The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Fridays Number 69: What Would Happen if You Mastered Selective and Strategic Reading?

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Dear Reader,

I know, I know! Today is Thursday and you’re receiving Brain Food Fridays. Last week I mentioned that I’d be experimenting with new days and times to publish my newsletter. And that’s why you’re receiving it today. I want to find out if Friday is the best day. A business coach mentioned that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to send out a newsletter.

These days, like most people, I’m in a lot of Zoom meetings. And I seem to be suffering from Zoom fatigue. Anyway, what to do. Are you having a similar experience? On a different note, last week I presented to the International Mentoring Association. I also mentioned that participants asked many intelligent questions. There are other questions I get asked a lot, so I’m going to answer those questions here in an Ask Avil column.

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Ask Avil

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​I don’t achieve my reading goals because I can’t find the time, or I can’t focus. Do you have tips for me?
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The top three reasons people give me for why they don’t read more are lack of time and focus, and the inability to remember key information. Today, I’ll deal with lack of time and focus.

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Coincidentally, I was talking to a CEO months ago, and she mentioned that they started a book club, but had to abandon it because they couldn’t focus on the books because there was so much information in them. And the reason why most professionals don’t have the time to read books has to do with their definition of what it means to read a book. They’re thinking about spending hours reading a book from cover-to-cover.

My response to not having time to read or focus is the same. And it’s meant for nonfiction books. Most nonfiction books aren’t meaty enough for you to invest oodles of time to consume them. Think of a nonfiction book as a problem solving tool. You have a problem and you’re looking for the solutions in books. When you find the answers, you’re done with the books. You got what you needed, so you’ve read the book.

Think of the 80/20 Rule in the context of reading. You read twenty percent of a book to understand eighty percent of the text. The trick is to determine which twenty percent of the book to read. I’ve written several times in this newsletter about the importance of previewing a book first before you read it. And that’s what you’d do in this situation. I’m not going to repeat the information here. If you’re new to the list and need the instructions to preview a book, please hit reply to let me know.

What I’ll say though is that if you’re reading only the important sections of a book – that is, reading selectively and strategically – you’re unlikely to lose focus because you’re not spending a lot of time reading non-essential information.

What I want to focus on in my response, is the concept of reading syntopically. Syntopic reading is reading three to five books in relation to each other. You have an urgent workplace or business problem you must solve. When you have a problem, you need diversity in thought, therefore, it’s important to read three to five books to find solutions to your problem. You’ll spend twenty to thirty minutes on each book.

Once again, you’re reading the book selectively and not sequentially. Create a table, and the column heading should be each book you read selectively to find the answers. You could create a row for each question you need answers for. Once again, you’ll preview the book first to decide which sections need your attention. Drop the solutions to your problems in the table, so you can see how they stack up to each other.
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What I’m Reading
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Yesterday I finished reading From Cubicle to Cloud by Jennifer Brazer. Although Brazer is in the accounting business, there were lots of tips that I found very useful. She disrupted and reinvented client accounting services (CAS), creating an entirely new cloud-based business model. In the book, she mentions the subscription model she uses which many will find helpful. A few other things that standout are:

1. Layering yourself out of the business by peeling back layers and delegating.
2. Staying true to your vision. Don’t change your model for one client.
3. Having client onboarding.
4. Documenting and standardizing processes for quality assurance.
5. Hiring people in roles you’re weak in.
6. Making meaning for customers by creating value for them.
7. Finding ways to make your offer attractive.

The author also presents several lessons she’s learned along the way:

1. Master the follow-up.
2. Know when to make a major investment and do it.
3. Keep the faith, do the work, and miracles will happen.
4. Know the areas in your business that are barriers to growth.
5. Don’t let frustration get the best of you. Don’t give up.

Two Questions to Think About
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1. What do you need to let go of to move forward?
2. What can you offer that creates flexibility for your customers?

If you own a business, From Cubicle to Cloud: How to Start and Scale a Virtual Professional Service Business by Jennifer Brazer is worth the read.

I started The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life by Craig Ballantyne today. I’ll share my thoughts with you next week.
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Avil in the News
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I wasn’t sure where to add this information, so I decided to do it here. I’ve mentioned The One Problem Series that I’ve been doing and it’s slowly getting traction. 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.

Here are the Episodes that I’ve published on my blog so far.
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1. ​The One Problem: Deena Baikowitz, Business & Career Coach​
2. ​The One Problem: Kelli Wingo, The One Problem Interview: Kelli Wingo, KMW Catalyst​
3. ​The One Problem: Patricia Roberts,Chief Operating Officer of the Gift of College​
4. ​The One Problem: The One Problem: Patti Pokorchak, Small Biz Sales Coach​
5. ​The One Problem: Adrienne Harris, Managing Partner, Portage Sales​
6. ​The One Problem: Kristy Wallace, CEO Ellevate Network​
7. ​The One Problem: Margye Solomon Talks about Aging and Relevance​
8. ​The One Problem: Deb Boulanger, Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs​
9. ​The One Problem: Sharon Horne Ellstrom – Stop Being Like Others, Be YOU​
10. ​The One Problem: Liz Kitchell from SheMoolah Talks Money Conversations​
11. ​The One Problem: Avil Beckford, Author of Digest 30 Books in 30 Days​
12. ​The One Problem: Interview With Kelly Daring, Author of Is Love Enough​

New Products Alert
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I’ve created new programs, Business Knowledge Accelerator, Career Knowledge Accelerator, and I updated the Sales Knowledge Accelerator. Besides previewing a book before reading it, I also recommend that you read a good book summary to get the helicopter view of what the book is about. With so much information online, I was surprised that I couldn’t find summaries for some books on the list.

I often participate in the Knowledge Accelerator programs, so I make sure that I choose books I haven’t read. Now I have to read the books that I couldn’t find summaries for.

Why not participate in one of the Accelerator Programs. I’m also working on the Knowledge Accelerator for Women. It should be ready in a few weeks.

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Until Next Week,
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Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!

​theinvisiblementor.com

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