Hey Ryan, I bought the Daily Stoic and have made it a practice to read one day at a time and then make notes from the book and note my reflections. I would really like to read the additional stuff you have referenced but the links are not working. Thanks
"I don't read fast. Speedreading is bullshit." I was so happy to hear you say that. I reread passages, paragraphs and pages constantly. I don't want to gloss over. The author took the time on each sentence - because they wanted to convey meaning. I don't want to miss out. Ryan, I started reading again because of you. Just want to say thank you.
Finally, I found someone that can validate my thought "speedreading is bullshit" . I sincerely believe that the human brain is not equipped to assimilate and process information at the speed of a machine. The synapses of the human brain depends on other major organs to assimilate knowledge, store and be able to use it favorably.
Exactly. So much patience went into the craft of writing and rewriting to convey information. Absorbing the thoughts of another via symbols should not be taken lightly.
I couldn´t agree more. Deep reading is far superior to speed reading in virtually every possible way. Sure, it takes a bit longer, but on the other hand you get far superior comprehension and recollection of the material, so it still gives a higher payoff per unit time. Not to mention the far greater pleasure of methodically savouring a book instead of just rushing through it.
I disagree, some books you can read perfectly well with the speed reading techniques. Also a lot of eg self help and psychology books have only a couple of quintessential messages and could have been 4 times shorter. A lot of hard facts are not important for example some historical facts about some people that have influenced the authors... and so on. Another big argument for SR is that many words are just connective words, that are not important for the overall understanding. Just saying something is bs without explaining why is not an argument .
“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia the author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to YOU.” ~ Carl Sagan
I hate how other people keep harping on advantage of digital products when I find that reading on paper 📜 helps me to relax and get away from the digital poisoning stress
Lol no it’s not… it’s literally been proven time and time again… in order for SR to work, you need to work on short term memory. Stop taking 1 guys example as gospel.
@@WarrenKirkpatrick My friend, as someone trained in literary analysis, I promise you speed reading is bullshit. No one should make speed reading a goal if they care at all about anything other than surface level information. I say that as someone with no real investment in Ryan Holiday.
@@estacoda545 well you can tell your friend I’m a living example that it’s not BS, and you can’t promise anything when my own personal statement back this up, I can read on average around 700WPM and used this to get a 2.1 bachelors degree..so this is where you’re wrong, speed reading isn’t a goal, it’s a technique to help achieve certain goals. you can literally say anything you want but the mere fact that I use it on a daily basis proves it’s not. Lol I don’t have any real investments in anyone apart from myself and family. if Ryan is reading philosophy and wants to enjoy his literature, that’s 1 thing, for ppl with a mountain load of info they need to get through, that’s a completely different.
@@WarrenKirkpatrick The irony here is that I called you my friend. I wasn’t speaking about my friend. Perhaps, oh, I don’t know, speed comes at the cost of comprehension?
I've been doing this for about a year now and have hundreds of notecards and it's absolutely incredible how much easier I find it to recall interesting bits, quotes, ideas, etc., from books. Thank you!
1:28 Have a conversation in a book 2:40 Let the book sit for a couple of months just pick later on the best idea from it. 3:40 Have a common place book, where you put notes. Write the theme why it touched you 6:00 Find patterns between wisdom and connect them.
Weirdly, I had never heard that quote about the best time to plant a tree, yet this video was the second time I heard it TODAY. Definitely writing that one down.
Physically Writing things down increases learning /memory of them. When I was in college I would study and write notes and then I would copy those notes before exams, Rewrite them/copy them- and while rewriting them -I would have to think about them again -and everything would really just easily stick in my mind.It definitely works… Thanks Ryan enjoying your channel!
@@izquierdo1770 there’s nothing like using your hand and a pencil imho. The human needs to stay closer to who they are to be excellent. Technology masks the human core in my opinion. Human “conveniences” remove authenticity and soul. There’s value in sensing the smell of the lead, the paper, the sounds,
For all of you reading this, try saying out loud those things that you want to memorise lots of times. In the other hand, if you want to really learn the subject explain it to yourself over and over.
