Last year, I started back to school to get my Business Degree and even though I am only taking part time classes, it is very hectic. I have two children and between caring for them and taking care of my studies, I had noticed that I was having trouble remembering things. I needed to find out how to improve memory.
I began to investigate different memory courses and found everything from brain training software to speed reading courses. I was intrigued by the idea of learning how to read faster and better to improve my studies. After a quick Google search, I found that speed reading is a collection of reading methods which attempt to increase rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention. So I started studying in what little spare time that I have about speed reading.
Speed reading advocates claim that it is a great success and even state that it is a demonstration of good comprehension for many purposes. Speed reading supposedly gives you the ability to take in a huge amount of information in a short space of time. So I went out on the web and purchased a speed reading course.
After studying the course for a week or so, what I found is that speed reading is not only useful in reading for pleasure but is absolutely necessary when used in learning and studying. I learned that speed reading is a composite of skills which include learning how to 'see' the words rather than inwardly vocalize them. This really takes some practice because most of us say the words in our head as we read.
Once I started to notice that this was actually starting to help me read faster and even absorb what I was reading, I was really intrigued. So I got back on the web and found a course that claimed not only help with speed reading but mental photography. But what exactly is mental photography? This sounded way too weird to shell out any money for this yet. So it was back to everybody's favorite search engine.
I found that mental photography is the ability to recall images with vividness bordering on actual visual perception. Some claim that most people use less than 2% of their total brain capacity and that the other 98% is left untapped and that it is tapping into that untapped brain power that is the trick. Skeptics on the other hand, claim that no matter what techniques you're taught, you can't develop anything close to a photographic memory.
There was enough debate to go on for days but at this point I was so intrigued by the whole subject that I bought the course that I had been looking at. Looking back now at what I had found is astonishing. It was like I was actually learning to program my brain. The amount of information I can retain is phenomenal, even my vocabulary has grown. I am more focused and studying has become much easier.
What I have learned is that mental photography allows you to master your own mind and really accelerate all areas of your life, simply by harnessing that other 98% of your brain. Mental photography allows you to strengthen and tone your brain in a natural way, allowing you to create a better, healthier, and happier life. It certainly has for me.
What started with speed reading to help with my studies, turned out to be a life changing experience. Speed reading just comes along with it as an added bonus, even though the methods involved with normal speed reading are quite different. I do understand why people would be skeptical but after what I have learned I am a true believer in this. I am glad that I kept an open mind and did some research before shunning this idea, it has certainly paid off for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment