I guess I am beginning to get the hang of blogging, or rather writing a blog. There is a kind of cathartic effect I suppose - being able to just vomit your thoughts onto the web without (relatively) a care in the world.
I've been thinking of designing a personal blog along that goes deep into the issues of the books I read. I've been quite consistent in my reading habit since April and I'm really happy at the progress I've made. It's week 21 and I've read 25 books in total. But I am worried that I am not maximizing my learning. There is a saying among practitioners of Kaizen and among ultralearning communities - "Knowledge is the art of knowing. Wisdom is the art of doing." Ultralearning practitioners would say "Theory and practice are equal, in theory. In practice, this is not so" - or something like that.
While I can't always practice what I read, I worry that just reading alone does nothing to ensure retention of that knowledge in my head for later application. I think that one of the ways that I can spur greater retention would be to write book reviews in a kinda book reviewing blog. But to improve schema formation, it would probably have to go beyond my thoughts and feelings of the books that I read to a comparative understanding of the topics discussed in the book. For example, what are the similarities and differences between Dr Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Brendon Burchard's High performance habits etc. I would imagine that would help me create more propositional links for better retention. I dunno.
On the other hand, I feel quite inspired with the community project thing to get into programming. I wanna be one of the cool kids with the pumped up kicks. Already have a series of projects that I would like to complete on a quarterly basis. So many possibilities!! *End Ramble*
That's a lot of reading -- and a great idea for a blog. Especially if you start doing it for yourself (and then readers will come along, or maybe it won't even matter to you if they don't).
ReplyDeleteThat is a way lotta of reading! If you enjoy reading that much, I think you would enjoy writing about what you've read. And you could share your posts on a variety of social media tools! Great effort!
ReplyDeleteHey Dan! Most of my books are read for self-development. I recently had an epiphany that I was not really making the most use of my time. In turn, I haven't really been doing as well as I had hoped in my career, finances and fitness. So I thought that one good habit to pick up would be to try and build my schedule around reading a book a week. So far it's been pretty good! Here's my reading list thus far:
ReplyDeleteWild at heart
Book of five rings - Musashi
Happiness advantage
The power of habit
7 habits of highly effective people
Little victories
Ciracadian code
Deep work
Think smarter
Failing forward
Unf*ck yourself
Ego is the Enemy
Atomic Habits
Off. Your digital detox for a better life.
The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership
Blink
Some christian book on dating
High Performance Habits
Eat that Frog.
How to Win friends and Influence People
18 Minutes
Facing the Fire - (Meh - More pseudoscience than anything).
The Culture Code
Freakanomics
So good they can't ignore you
The Indomitable Investor