I am a software engineer and I have a lot of books about engineering but sometimes struggle to retain the information. I will definitely be trying the advice of this video. Excellent work and excellent channel
Keeping a commonplace book is absolutely the most useful thing I have ever done. I started just over a year ago-mine is virtual on Evernote, but I do have a system to interact with the book multiple times to remember the info before putting it into the virtual storage. I’m studying Psychology and Philosophy in university, and this practice has absolutely transformed how I research, how I write, and how I think more broadly.
You’re in the beginning stages of a wonderful journey of learning how individuals do what they do in a system, and that’s really cool. I took the maximum number of courses on semester of psychology courses and found so many great interactions between the concepts that way. It was a lot of work but so rewarding and fun too.
This is hands down the best YT video I've watched in six months. I love this and will institute it NOW. My commonplace book never had a name until now, and it's always been in unusable journals. I'm blown away. Thank you.
The pioneer, in my opinion has been Robert Greene, whom Ryan was an apprentice of. Anyway, I have a great admiration for the both of them! You both share an incredible amount of wisdom with the world, thank you!
@@halotubelgia7845 They're both Reader's Digest versions of philosophers. I've read several of their books by now and have never found anything that wasn't better stated elsewhere, trite or covertly reactionary. They are impressive to people who slept through philosophy 101. As for the commonplace book, it is literally one of the oldest practices in letters and reading.
Sometimes when I try to do a new habit that is good such as reading or journaling and think I should probably write this down or do extra work to actually "take the time to learn and experiment" I blow out my own light thinking others don't do this type of stuff and im not smart enough. This is until I saw this and what this guy does. I really appreciate the true experience it takes to really want to learn something and not comparing yourself to others and taking the time to know reading is just more than flipping page.
This is great. It's actually a very old reading system. Umberto Eco also describes a similar system and then there's zettelkasten and commonplace books, etc. I use an almost identical system for philosophy. It's nice to see these methods being rediscovered and preserved!
I’ve started keeping a reading journal to become more engaged in my reading. It’s not as sophisticated as this and I borrow a lot of ebooks from the library. But even this small change has affected my relationship with books and it’s exciting.
Excited to try this, have just buckled down to writing a 30 minute act of comedy also just got Ego is the Enemy delivered yesterday, I CAN'T open it until I go buy flash cards and highlighter pens, I see this working for me so well!
I keep a system like this on Obsidian. I mark up books as I go through, transfer those notes as Literature Notes and then pull out key ideas that I want to expand on further which I store in my 'Citadel' folder. I link them to relevant keywords or other notes/ideas I've created in the past and over time when I go back through I go down a rabbit hole that leads me to expand my thoughts.
2 years ago Obsidian was not very user friendly but I liked it. Has it improved or do you still have to spend 40 hr. programming that thing to get it to work
@@CDs_UA-cam_ I've only been using it for a few months so I'm not sure what the previous experience was. I moved over from RoamResearch and it was easy enough to import all my data and get it updated despite doing a little house cleaning along the way.
@@MJ-ur9tc 😐 I’ll check it out again,,, I’m not a programmer,,, Do you still have to use some kind of low level code to get everything set up and working? I liked that fishbowl flowchart organization, but learning curve was to big for me to utilize. 🤷🏼♂️
@@CDs_UA-cam_ It uses markdown code which is simple. Learning a few commands becomes powerful and there are a lot of plugins the community has created which add a lot of nice features as well.
I also use 4"x6" notecards but I don't use a common-place book: I use a 'common-place Wall'. I use binder clips to hold 'classes' of notecards together in packets with a cover-title card on top then hang these packets by the arms of the binder clips onto a premeasured grid of thumbtacks on a wall. I suspect this gives me a more 'at-a-glance' reference to my various studies- projects- records-etc.
I just came across this. Thank you a thousand times over. I have been doing this my entire life. However, I took a college course and thought I had a reading disability. Why were most able to just read a chapter, understand and regurgitate the information on a test? Why was it taking me so long to get through a chapter. I was doing this system, to be able to "own" the material. The biggest hurdle is when an author feels it's necessary to get super wordy. I spend more time trying to understand their points than learning the material. Unfortunately I can't change the book, but the system does help me. Another drawback, and advantage, is it's all online. I find myself trying to make notes as I'm reading the chapter. It's harder when you don't have the material in front of you. Thank you for sharing your system. I'm also jealous that you were able to work with a mentor (Rob Greene).
