When you look at your home library, do you see books that you’ve read, loved, and COMPLETELY forgotten? I’m talking about the life-changing books that filled you with ideas and are now collecting dust on your shelf.
What happened?
When I forget books, it’s because I stayed at level 1 of reading comprehension – a barren place I call “Base camp.”
Reading Level 1: Base Camp
When I was 12, my best friend decided we would climb a mountain behind his house. I live in Utah where the Rocky Mountains tower over our homes, so this was no small feat for two young boys.
Did we tell our parents we were going on this adventure? Of course not. Did we pack properly for the dangers ahead? Absolutely! I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a water bottle. I knew the importance of hydration.
We rode our bikes to the foot of the mountain, chained them to a lone tree, and stared up at the peak. We were at base camp, a special place where you look at the obstacles ahead without doing much work.
For me, level one reading is like being at base camp before you climb the real mountain that is your book. To read at base camp is to LOOK at the words. You read them, acknowledge their presence, and at the end of the book, you set it aside. You’ve barely exerted yourself.
Most of us read at the base camp level. That’s why, when we’re done with a book, we’ve forgotten most of its lessons. We didn’t experience the mountain. We simply looked at the words. Oof.
Reading Level 2: Questioning Life’s Decisions
Two hours into the hike, I lost my motivation to climb the damn mountain. I was covered in sweat, gasping for air, and cursing my friend. We could have spent the afternoon playing Super Mario Brothers, but no, this fool had to climb a mountain!
Every climb (book) reaches this point. It’s the moment where you decide to do the real work. You’ve discovered there’s lots to learn and fun things to see, but if you’re going to mine the precious gold from your mountain, it will get sweaty. Real sweaty.
There are three ways this can go.
First, you can put the book down and play Super Mario Brothers. If you’re reading this essay, I don’t think you’re the kind of person who will choose this option.
Second, you can lie to yourself and pretend you’ll remember the nuggets of wisdom on each page. You might even underline a few passages, high on the dopamine hit that you’ve read something interesting. Good for you! Unfortunately, you know the message won’t stick around forever. Bad for you!
Third, you can decide to become a student of the book. You get up off your duff, find a notebook, and start MAKING REAL NOTES. You treat the book as if the information it holds is life or death, and unless you put in the work to really understand it, you’ll meet your untimely end. Not really, but you have to think that way if you’re going to treat this book with the respect it deserves. Another way of putting this: You treat learning from your book the same way you treat an important project at work. If you drop the ball, you get fired and there’s no paycheck on Friday.
Back to me, my friend, and the looming mountain. We were 25% into our climb. I looked down at my bike chained to the tree and made my decision: I’m going to the top, baby!
Reading Level 3: Rattlesnakes
We found a rockslide and thought climbing it would be fun. It wasn’t. While navigating over tricky boulders, I heard rattling. We have rattlesnakes in Utah-lots of them.
Three feet away, coiled tightly in a scaly knot of horror, was a rattlesnake. If I close my eyes, I can still see his forked tongue licking the air. In that moment, everything slowed down and my brain said, “Hey Eddy, what you do next REALLY matters – so think before you act.” I’m impressed that my 12-year-old brain had that conversation with itself. I’m not making this up. Something inside of me knew that survival was on the line and that I had to pay attention.
So I did.
I took a deep breath, backed away slowly, and was careful to not step on loose rocks which would scare the venomous beast. Eventually, I was far enough away to check my shorts for urine. My bladder stayed strong.
If you want to get to reading level 3 (where books do their magic), you need to watch out for rattlesnakes. Those are the moments where your brain tells you, “Hey Eddy, what you do next REALLY matters – so think before you act.”
I’m not talking about making notes. We did that in level 2. What I’m talking about are the life-changing moments in your book that hit you upside the head so hard they hurt. They’re the paragraphs that scream for you TO DO SOMETHING NOW. Those are the passages that, if you applied them, would change your life and possibly save it.
Don’t treat these passages lightly and don’t ignore them. If you do, they will bite you with regret – and yes, those bites are poisonous. Make the change in your life, take action, and do the thing.
In my own life, books have led to creating businesses, launching The Read Well Podcast, visiting France, getting a second degree in philosophy, etc.
Books are instruction manuals for a better life.
Reading Level 4: The View
If you keep working through your book, you’ll eventually reach the top where the view is majestic. Feel free to take a quick photo and then put your phone away. We have real work to do at the summit.
Do you see that beautiful rock over there? Go sit on it, take a deep breath, and get your notebook out. Describe the view in your own words. How has climbing this mountain changed you? How is this view different from the view you had at base camp? What were the most important parts and why? Take at least one hour to write, in your own words, what the book is FOR YOU. You’ll be glad that you did.
—
If you’re wondering, my friend and I made it to the top of that dastardly mountain. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I had a moment of clarity on that summit – I realized it was a bad idea for kids to climb a mountain ALONE. But hey, we made it without any snakebites, broken arms, or fill-in-the-blanks. Huzzah!
Let’s end by acknowledging that reading a book WELL takes time. If you’re forgetting what you read, perhaps it’s because you’re reading your books at base camp.
Next time you choose a book, commit to the climb.
Published by