Double Your Reading Speed Right Now
Issue #2100
- WEALTHY: One major "sale" you don’t want to miss (Dr. Russell McDougal)
- HEALTHY: How a little fish can lighten your step (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Dr. Seuss on reading
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A 10-minute speed-reading primer (Paul Scheele)
- Why Dustin Hoffman believes in Ready… Fire… Aim ( Michael Masterson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about the Dog Days of Summer
- Add "bacchanalia" to your vocabulary
You Already Know Fortunes Are Made from Trading. The Question Is: WHAT Are "They" Trading Most? (And It’s Not Shares or Commodities!)
… Thirty times more trading going on than the stock market and mostly investment banks doing it. Ummm… Maybe "they" know something you don’t? Click here to learn more…
The Buying Season in Resources
Most stock market participants are totally ruled by their emotions. They buy when the markets are at extreme upside positions and sell when fear brings markets to their knees. They get whipsawed into making the exact opposite investment decisions they should be making. Truth is, investing with the masses will never make you rich.
This means you have to buy during times of maximum fear and sell during times of maximum greed. Exactly the opposite of what your nervous system is urging you to do. And now’s the time to put this principle into practice with the resource sector.
The entire resource sector, taking its cues from weak gold and silver prices, has been in sell-off mode over the last few months. It’s nothing unusual. In fact, it happens with regularity. Shares of mining exploration companies for all commodities – gold, silver, uranium, copper, zinc, nickel, oil & gas, and a multitude of others – are now on sale.
But no one is paying attention. It’s like a buyers’ strike.
You can lose a lot of money in a hurry when you buy stocks that are quickly moving higher based mostly on momentum or enthusiasm. And you can make a lot of money over the long run when you purchase quality stocks when few others are interested.
So tame that nervous system and invest "resourcefully"! This is an exceptional time to accumulate meaningful positions in mining companies.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Russell McDougal, a practicing dentist for over 30 years, has been an active stock investor for 25 years. Since 1993, he has focused almost exclusively on the natural-resources exploration sector. During that time, he has closed out dozens of gains of 500%... 1,000%... 2,000%... and more. Currently, he is sitting on multiple thousand-percent winners, including one stock that is up a whopping 5,000%. And for a select group of investors, Rusty has agreed to share his secrets of success... and his top stock recommendations. Click here to learn more.]
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go."
Dr. Seuss
Double Your Reading Speed Right Now
Your ability to stay ahead in your industry is critical to your success – but how can you stay ahead when you’re swamped with material that you know you should be reading? Every day, more bombards you. Stacks of reports, journals, and trade publications crowd your office, e-mails flood your inbox, all serving as a nagging reminder that you are one step behind.
Staying ahead will only get harder – for everyone but you, that is. Because in the next 10 minutes, you will double your reading speed while maintaining comprehension. You will be able to breeze through everything from magazine articles to business newsletters to that novel you haven’t yet gotten to. You’ll finally be ahead of the stack.
All you need to get started is a timepiece (a kitchen timer that counts down to a beep works best) and a willingness to explore a new way to use your brain.
Let’s begin…
Pick an article from a magazine you have on hand and read for 20 seconds.
At the end of 20 seconds, count the number of lines you read, and write down that number. This will give you an idea of your present reading speed.
Read Faster in 3 Steps
There are three things that determine how fast you read: your physical posture, your mental posture, and your reading technique.
Your magnificently powerful human brain instantly recognizes words at unimaginable speeds. Yet, in school, you were programmed like a sports car that only shifts into first gear to "Go slowly, be careful, back up, sound it out, and comprehend every single word." This snail-in-the-mud programming undermines your potential and wastes precious time.
Get ready to shift into fifth gear and enjoy a lifetime of fast, effortless reading.
Step 1: Get Physical
Studies show that there’s a specific physical posture that helps you read faster and comprehend more: You place your feet comfortably on the floor, sit up straight, and fully relax your shoulders.
Do that now. Then relax your face and gently smile. Can you feel a difference?
Adjust your computer screen to a 45- to 60-degree upward angle, and slightly tilt your head downward.
You’re in the ideal posture for reading this issue of ETR (or anything else) onscreen. If you were reading a book or some other printed material, you’d do the same thing – holding or propping it up at a 45- to 60-degree angle.
Step 2: Expectancy and the Tangerine
Expect success. Tell yourself what you want to get from your reading. Always have a purpose.
Put yourself in the ideal state of mind by using "The Tangerine Technique." It may seem a bit odd, but it gets your brain working in such a way that you can read swiftly through anything. Play along to see how it works for you.
- Reach your hand out in front of you and pick up an imaginary tangerine. Do it right now, while you are reading this. Imagine the tangerine’s color, skin texture, and maybe even the sweet, tangy smell. Then, lob it from hand to hand to sense its weight.
- Position the imaginary tangerine on the upper-rear portion of your head. Touch that area gently with your hand and imagine the tangerine floating a couple of inches above it. Bring your hand down and relax your shoulders completely. Pretend that this magical tangerine always stays there, no matter how your head moves.
- Close your eyes and let the tangerine float a few inches above and behind your head. Notice how much more relaxed and alert you feel. Imagine your field of vision opening up.