"Speedreading is BS" - thank you, Ryan! Thank you! I am already partway to having a Commonplace Book like you do, because I treat non-fiction book as tools, buying them in paperback and marking them up. I buy hardback copies of the rare few that I want to keep because they are or have been life-changing for me. I want a pristine copy too (and these days, also an audiobook copy if the reader is good) in my bookcase in case it ever goes out of print. The best of books can do this over a long enough time. All I have to do now is get the cards and box to keep them in. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's main adviser and fixer for many years, kept a commonplace book too, including a book called "The King", which was about the King, who must have been a nightmare to work for! I wonder how much that book was responsible for his relative longevity as an adviser, in helping him to pivot and be adaptable to the King's ever-changing moods.
Some 40 years ago I wanted to document what I was reading because of the relevance to what I was doing at the time so I just started to put colored post-it tabs in books. This led to using notepad to track the information more easily. I also added a "#" in front of keywords (that are tracked through a notepad file) which allows me to search for specific information in any given book. At 71 years old the automation helps a lot in finding related information across multiple books. What this does not do is anchor the information through muscle memory as you put it. Yet, I am able to anchor the information in memory through meditation and hypnosis techniques connected with the specific notes. The meditation and hypnosis techniques are the repetition element that parallels each technique. Different techniques that produce similar results. Both seem to work which is the goal. This was the basis of a "catch-and-release" concept of reading books for specific information in an effort to not have a massive physical library in the event I needed to downsize as I aged. This works for me with that in mind.
I just ordered a simple box and note cards, cost me 10 bucks. I am an avid reader, I am skeptical about stoicism, and haven’t read any of your books yet, but I like you share your writing and reading processes. I am inspired by your mentor-mentee relationship with Robert Greene as well. It seems like you really taken his mastery advice to heart! 😂 I will experiment with your methods. Thank you for sharing them, Ryan! 🙏🏻
I love this, I do the exact same thing with reading books, when I write on them, highlight them, a part of me feels connected to the book as if I wrote it. If i don't annotate on a book a lot of the words brush past me when I have read them. And rewriting raw prose phrases into a notebook helps too, it lodges a new technique into my writer muscle memory. Great video!
I am a book person as well with , highlighter in hand, sticky tabs top and sides, color code column notes 📝 🤭 Thank You for sharing your inspiring thoughts with us👍
Thank you so much for the advice of annotating between the lines while reading. I used to have many fleeting thoughts and sparks of ideas while reading but I lost most of them in a blink of eye. Now I always read with a pencil at hand and turn off my cell phone so I can set myself in a deep thinking process along with the text and in the meantime keep jotting down whatever interesting thought that occurs to me. I finally got to keep them in this way.
Nice to see that Holiday and his mentor are using the Zettelkasten method, I came across it a few months ago, from the book "How to Take Smart Notes" by S. Ahrens.
I only buy the books (non-fiction) that I want to write in and have it mean something different when I read it next. If I find one in the library, I stop reading until I have my own copy to write in. I'm in the process of making something like this system work for me but when you find known references in newer sources you really found what you're looking for.
I personally have just started this! I used a kettlkasten digital system, but know prefer the physical system because it forces me to physically look through the material. The digits system is out of sight, out of mind. Great content 👍🏻
I've finished your two books at the same time: Obstacle is the way and The Ego is the Enemy. I felt honored to read them, they are amazing. The timing they matched with my life right now, sounds perfectly. For sure, I'll reread these books during my life. In the future, I'll give to my son, my grandchild... Thanks a lot for #sharingiscaring everything you've learned in your life. I hope you keep on your journey Ryan!! You great!! I'll start read The stillness is the key right now!
I'm excited to say I'm already doing Step 1. I have my Stoic books in a 'turnstile' order, and when I get back to the first one, I'll be ready to start with Step 2. THANK YOU!!
As a person who has countless pocket notebooks and full size notebooks and piles of loose leaf paper from years and years of writing things down if only because it improves my quality of life, keeping track is tough. I like this system. I have seen and heard of systems like it before. For whatever reason I've never adopted this system or one like it, but I think I ought to. The wicked challenge is going to be going back through my own notes and converting them to note cards. You think it's tough doing that with a thousand page book (which I absolutely believe that it is)
At least the book that was written to be a book is probably reasonably coherently organized. Not so for my personal notes. Not to mention some past versions of myself have been less disciplined than less organized than the present...
finally someone sides with me in matter of speed reading!!! thought I am the only one who believes in taking your time while reading and drink in the words one by one
You are an inspiration Ryan. Everytime I watch your video or read your book, I end up learning some thing valuable and simultaneously get inspired to kickstart my life again.
