This will enable me to create a three-month content calendar, so I’ll no longer feel pressured to write fresh posts.
I’ll also have to schedule a couple of days to do The One Problem interviews so I can schedule those as well.
The One Problem
The One Problem podcast series I’ve been doing is slowly getting traction. In fact, I’m interviewing someone today. I’m finding interesting people to interview. People are sharing the interviews on social media and some of them are now reaching out to me to interview them. I think that’s news worth sharing. The videos are short, so they’re easy enough to listen to. If you have any suggestions on how to promote the podcast without using ads, please let me know. At this time, I’m not interested in paying to promote the podcast.
I can’t believe that I’ve published 28 podcast episodes already. To achieve any goal, you have to act. Please help me spread the word. Please forward this newsletter to two of your contacts. Or you can share a couple of the podcasts with your contacts.
- The One Problem Interview with Roberta Liebenberg, Senior Law Partner
- The One Problem Interview: Angela Payne, Founder Leed HR
- The One Problem Interview: Rose-marie Fernandez, Founder Coaching Worx
- The One Problem Interview: Reverend, Dr Cheri DiNovo
- The One Problem Interview: Hillary Sobel, Lawyer
- The One Problem: Janet Zaretsky, BS Brilliance Master
- The One Problem: Julie Foucht, Art of Feminine Marketing
- The One Problem: Evelyn Jerome Alexander, Magellan College Counseling
- The One Problem Interview with Rosalin Krieger, The Unstucker
- The One Problem Interview: Tetyana Dudnyk, Director, Technology Project Management Office
- The One Problem Interview: Maura Lustig, Transformational Coach
- The One Problem: Vicki Saunders, Founder SheEO
- Episode 17 The One Problem: Tara Hunt, Founder Truly Inc
- The One Problem Interview: Melanie Russell Talks About Partnership Agreements
- The One Problem Interview: Anthea Rossouw, Founder of Dreamcatcher
- Germain St. Denis, Consultant, Change Leadership: The One Problem Interview
- The One Problem Interview: Sandra Lisi, Leadership Coach
- The One Problem: Deena Baikowitz, Business & Career Coach
- The One Problem: Kelli Wingo, The One Problem Interview: Kelli Wingo, KMW Catalyst
- The One Problem: Patricia Roberts,Chief Operating Officer of the Gift of College
- The One Problem: The One Problem: Patti Pokorchak, Small Biz Sales Coach
- The One Problem: Adrienne Harris, Managing Partner, Portage Sales
- The One Problem: Kristy Wallace, CEO Ellevate Network
- The One Problem: Margye Solomon Talks about Aging and Relevance
- The One Problem: Deb Boulanger, Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs
- The One Problem: Sharon Horne Ellstrom – Stop Being Like Others, Be YOU
- The One Problem: Liz Kitchell from SheMoolah Talks Money Conversations
- The One Problem: Avil Beckford, Author of Digest 30 Books in 30 Days
- The One Problem: Interview With Kelly Daring, Author of Is Love Enough
Product Alert
7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge
This is an affordable program. It will get you started on leadership reading. Leaders read to learn what they need to know. You’ll also learn how to synthesize information.
Art of Learning Membership Site
Until Next Week,
Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!