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Dear Reader,

I was watching a video that Steve Cunningham, founder of ReadItforMe created. And he referenced an email from Graham Weston, the former Founder, CEO & Chairman of Rackspace Hosting Inc. Weston was articulating how he reads books. The billionaire used a quote from the article to emphasize his point.

“If you’re reading for growth, read to get answers to specific questions.”
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This is what I’ve been saying for a while, but this stood out more for me. When I teach the Knowledge Accelerator programs, and some of the other leadership development programs, I ask participants to write down their one-sentence purpose for reading the book, as well as to formulate the questions they want the book to answer. And when they get the answers from the book, they should stop reading and start applying the information. This is what Graham Weston does, and others like him.

[Read: If You’re Reading For Growth, Look For Answers to Specific Questions, 8 Things I Learned Reading 50 Books A Year For 7 Years]

One book won’t necessarily give you all your answers. That’s why it’s important to read more than one book on the topic. You’ll have more of your questions answered, but you’ll also get diverse perspectives.

For people who don’t have the time to read several books on a topic, I’ve created a membership site, The Art of Learning. The price is heavily discounted as I build out the content. I create Bookish Notes for a series of books on a specific topic, then I group them together into a course. When you work your way through each course, you’ll have a good understanding of the topic. And if you want to go deeper, you’ll have a strong foundation on which you can build.

Two Programs to Help You With Personal Growth​
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​Business Knowledge Accelerator: Read Like a Leader, Digest More Books​

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​Art of Learning Membership Site​
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Ask Avil

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Read for Personal Growth​
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In How to Read a Book, the authors state there are three reasons to read a book.

1. Entertainment
2. Information
3. Further your knowledge on a topic

If you’re reading for personal growth, chances are your goal is to further your knowledge. Your purpose for reading dictates the way you read a book. In the Introduction to this newsletter, I talked about Graham Weston and the quote he extracted from an article that he was reading at the time. When you’re reading for growth, it’s unnecessary to read a nonfiction book from cover to cover. There are very few books you’d classify as great. And many books are filled with nonessential information.

To read for growth, figure out the areas you want to be stronger in. Alternatively, you could focus on goals you’re trying to achieve. Choose 10 of the best books on the topic. Be specific about what you want to know, and formulate questions that you want the books to answer. Preview the 10 books to determine which ones have the answers that you seek. Read book summaries for the 10 books. Based on your preview of the books and the information you gleaned from the summaries, whittle down the number of books to five. And read the appropriate sections in each of the five books.

Next week we’ll talk about syntopical reading, which is reading multiple books on a topic at the same time.

What I’m Reading
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I’m reading Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall. The ability to tell a good story will improve your articles, blog posts, and presentation. And if you own a business, storytelling is an effective marketing strategy. Since it’s the summertime, I’m reading lots of fiction and enjoying the opportunity to escape to another world. I just started reading Stories That Stick, so there isn’t much I can tell you right now.

Later in August, I’ll write a brief summary of the better nonfiction books I read, so you can decide if any are worth reading. Because a book is important to me, may not be that case for you since our reading objectives may be very different.

Summer Reading List
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1. Future Mapping (read)
2. Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
3. The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
4. Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
5. Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business by Amos Schwartzfarb
6. Behind the Red Door: How Elizabeth Arden’s Legacy Inspired My Coming-of-Age Story in the Beauty Industry by Louise Claire Johnson
7. Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great by Carmine Gallo
8. I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream by JT McCormick
9. One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke
10. 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

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The One Problem

The One Problem series I’ve been doing is slowly getting traction. In fact, I did an interview just a few hours ago. 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.

Here are the Episodes that I’ve published on my blog so far. Listen to a few of them and let me know what you think.

I can’t believe that I’ve published 24 podcast episodes already. This tells me it’s so important to take the first step. To achieve any goal, you have to act.

1. ​The One Problem: Janet Zaretsky, BS Brilliance Master​
2. ​The One Problem: Julie Foucht, Art of Feminine Marketing​
3. ​The One Problem: Evelyn Jerome Alexander, Magellan College Counseling​
4. ​The One Problem Interview with Rosalin Krieger, The Unstucker​
5. ​The One Problem Interview: Tetyana Dudnyk, Director, Technology Project Management Office​
6. ​The One Problem Interview: Maura Lustig, Transformational Coach​
7. ​The One Problem: Vicki Saunders, Founder SheEO​
8. ​Episode 17 The One Problem: Tara Hunt, Founder Truly Inc​
9. ​The One Problem Interview: Melanie Russell Talks About Partnership Agreements​
10. ​The One Problem Interview: Anthea Rossouw, Founder of Dreamcatcher​
11. ​Germain St. Denis, Consultant, Change Leadership: The One Problem Interview​
12. ​The One Problem Interview: Sandra Lisi, Leadership Coach​
13. ​The One Problem: Deena Baikowitz, Business & Career Coach​
14. ​The One Problem: Kelli Wingo, The One Problem Interview: Kelli Wingo, KMW Catalyst​
15. ​The One Problem: Patricia Roberts,Chief Operating Officer of the Gift of College​
16. ​The One Problem: The One Problem: Patti Pokorchak, Small Biz Sales Coach​
17. ​The One Problem: Adrienne Harris, Managing Partner, Portage Sales​
18. ​The One Problem: Kristy Wallace, CEO Ellevate Network​
19. ​The One Problem: Margye Solomon Talks about Aging and Relevance​
20. ​The One Problem: Deb Boulanger, Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs​
21. ​The One Problem: Sharon Horne Ellstrom – Stop Being Like Others, Be YOU​
22. ​The One Problem: Liz Kitchell from SheMoolah Talks Money Conversations​
23. ​The One Problem: Avil Beckford, Author of Digest 30 Books in 30 Days​
24. ​The One Problem: Interview With Kelly Daring, Author of Is Love Enough​

Blog Posts to Read

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​Developing Personally: Should You Subscribe to Book Summaries?​

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​Sell It Like Serhant by Ryan Serhant, Summary​

​Wake Up and Live By Dorothea Brande, Book Review​

Product Alert
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​7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge

This is an affordable program to get started on leadership reading. Leaders read to learn what they need to know. You’ll also learn how to synthesize information.
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7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge

Until Next Week,

Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!

​theinvisiblementor.com

​LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook​

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