People think they should read a lot of books, when the opposite is the truth. You need to read just a few GOOD books every year. It's better to read 5 good books a year than 30 books that were written just to be written. And with a good book you have to take your time. If anyone is interested in a list of good books, made by Jordan Peterson: jordanbpeterson(.)com/great-books/
Two things-regarding The Obstacle is the Way-in my therapy training we know we are hitting the sweet spot when we encounter resistance-a nerve has been struck, so to speak. 2) If you hold Truman in high regard, his entries in his diary, found in a book of lists (don’t recall the name), summed up the year with one line. Some were things like (paraphrasing): “appointed as judge,” “out of work,” “ate well this year,” showed his highs and lows simply and elegantly. If you’re ever in Independence, MO, I recommend a visit to his home and the museum. I love his daughter’s Washington, DC mysteries which were very well done.
"You're supposed to be in an argument, in a discussion with the author. It's a two way street". This is a brilliant statement as I'm used to consuming books as a responder versus and active participant in a discussion. I'm going to revisit collecting physical books in contrast with my Kindle...
You need to understand that some of us that read on our devices is because of eyesight issues. I love the fact that I can change the font size so I can read comfortably.
Didn't know about this system until now, however I began some time ago to draw elements or stories from the book I was reading, basically to understand and remember the subject better. Definitely will implement this more!
How do you read a 1100 page book in a week and still have time for other things? I consider myself a slow reader, and 1100 pages take me about 2 months. Love the video though, as always incredibly insightful
@@masonbush3686 nobody said reading was a problem, but getting distracted in your mind easily rather. I'd agree that it's probably something you can train.
Cool! I've been doing that for many years! I first used the method to learn and prepare tours as a Park Ranger. And over the years to learn about yoga/anatomy and also to teach (a variety of subjects). Great way to learn and retain what I read.
I started recording my notes and ideas in OneNote about 8 years ago. I have notebooks for different subjects and projects as well a a notebook for each year I use to manage my to-do list. I LOVE the fact I can keyword search 8 years worth of ideas in just a few clicks. I'm aware of the benefit of writing my content by hand, but the sheer volume of information as well as trying to recall ideas has driven me to a digital format. I'd like to believe my kids will someday read some of what I collected but I think it will just be like China that gets donated...only they will just have to hit the delete key.
Just bOught discipline is the key here in the philippines. First book I ever bought for leisure, ended becoming a development book for me. Great book! Hoping to read your other books if I have extra money.
I live on the road full-time and while I have a few well worn books I'll take with me everywhere i've moved to using a Kindle for my daily reading. I'll have to get creative with how to implement some of this using my Kindle. My common place note cards is apple notes. I works pretty well I reckon.
This is great, very enlightening. I agree with you that doing it manually, eschewing technology is the way to go. Reading, and writing are human, sensual pursuits, using technology takes away from that. Thank you for the great video.
was just randomly skipping through youtube and watching your video and I saw you have a shirt from "ghost town living"s cerro gordo at 4:40 such a funny cross over! really enjoyed your insights on reading! thanks a lot
This reminded me of Niklas Luhman, a German sociologist, philosopher and prominent thinker in systems theory. He also used a notebox-system, for which he was famous. From Wikipedia: "Note-taking system (Zettelkasten): Luhmann was famous for his extensive use of the "slip box" or Zettelkasten note-taking method. He built up a zettelkasten of some 90,000 index cards for his research, and credited it with making his extraordinarily prolific writing possible. It was digitized and made available online in 2019. Luhmann described the zettelkasten as part of his research into systems theory in the essay Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen."
Damn am I glad you exist, your work and others have directed me towards a level of personal responsibility that has shockingly afforded me more freedom with a sense of purpose I thought impossible before. I am and will likely remain a work in progress but I believe I have finally come to understand it really is about the journey. Keep it up I doubt I am the only one you have helped and I imagine there is more of us who would find value in the work you have and will do.
