Accelerated Learning Techniques

Brian Tracy

Self Help

Summary

Methods to learn faster, read faster, and write faster.

Chapter 1

The Learning Revolution Chapter 1
• Book Recommendation: Accelerated Learning by Collin Rose
• You learn best in a low stress environment you can make best your own personal learning style
• We are in the information age, we went from muscle power to mind power
• A factory can become obsolete over night by a change of technology, however your mind just changes
• “The greatest wealth creation exists between your ears”
• Greatest asset is learning ability
• In the 50s, the old paradigm common thought that each person had:
• The Learning years – school and education
• The earning years – the time you worked
• The yearning years – the time to relax and retirement
• People today will have 5 full careers, 14 full time jobs
• All knowledge for current jobs are becoming obsolete at 40% per year
• A new graduate from a high tech University is more qualified to do the job of a engineer of 30 years because jobs continue to change at a rapid pace
• Continue to learn after school, for purposes of higher salary and competitive edge
• “today, nobody can expect full time employment, however they can become forever employable”
• Think of yourself as self-employed, you sell your service to your current employer
• You are in charge of marketing, finance, training, r and d, maintenance of your own service
• You are paid for the value of your own services
• The 7 buzz words for change in large companies (The Big R’s)
• Reorganization – to move people around so they produce more
• Restructuring – discontinue things customers aren’t willing to pay for, moving greater resources to places to get greater value that customers are willing to pay for
• Reengineering – downsizing, eliminating not useful or inefficient inputs to get more outputs
• Reinventing – looking to see what to do if they had to start over today, looking into the future to see what they have to do to be successful in the future
• Revaluation – checking if this is the real business they want to be in
• Refocusing – concentrating their time, activities, and resources so they can do what they are excellent at
• Regain control – being proactive about their direction
• The Big R’s should be used in your own company
• Look at the R’s every 6 months and they should change
• Fears of insecurity are at an all time high because of the change in the world
• The reason people are afraid is because they are worst off, that is why most people try to fight off change, they feel that they will become unsecure
• Gap analysis – Where you are now and where you want to be, figure out how to fill the gap
• “What is holding me back to reaching my goal?”
• Experience of personal growth is one of the greatest motivators – Harvard University
• When people stop learning they begin to stagnate, gain more fear, be more stressed, and tend to be more worried
1. You can learn anything you need to be what you want to be
2. Learning how to learn is the smartest thing to learn, it is the key ability to make everything else possible in your life
3. Everybody can learn better, faster, and easier if they figure out how they learn and how their brain works
4. Your intelligence is not fixed, it is a muscle, you have to exercise it
5. To earn more, you need to learn more, there is no limit to how much you can learn therefore there is no limit how much you can earn
6. You can achieve any goal, solve any problem by acquiring any skill that is required for that situation
 

Chapter 2

You Are a Genius Chapter 2
• The average person gets by with 2% of their mental potential – Stanford Brain Institute
• The brain is a super computer without a manual
• You actually have 3 brains
The reptilian brain:
primitive brain
sense of territory
your breathing and natural instancing
Your middle brain:
it is also called your mammalian brain because it is found in all mammals
controls your long term memory
Your new brain:
Your neo- cortex
1 Billion brain cells
This part creates thoughts
The cells create connections, the connections are memories (e.g. How to ride a bike)
• The more you use your brain the more easier it becomes to learn
• Essentially you are an architect of your own brain
• Your brain capability does not actually decline as you get old, it seems that way because the connections weaken
Left Brain (Linear Thinking): logical, numbers, speech
Right Brain (Global Thinker): intuition, creative, melody, emotions
• When you learn a song both sides of your brain work, the left listens to words while your right brain listens to melody
• Public education is very linear thinkers, global thinkers tend to get lower grades because the system isn’t built to keep them interested
• Information that you hear first goes into the middle brain where it acts like a switch board
• Right brain people tend to learn off emotions that is why the most memorable teachers are enthusiastic
• People who have had bad learning experience feel threatened when they “have” to learn because of past experience, this will only make learning hard because the brain is in a state that is tense
• You have to get into a calm positive mood before trying to learn
• Most things you’ve learned was not by trying through playing, conversation, enjoyable reading, questioning – basically having fun
• Most of the important things you’ve learned was through informal learning
• You are already a great thinker – you have learned to walk, talk, sing, dance, math, language
• Formal learning is unnatural that is why learning how to learn is important, it is essential to learn anything complex at a rapid pace
• Preschoolers learn the fastest, they play, are stress free, relaxed, and with a lot of love and fun
• As students grow up they are put in classes, rows, lines and structures – most people do not react well to the change, they get bored
• Formal Learning is difficult because:
• It is an unnatural method of learning
• Step by step academic style is boring and can’t hold attention
• Most of it requires you to work in large groups without much individual attention or socializing
• The law of belief says that you are what you belief, most people belief that they are bad learners
• People must think they are geniuses, they must be positive, optimistic
• The amount of your potential that you use is based on yourself concept
• Based on 50 years of research – there is a strong correlation between intelligence and success (Bell Curve)
• In the age of muscle power the stronger people were richer, in the age of mind power the richer people are the people with the highest intelligence
You have 7 Intelligences
Linguistic Intelligence: language
Mathematical Intelligence: numbers (accountants, engineers)
Visual Intelligence: imagine how things will look (fashion designers, artists)
Musical Intelligence: the ability to understand sounds and rhythms
Psychical Intelligence: athletic ability (Athletes)
Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to get along with others (sales people, managers, entertainers, politicians)
1. Highest paid type
7. Inner control Intelligence: ability to understand yourself, your goals, your skills