- Maintaining this feeling, gently open your eyes. Go back to the magazine article you read from to gauge your initial reading speed, and read for another 20 seconds.
Again, write down the number of lines you read.
How was that? Is it now easier to read? Did the words flow more effortlessly?
In most classes that I teach, students notice a 50 percent increase in reading speed simply by taking these first two steps.
Step 3: Upper-Half Reading
Glide your vision across the upper-half of the words you read. In other words, don’t focus on the full word. Just the upper portion. Play with it right now on this paragraph. Do you notice the difference? Most people find it is easier to get the meaning of a sentence by gliding across the top portion of the words. It’s a novel idea – based on scientific research – that actually works!
Another tip: When you finish one line, quickly zip your eyes back to the beginning of the next line.
You should now find it easier to comprehend whole words and phrases at much higher speeds, while eliminating bad habits such as re-reading and focusing on individual words to sound them out.
Now, get ready to read for another 20 seconds…
Set your posture, relax, gently smile, tilt your head, and hold your magazine at a 45- to 60-degree angle.
Close your eyes and expect success. Put your tangerine in place, touching the back of your head to get the feeling while imagining your visual field opening up.
Now gently open your eyes and read for 20 seconds, gliding your eyes across the top of the words and zipping to the next line.
Count the lines again. What difference did you notice? How many more lines did you get through? Isn’t it amazing that you improved that much in less than 10 minutes!
Try it again for another 20 seconds. Use everything you just learned. This time, push yourself a little. Challenge yourself to read faster still.
You Are Brighter Than You Think
You are brighter than you think. You have great mental resources that you accessed today with these three steps to double your reading speed.
Commit to using these techniques with everything you read. You may find it helpful to put a note in your calendar every day for the next couple of weeks to remind yourself to do it. Review this article at least two more times. Maybe print out a copy to keep on your desk or in your briefcase.
Enjoy the benefits of increased speed and comprehension. You’ll see the ease of reading continuing to grow as you strengthen your new skills as an efficient, effective reader.
[Ed. Note: Paul R. Scheele, the founder of Learning Strategies Corporation, has authored numerous books and audio programs to help you maximize your potential. His PhotoReading program can help you activate your mind to get through reading material as fast as you can turn the pages.]
Let the Demise of the Dollar Lead You to 1,000% Gains
As the dollar continues to erode, so will the accounts of those who rely solely on the usual stocks and bonds. But the demise of the dollar won’t be a calamity for everyone…
Click here if you want to learn how to protect your wealth… AND make the kind of gains that most people could never dream of… returns like 5,131% in just 30 months!
Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: Dustin Hoffman Believes in Ready… Fire… Aim
Thirty years ago, actor Dustin Hoffman tried directing a film for the first time and failed. Now he is going to try again – but he’s increased the challenge. He is going to write the screenplay, produce it, direct it, and star in it.
It’s a big job, he admits, and he’s already struggling with getting the screenplay right. "Everything starts with the page," he says. But he knows he shouldn’t spend too much time trying to improve the script. "Warren Beatty told me, ‘Don’t wait until the script is perfect or you will never start shooting.’"
Ready… Fire… Aim.
[Ed. Note: To read more of Michael's unedited, uncensored (and sometimes unexpected) ruminations, check out his blog here.]
Fish Oil for Fat Loss?
Regular ETR readers know how important fish and fish oil is for heart health. And now there’s an exciting study that gives you another reason to make fish a part of your diet.
Researchers from Iceland divided 324 overweight adults into four groups. The control group took sunflower oil supplements and did not eat any seafood. A second group consumed three servings of a lean fish (cod) per week. A third group consumed three servings of a fatty fish (salmon) per week. And a fourth group consumed no seafood, but supplemented with fish oil capsules. All four groups were on a reduced-calorie diet.
Results of the four-week study showed that those who ate fish (lean or fatty) or took fish oil supplements lost an extra kilogram (2.2 pounds) during that time.
A unique way to add more salmon to your diet is with salmon jerky, a new product from WildRiverGrilling.com.
[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine. If you're looking to burn fat, build muscle, and quickly step into the body you have always wanted with just three workouts each week, check out Craig's fat-loss system, Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.]
It’s Fun to Know: The Dog Days of Summer
We are in the midst of the Dog Days of Summer, so named long ago by people in Mediterranean countries (probably the ancient Romans, historians believe) to mark the hottest and most humid time of the year.
The Dog Days run about 20 days before and 20 days after the conjunction of Sirius (the "dog star") and the sun. The exact dates on the calendar change from year to year, but the period generally starts in the first week of July and ends in mid-August.
(Source: Infoplease Almanac)
Do You Need To Start Out Small?
If you don’t have an Internet business yet, or if your company is smaller than $1 million then you need something different… something that lets you start off small.
One man I know turned $10 into over $500,000. How’s that for starting small!
Let me show you how to get a similar Internet income stream running for almost nothing.
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Bacchanalia
"Bacchanalia" (bak-uh-NALE-yuh) – from Bacchus, the Roman god of wine – is a riotous, boisterous, drunken festivity.
Example (as used by Richard Cobb in The French and Their Revolution): "This is not at all to suggest that the Revolution was a sort of non-stop bacchanalia, but that partial drunkenness was often an important component in a certain type of revolutionary excitability, particularly in meetings or committees."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
Comments