I really liked this video. Great ideas to apply to my reading and note taking. Also, I totally agree with you on the topic of "speed reading is bullsh...". Reading is supposed to be an activity that one enjoys and savors like a good meal, cigar or a special moment with your woman. You don't want to rush and do it fast in those occasions Many thanks to the creator of this video, keep them coming 😊👍🏾👌🏽💯💯💯
Your greatness is your process, Thank You sharing this applicable wisdom method. Writing on the tablet of your heart like Biblical prophets did. Things you love about life are usually character enhancing interfaces with the truth of being. Lose reception, acquire perception.
I used to take notes and my envelope is full of thousands of intermediate papers. Now I am going to try this out notecards and a commonplace book because i stopped taking notes for 2 months and just read books and highlight. But now I know how. Thank you so much for this! I don't know why I didn't get your book first when i started making book reading a habit late april and I only got to know you and read your first book (ego is the enemy) Last month. Now i am curious about your other books and robert greene's.
I markup my books but then create an index of it, and have tags in their. I put that index into Evernote. Then when I clip things into Evernote, I use similar tags. So in that sense, Evernote becomes like his notecards. It's not all handwritten, but I'm also not an author, I have other things to do. I recently created a very technical training and had to draw on over 30 references, and use this technique to really get to know my knowledge and create about 10,000 words on this topic.
I'm just getting into Marcus Aurelius and stoicism and i'm hooked. Ordered your daily stoic book and it will be here tomorrow, really looking forward to it! Got the feeling i'm not done with your books after that.
I am so happy to hear that “ speed reading is bs” because I was introduced to this concept of speed reading recently. I was struggling to comprehend most of the content while trying to “ speed read”. Speed reading can be utilised for “revision” of highlighted points , not for first time read
Ryan, this video so resonated with me. I really appreciate your passion and your process. I too am a slow reader ad 1,100 pages in a week seems monumental. But the discipline that you bestow is so motivating. I see the value of writing on cards, but I believe I am going to use the software Obsidian and the Zettlekasten method to record my thoughts. But you are right in that the physical aspect of writiing and the use of muscle memory helps you to create the mental links that a software package like Obsidian. All the best . . .
wow the way you do it man really nails it, and yes no screens when reading,I like that quote you said "not all readers are leaders but all leaders have to be readers" I need information to get better
I do something similar but with architectural designs. I'll have some idea and I'll work it out 20-50+ different ways in 1-2 notebooks. I continue to refine the idea until eventually I'm left with a few really polished designs that I can then put into a more final draft.
for me, I don't like writing directly on the book so I use transparent sticky notes on the page to highlight and make notes. this really does help you engage with the book
Really have enjoyed your channel Finding Stoicism has become a big deal in my life Wish i had found all this earlier Found that i have had some of ideas in my life from early on Reading the stoics has validated somethings I have tghought about and have live by THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SHARING
Can you do a separate video just on the cataloging? I didn't quite get the system you have for going back and finding a particular notecard. Thanks and TFP!
I’m trying this method. The only modification will be that once I’ve done my note cards, I’m taking the data and placing them in my Obsidian note app with back-links connecting the notes.
This is awesome, thank you. I've watched many of your videos and enjoy them very much. I'm part way thru Meditations which I've seen you refer to a lot and a friend of mine, recommended it as well. This system is of your is up my alley and will try it out. I've recently starting reading to relax and as you said here, get away from all the screens in our lives. I use to say "I'm not a reader"....I won't be saying that again. Also thank you for saying speed reading is BS. It helps me accept me learning this process. Thanks for the Inspiration Ryan. Cheers.
Love the Organizaing System - Your Common Book. I have taken notes of podcasts/books/lectures -- all in various notebooks. It is a good way to reinforce the material in my brain -- but I have always had trouble going back and finding material. Will try the new Common Book System! Thx!
Steps:
00:00 - Intro
00:28 - How You Should Read
02:29 - How To Organize What You Read
03:25 - How To Use What You Read
This similar to the original Zetlekasten in action. Amazing to see you do it all without a digital interface
Hey Ryan. Can you post a link for the note card boxes you use?
@@alexkimbrell653 Cropper Hopper by Advantus Corporation
Don't forget the time stamp for "Speed reading is bullshit"
Hey Ryan, I bought the Daily Stoic and have made it a practice to read one day at a time and then make notes from the book and note my reflections. I would really like to read the additional stuff you have referenced but the links are not working. Thanks
"I don't read fast. Speedreading is bullshit." I was so happy to hear you say that. I reread passages, paragraphs and pages constantly. I don't want to gloss over. The author took the time on each sentence - because they wanted to convey meaning. I don't want to miss out. Ryan, I started reading again because of you. Just want to say thank you.
Finally, I found someone that can validate my thought "speedreading is bullshit" . I sincerely believe that the human brain is not equipped to assimilate and process information at the speed of a machine. The synapses of the human brain depends on other major organs to assimilate knowledge, store and be able to use it favorably.
Exactly. So much patience went into the craft of writing and rewriting to convey information. Absorbing the thoughts of another via symbols should not be taken lightly.
DO AGREE WITH YOU, RYAN INSPIRED ME TO READ
I couldn´t agree more. Deep reading is far superior to speed reading in virtually every possible way. Sure, it takes a bit longer, but on the other hand you get far superior comprehension and recollection of the material, so it still gives a higher payoff per unit time. Not to mention the far greater pleasure of methodically savouring a book instead of just rushing through it.
I disagree, some books you can read perfectly well with the speed reading techniques. Also a lot of eg self help and psychology books have only a couple of quintessential messages and could have been 4 times shorter. A lot of hard facts are not important for example some historical facts about some people that have influenced the authors... and so on. Another big argument for SR is that many words are just connective words, that are not important for the overall understanding. Just saying something is bs without explaining why is not an argument .
“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia the author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to YOU.” ~ Carl Sagan
One of the most beautiful quotes ever.❤️
Yes
Yes, ... beautiful
That’s really powerful
Wow! That's a great and profound quote!
I hate how other people keep harping on advantage of digital products when I find that reading on paper 📜 helps me to relax and get away from the digital poisoning stress
“Speed reading is bullshit.”
YES. 100 %
I know, I was like finally someone said it!
Lol no it’s not… it’s literally been proven time and time again… in order for SR to work, you need to work on short term memory. Stop taking 1 guys example as gospel.
@@WarrenKirkpatrick My friend, as someone trained in literary analysis, I promise you speed reading is bullshit. No one should make speed reading a goal if they care at all about anything other than surface level information. I say that as someone with no real investment in Ryan Holiday.
@@estacoda545 well you can tell your friend I’m a living example that it’s not BS, and you can’t promise anything when my own personal statement back this up, I can read on average around 700WPM and used this to get a 2.1 bachelors degree..so this is where you’re wrong, speed reading isn’t a goal, it’s a technique to help achieve certain goals. you can literally say anything you want but the mere fact that I use it on a daily basis proves it’s not. Lol I don’t have any real investments in anyone apart from myself and family. if Ryan is reading philosophy and wants to enjoy his literature, that’s 1 thing, for ppl with a mountain load of info they need to get through, that’s a completely different.
@@WarrenKirkpatrick The irony here is that I called you my friend. I wasn’t speaking about my friend. Perhaps, oh, I don’t know, speed comes at the cost of comprehension?
I've been doing this for about a year now and have hundreds of notecards and it's absolutely incredible how much easier I find it to recall interesting bits, quotes, ideas, etc., from books. Thank you!
I love reading, but I’ve never taken the time to take notes on what I enjoyed or learned from the book
Definitely will start this method!!
Hey, are you still writing notecards?
Can you share how you organize them? I see his box, do you do the same?
1:28
Have a conversation in a book
2:40
Let the book sit for a couple of months just pick later on the best idea from it.
3:40
Have a common place book, where you put notes.
Write the theme why it touched you
6:00
Find patterns between wisdom and connect them.
Like Zettelkasten method
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” Sharing some love from small UA-camr
Weirdly, I had never heard that quote about the best time to plant a tree, yet this video was the second time I heard it TODAY. Definitely writing that one down.
Physically Writing things down increases learning /memory of them. When I was in college I would study and write notes and then I would copy those notes before exams, Rewrite them/copy them- and while rewriting them -I would have to think about them again -and everything would really just easily stick in my mind.It definitely works… Thanks Ryan enjoying your channel!
that's because you go over it at least three times in the recording of it , I will always hold it up as the best way to make something a part of you.
does typing them have the same effect?