Chapter 3

6 Steps to Speed Learning Chapter 3
• Practice what you learn from the course, over and over and over
• You need a success system to succeed in any field, you can’t wing it
• Any success system is better than no system
1. Your state of mind – you need to be in a resourceful state of mind, relaxed, confident, and see the point of why your learning what your learning
• Ask, “what’s in it for me”
• What are the advantages to you to learn faster
• How will learning benefit you
• Learning helps in every job and career
• Knowledge and skills become obsolete but learning never changes
• Good learners earn more money, they are more flexible and productive
• Learning how to learn effectively is a skill you can pass to children, family, and friends
• Training and on-going training is a fact of life
• Relax and visualize a successful outcome to the learning experience
• When you’re tense you learn slower.
o Breath in and out of your belly rather than chest
o Relax jaw
o Close eyes
o Relax your neck
• Fully visualize yourself with your new ability
2. Intake of new information
• Information should be memorable and interesting
• People use different senses to learn
• Some people learn visually by reading and writing (Visual)
• Some people learn by auditing through listening (Auditory)
• Some people learn by doing (Kinaesthetically)
• Writing uses all three types
• When you want to learn, write down what you know, what you want to learn, and brief note about the topic
• By writing what you know and what you want to know fills gaps and brings up questions
• Paraphrasing is a very powerful way of learning something new
• Ask “What is the author trying to tell me”
• Visual learner
• draw a diagram about what your learning
• Stop and visualize what you just learned, think about it as you go, review it in your head
• If your reading, highlight the main points
• Auditory learner
• Read important sections out loud (This will double your learning effectiveness because you not only see it, you hear it)
• Try teaching somebody else about it
• Kinaesthetically learner
• Make notes and then make the cards work in a sequence that works for you
• Break large things into small steps
• By learning bit by bit it will be easier and faster
• For text books, write a check mark on pages you understand
• Read the titles and summaries first
Activities
• Each evening read 1 essay, 1 poem, 1 short story
• Underline the words you don’t know, define them
• Write your thoughts on the margins
After 1 year you will have read over 1000 pieces of literature and that is by far more than a literature major at the best Universities
• 7 ways to learn a new subject
• Put it in your own words
• Create a learning map about it
• Discuss the new subject to somebody else, their questions and insights help you learn
• List out the main points in the most logical and important points
• Explore the subject in a way that is psychical
• Decides how the subject fits into the knowledge you already know, relate
• Write a song, jingle, or rap – it will help you remember
• Memorize the key facts
• You remember 20% of what you read
• You remember 30% of what you hear
• You remember 40% of what you see
• You remember 50% of what you say
• You remember 60% of what you do
• You remember 90% what you do, see, read, hear
• Rewrite notes several times
• Review your notes after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month – this will improve your learning on the subject by 400%
• Take breaks often
• Your attention flags after 30 minutes
• We remember most from the beginning and the end
• Break your learning into 20-30 minute groups
• Review what you learned at the beginning and end
• Test yourself often
• Paraphrase as if you were teaching someone
• Practice your new knowledge often, the sooner you practice your knowledge the more likely you will remember it
• Repetition
• Reflecting
• Give yourself feed back
• Stop and ask your self
• How is your learning going?
• How can you improve it better?
• This helps you stop doing what doesn’t work, you want to find what works for you

