Books give people power.

They transform you, teach you, and elevate you.

Spend an afternoon with a good book can be like spending a lifetime with an expert.

If you spend anytime with non-fiction books where you need to absorb the material, I've adopted an efficient 3-pass that I only wish I knew about when I was still in school.

Step 1: Get the gist.

Step 1: Get the gist.

Read the cover.

Front. Back. Inside the jacket.

Go over the table of contents.
​
Flip through each page.
Look for headlines or figures that stand out.

If you're feeling ambitious, I also try to read through the first and last chapters.

If you don't have a strong idea of what you're getting into, bail now.

Life is too short to read bad books.

Step 2: Find the highlights.

Now actually read through the book.

But read with the sole intention of looking for key words, phrases, sections that resonate you with you.

Highlight, underline, dog-ear those parts.

Being comprehensive. Better to overdo it than miss out.

STOP reading if the book sucks. Put it down and move on.

I repeat, life is too short to read bad books.

If you're looking for something better, I put together a reading list of the best books to devour if you want to build mastery in any endeavor.

You can download it here if you haven't had a chance yet:

Step 3: Record the takeaways.

If you did your job in step 2, your book should now be primed for extraction.

Go back through and write down anything and everything that you want to keep. Capture the quotes, capture the notes your wrote in the margin. Anything you find useful.

This is where you craft your understanding and create your relationship with the material.

Be intentional with the logging process.

I prefer to use index cards for their modularity, but journals, notebooks, or even posts will do. Anything that is comfortable for you works.

This is meant for your consumption only.

By the end of your review, you should have a healthy stack of cards filled with quotes, insights, and connected ideas.

This is akin to the method many a great thinker has used in the past, as well as as modern day authors such as Robert Greene.

Conclusion

That’s it. It’s that simple.

1. Get the gist.
2. Find the highlights.
3. Record the takeaways.

I wish I knew about this approach when I was in school. Regardless, this method has served me well over the last 5 years.

Hope it helps.