Chapter 4

Preparing Your Mind to Learn Chapter 4
• Positive mental attitude is essential in life, this is the most important in learning
• Negative mental attitude will shut of essential parts of your brain especially interest
5 Basic Keys to Adult Learning
1. Desire
i. you need a reason, you need a purpose, and you need to see the benefit of the subject and knowledge
2. Motivation
i. “What’s in it for me?”
ii. The more reasons there are for you to learn something, the more motivated you’ll be
iii. e.g. If you earn $10 an hour and people who are bilingual in your job get $13, you will earn $6200 extra per year
3. Relevance
i. The more relevant it is to you the more interest you will have
ii. Figure our your critical success factors and the topic should be relevant to that
4. Anticipation
i. Developing the “I could hardly wait” attitude, like a child on Christmas
5. Positive expectations
i. You have to feel positive about the new knowledge you’ll learn
ii. Expect to have fun learning it
• The law of correspondence says that your outside world is a reflection of your inside world
• All attitudes are learned
• Learning experiences can be something we look forward to if we build that attitude
• Look forward to learning and ignore the negative thoughts
Peak Performance Technique
1. Remember a time where you did something great
2. Explore that time, from the inside, not the 3rd person view
3. Think of one world that sums up that event (e.g. Power!)
4. Sit up straight, shoulders back, deep breath, raise chin and close your eyes
5. Clinch your fist
6. Intensify that memory
7. Unclench your fist and open your eyes
Clear Learning Goals
• Conscious mind is activated by words, linear concepts
• Subconscious mind is activated by visual images, emotions
• Yourself concept is stored in your middle mind
• Create a vision of your future
• Goals help you learn if they are clear and if you really, really want them achieved
• Where do I want to be in 3-5 years?
• What kind of lifestyle?
• What car will I drive?
• What professional degree do I want to have?
• What kind of money do you want to earn?
• Find out what you want, who has it and ask them how they did it
• What skill would you have that would make a hugely positive difference in your life?
• Think about yourself in that person, visualize, verbalize as if you have got that already, in the present tense
• Write down the goals
• Only 3% of people have goals
• People with goals tend to earn 10x more than others
• Written goal uses all the Visual, Auditory, and Psychical learning styles
• Write affirmations that go with your goal, they keep you strong, they must be positive and in present tense
• Promising other motivate you (Telling people that you will accomplish something in a certain time)
Mind Calming
• You should calm yourself for 20-30 minutes
• Deep breathing, hold it in as long as you can with classical music in the back ground
• Classical music harmonizes your learning by creating melody
• Relax your body, wiggle around your hands, and bones (Get loosened up)
• Create rewards for completed work
• It helps motivate you
• E.g. Coffee break after learning 10 words

Chapter 5

Getting the Facts Chapter 5
• All new information gets into your mind through your 5 senses
• Unless you are a cook, chemist etc. Most people tend to mainly use eyes, ears, and touch
• Most people are visual learners
• 25% of people are auditory learners
• 40% of people are psychical learners
• Nobody is just one, the best method of learning is by all three
• Most teachers at school teach in one way which leaves out the other students
• Students loses interest because they are first thought to play and have fun to learn then they sit and have to be quiet
• By the age of 16, 1 in 5 students are still confident in the way they learn
• You have a separate memory for what you learn, hear, and do
• Start with an overview
• Realize why your learning it, what it is your learning, and how what your learning will improve your life
• Visualize how you will be with this knowledge
• Ask what you should learn by the end of this session, class, period etc.
• Read all the headings of the topics and the summaries
• Write out all the key points of the stuff you already know about the subject.
• What I already know about ____________________ is: (fill it out with as many points as possible)
• Split the material bit by bit because learning is a step by step process
• You don’t have to start with the beginning, start with what you’re interested in
• Write down questions you have about a topic, the more questions you have keeps you more alert, be curious
• Einstein was a poor student, he became interested in physics when he played with a magnet, his brain was examined after his death, he has more connections that regular, he just learned what he wanted to and was very interested in the topics
Mind Mapping
1. Start with a theme
2. Then go into sub-themes
3. Use different colours, highlighters
4. The use of pictures, stick figures activate your brain
5. Because it is visual, it tends to be more memorable
6. Use only key words, words that remind you of the whole ideas (usually nouns)
• Make check marks on segments you fully understand
• Learn one step at a time
• Use a high lighter pen so you can highlight the important bits
• Highlight only the “new” information
• Use different colours, stars, question marks – this helps you remember
• Read it out loud as if you were performing it, read it dramatically, it tells your brain that this is important
• Summarize the material out loud
• Sit quietly and visualize what you just learned
• Regular breaks are important, get the blood flowing
• Read while walking, listen while you walk
• Review before you go to bed
• Make post it notes, sort it in a way you find it simply, read the notes out loud, key cards work just as well
• Do not take notes, make them, in your own words
• Stop, go for a walk every now and then, let the new information soak in, you need a period of absorption
• Learning partners are very helpful, discuss the material

Chapter 6

Repetitive information – nothing worth writing

Chapter 7

Memorizing Material Chapter 7
• Memory development is a skill that has to be practiced throughout your life
5 Logical Steps of Learning
1. Unconscious and incompetent – unaware
2. Conscious and incompetent – aware of your own ignorance
3. Conscious and competent – aware and learning
4. Unconscious and competent – expert in topic (e.g. Reading)
5. Teaching – ability to teach people about the topic
• 70% of what you learned today will be forgot unless you practice remember it
• Short term memory is a transfer area, to put it into long term you have to drive them
• To memorize you have to repeat
• We have different memories for sounds, touch, taste, see. That is why you should read your notes out loud
• Memory is permanent, it is recall that we have a problem with
• Long term memory needs meaning, if you try to learn facts, they will be hard to recall if you don’t know what they mean
• When you have something to learn, see how it connects with something you already know
• Organizing into groups helps memory because it creates meanings
• Your are more likely to remember the first and last thing about a session
• Take frequent breaks because it creates more beginnings and ends
• You tend to remember things that are odd, funny, sexual, unusual
• Try to associate things with odd, funny, sexual, unusual things
• Most people think they can’t visualize, however visualizing is something everybody can do but not as good as they good
4 R’s of Memory
• Review
• Registration
• Retention
• Recall
• In order for you to recall, you need to have a strong registration
• Review takes place when you repeat something, actively exploring the meaning, seriously learning it, visualizing it
• 400% improvement in memory by reviewing properly
• Go for a break and come back
• The form of your review should vary, sometimes read out loud, sometimes review mind map (This doubles the memory power)
3 Psychological Tricks for Memorizing
• As you listen or read, feel as if you have to paraphrase the information to your boss
• Feel as if you have to teach a class about the topic, how would you structure your class
• Act as if you were going to write a book about a topic
• The weakest way to learn is to just read
• Reading out loud helps
• Reading out loud and visualizing helps more
• Paraphrasing helps bests
• Take frequent breaks, 20 – 30 minutes
• Create learning maps to create associations
• Allow time for the info to be absorbed
Ideal Learning Pattern
• Learn the material in various ways
• Review the material by you sleep
• Sleep
• Review the material when you wake up

Chapter 8

Sharpening Your Memory Chapter 8
• When trying to multitask your actually not doing either thing good
• When you try to memorize, you need concentration, focus
• Concentration is a habit, a habit held by successful people
• If you can concentrate on a watch for 2 minutes without distraction, you are very likely to be successful
• To remember names
• Positive affirmation “I will remember his or her name”
• Look closely for something different (e.g. Eye colours, hair style, colour, nose, etc.)
• Ask people to spell them
• Ask them for the origin of their name
• Tell them that you want to remember their name
• Look for a visual link to their name, exaggerate their face like a cartoonist name
• Repeat their name several times as soon as they say it (You need to say a word 6 times to remember)
• Practice
• Concentrate at face, associate it
• The main reason you don’t remember names is because you haven’t really tried
• To remember numbers
• 4285 = Grab My Invested Money
• Associate the numbers with words
• If you tend to forget something, stare at it for 10 seconds and just concentration
• To remember something you forgot, try to go back in that time in your head
Mental Fitness Program
1. Make a decision to remember – when you do this your subconscious mind switches on
2. Take regular breaks – keeps your recall levels higher where you have more beginnings and endings
3. Review in spare time – while you are doing something that does not require too much concentration, review in your head on key points of a topic
4. How to keep memories:
• Learn
• Review after an hour
• Review after a day
• Review after a week
• Review after one month
• Review it at 6 months
5. Trigger all three senses – draw, listen, talk, feel as much as you can
6. Make visual memories interact, try to keep old visual situation and connect the new idea
• Memories that move are easier to recall
• Imagine the information move
• People remember funny things
7. To remember spelling create a multi-sensory word
• Split into syllables (psy -col – o – gy)
• Spell it out loud
8. Use music to help you learn – it stimulates part of your brain so it is fully active, classical music
• Read to your notes as music plays
• Record your voice mixed with the music and listen over and over
9. Organize information
• Split into groups
• Key words that someway relate
10. Memory Flashing
• Take notes on map or key points
• Study for 3 minutes
• Rewrite off memory
• Compare new sets with original and learn what you missed
• Do it again until you fully get it
11. Flash Cards – use in spare to review
12. Flash Maps – larger versions of flash cards, put inside binder
13. Create acronyms
14. Let the information sink in
• Review before bed
• Review when you wake up
15. Number the points, ideas, etc.
16. Whole learning – when you have to memorize large speeches
• Don’t go bit by bit, go at it the whole time
• Reread over and over
• Concentrate on each word
17. Over learning
18. Compress a lot of information so they are easy to understand
=== Chapter 9 ===  
Power Reading and Power Writing Chapter 9
• Speed reading cannot be used for math, most business books with lots of new information, or magazines full of new information
• You can only hear 250 words per minute
• If you read with your eyes you can see over 400 words
• Speed reading ignores filler words
• Don’t read every word, read the idea the words are trying to convey
• 75% of the words are not useful
• Your eyes tend to skip back to reread words
Choose a book you want to read
1. Read each line 3 words from the beginning
2. Finish reading before the last 3rd word
3. Underline the words with your finger, let your eyes follow the speed of your fingers
4. You should end up reading each page for 3-5 seconds
• Activity prevents back skipping
• Breaks dependence on hearing words in your head and focuses your reading through your vision
• Get an overview of material
– check front and back material
– who is the author, what has he/she done, read heading, sub headings, glance at the index for key words, do not read books you do not want or need to read
• Preview each page
– 7 seconds per page
– 3 minutes per chapters
• Write down all the things you know about what you’re about to read
– 3 minutes per chapter
• Set up questions in your mind about the top, it will give you a reason to read
– read for a purpose
– “what are the main ideas in this book?”
• Read the text of each chapter one chapter at a time (8 Minutes per chapter)
– 15-30 seconds per page
– make short notes of what you don’t get
• After view
– review chapters
– focus on parts you didn’t get
• Take notes of important information
• Review
– spend 10 minutes the next day to review your notes
– spend 10 minutes the next week to review your notes
– spend 10 minutes the next month to review your notes
• Do not read parts that are not relevant
• The only way to read important things, let go of non-important thing
• Do not read articles in order, they are designed to make you waste time with advertisement
• Rip articles out, carry them with you and read them when you have time
• Highlight information
• Paraphrase the material after reading
Writing
• Writing is a function of your creativity
• Most people try to write and edit at the same time
• Separate writing into 2 parts
• Prepare before what your writing
• Make a mind map for your topic
• Write down all the ideas and words that come to your mind (15 minutes)
• You want to push yourself to run fully out of ideas
• Write even silly ideas, they may work
• Review your maps when you’re done
• Start a new map using bigger clusters
• Start by free writing, as quickly as you can, just write
• The second stage is to take a break
• Great writing is 40% research, 20% writing, 40% revision
• During your break you will think about things that you should add, might have missed
• Break should be over night
• Reread your work as a stranger, do you get it? Is there an overview, body, conclusion
• Read out loud
• Great writing has a conversational tone, except for some school
• Business writing should be personal
• A great opening is extremely smart
• Consider your audience carefully
– Who are they?
– What’s in it for them?
• Grab them by the throat
– grab their attention
– Most people do not read second paragraphs
– The first 15 words are the most important
• Give them a reason to read
– write from the reader’s point of view
– Problem/Solution
• Keep it short
– Nobody likes unimportant information
– be direct, short and sweet
• Always use the simplest and most familiar word
– avoid short direct words
– concert words rather than abstract
– talk in the readers language
– avoid lawyer talk
• Make it look inviting
– underline
– Subheading, headings, bold, italics
• Close with a bang
– People remember the first and last words

Chapter 10

Power Communicating Chapter 10
• You can learn everything you want in solitude except for character
• The ability to communicate will be responsible for success of 85%
• Interpersonal Intelligent people are the highest paid in the world
3 basic parts to conversation
1. Ethos – character and creditability
2. Logos – least influence, the logical point of view
3. Pathos – emotional connection of the conversation, connect on the feeling level, the deeper level, “who do you feel?”, most people are motivated by some emotion
• Treat people the way they want to be treated not the way you want to be treated
Personality Styles
• Relater style
– need agreement on decisions
Tip – be a good listener
• Analyzers
– ask a lot of questions
– Task oriented
– Dislike social
Tip – Be detailed
• Director type
– Not people oriented
– Result oriented
– Impatient
– Great sales people, dictators
Tip – talk fast and get to the point
• Socialiser
– People oriented
– Achievement oriented
– Center of attention
– Forgetful when they make commitments
Tips – be enthusiastic and ask questions about themselves
• Best tip is to ask a lot of questions
• People who ask questions have the control in the conversation
Types of Questions
• Open ended
– Who what when where why
– What kind of work do you do? How did you get into that line of work, and then what did you do?
– Meant to open up people to talk
• Closed ended
– They are meant for yes or no answers
– These are meant for conclusions
70/30 Rule in conversations
• Talk 30% of the time
• Listen for 70% of the time
• No more than 3 sentences in a row
• If conversation is lacking, ask open ended
• No matter what the other person says, be positive and agree
• Don’t be judgemental
• Eye contact
• Nod
• Show your listening
• Rapt attention is the highest level of flattery
• “I understand exactly how you feel, If I was in your position I’d feel the same way” – is a very powerful statement
• Words count for 7% of the message
• Tone of voice is 38% of the message
• Body language is 55% of the message
Listening
• Be attentive
– As if they are the only person in the world
– People just want to be heard
– People love when they can speak their opinions and somebody cares
• Pause
– pause before you speak
– 3-5 seconds
– Gives you time to think about what you’re going to say
– Makes people feel like you’re taking what they said into consideration
• Question for Clarification
– Never assume
– “how do you mean …?”
• Feed it back by paraphrase
– “let me make sure I understand, you meant to say….”
– People will feel flattered that you fully understood
The Friendship Factor
• The more people like you the better off you will be
• Most powerful people are those who are known to and known by the greatest number of other powerful people
• Make a list of powerful people and make a plan to meet them
Respect
• “respect is something children cry for and men die for”
• Most men will not risk their life for money but will risk their life for ribbons (army, races, competitions)

Chapter 11

Showing What You Know Chapter 11
• Nobody becomes an expert over night
Method to show what you know
1. Test your self
2. Become confident in your knowledge, practice
3. Apply it in your life
How to Practice What You Learned
1. Mental rehearsal, see yourself performing well
– sit in a comfortable chair
– Breathe deeply 7-10 times
– be totally relaxed
– think about what you know, imagine yourself knowing the skills
2. Role playing
– You can do this alone or with somebody else
– Helps refine your skill
– Great confidence builder
Learning Information
1. Review your memory maps
2. Use flash cards
• Get feedback on everything, school work, sales etc.
• Video tape your presentations and review them against great presentations
• Find someone who is better at what you want to learn and see if they can advise or mentor you
• Do not get offended by constructive criticism
Qualities of top learners
• Got a clear goal and vision of what they want to learn
• Take full accountability and are responsible
• They reflect, get feedback, and change
Create a learning log
• Keep it short and simple
• Write about your thoughts, what works what doesn’t
• Records places where you can reward yourself
• Becomes a blueprint about where you want to be with your learning