@@izquierdo1770 there’s nothing like using your hand and a pencil imho. The human needs to stay closer to who they are to be excellent. Technology masks the human core in my opinion. Human “conveniences” remove authenticity and soul. There’s value in sensing the smell of the lead, the paper, the sounds,
@@EightBallAnswers1 thanks for the reply!
For all of you reading this, try saying out loud those things that you want to memorise lots of times. In the other hand, if you want to really learn the subject explain it to yourself over and over.
I am a software engineer and I have a lot of books about engineering but sometimes struggle to retain the information. I will definitely be trying the advice of this video. Excellent work and excellent channel
I love the Argue in The Margins strategy. And I do it all the time. Every book is a battle an argument and ultimately a learning experience.
Have you considered writing a book on how you organize those boxes? more details on indexing and categories?
Fascinating to see your process Ryan. Thank you for posting. Great video!
Film courage 😁🙏🏽 incredible channel.. I love what you guys do thank you so much.. especially those screenwriting lessons 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Keeping a commonplace book is absolutely the most useful thing I have ever done. I started just over a year ago-mine is virtual on Evernote, but I do have a system to interact with the book multiple times to remember the info before putting it into the virtual storage. I’m studying Psychology and Philosophy in university, and this practice has absolutely transformed how I research, how I write, and how I think more broadly.
You’re in the beginning stages of a wonderful journey of learning how individuals do what they do in a system, and that’s really cool. I took the maximum number of courses on semester of psychology courses and found so many great interactions between the concepts that way. It was a lot of work but so rewarding and fun too.
Hey, are there any organizing principles or videos on that topic that you can recommend?
This is hands down the best YT video I've watched in six months. I love this and will institute it NOW. My commonplace book never had a name until now, and it's always been in unusable journals. I'm blown away. Thank you.
Ryan is truly a pioneer of ancient wisdom for modern times.
The methodology explained in this video is really splendid and feasible too.
The pioneer, in my opinion has been Robert Greene, whom Ryan was an apprentice of. Anyway, I have a great admiration for the both of them! You both share an incredible amount of wisdom with the world, thank you!
@@halotubelgia7845 They are both idiots and in no way pioneers.
@@halotubelgia7845 They're both Reader's Digest versions of philosophers. I've read several of their books by now and have never found anything that wasn't better stated elsewhere, trite or covertly reactionary. They are impressive to people who slept through philosophy 101. As for the commonplace book, it is literally one of the oldest practices in letters and reading.
This is exactly what I needed to hear at this very moment. Thank you Ryan for continuing to add value to my life.
Sometimes when I try to do a new habit that is good such as reading or journaling and think I should probably write this down or do extra work to actually "take the time to learn and experiment" I blow out my own light thinking others don't do this type of stuff and im not smart enough. This is until I saw this and what this guy does. I really appreciate the true experience it takes to really want to learn something and not comparing yourself to others and taking the time to know reading is just more than flipping page.
This is great. It's actually a very old reading system. Umberto Eco also describes a similar system and then there's zettelkasten and commonplace books, etc. I use an almost identical system for philosophy. It's nice to see these methods being rediscovered and preserved!
This is a very timely and relevant video for me as i have had some slight issues returning back to my first love of getting lost in a book.
I’ve started keeping a reading journal to become more engaged in my reading. It’s not as sophisticated as this and I borrow a lot of ebooks from the library. But even this small change has affected my relationship with books and it’s exciting.
Excited to try this, have just buckled down to writing a 30 minute act of comedy also just got Ego is the Enemy delivered yesterday, I CAN'T open it until I go buy flash cards and highlighter pens, I see this working for me so well!
I keep a system like this on Obsidian. I mark up books as I go through, transfer those notes as Literature Notes and then pull out key ideas that I want to expand on further which I store in my 'Citadel' folder. I link them to relevant keywords or other notes/ideas I've created in the past and over time when I go back through I go down a rabbit hole that leads me to expand my thoughts.
2 years ago Obsidian was not very user friendly but I liked it. Has it improved or do you still have to spend 40 hr. programming that thing to get it to work
@@CDs_UA-cam_ I've only been using it for a few months so I'm not sure what the previous experience was. I moved over from RoamResearch and it was easy enough to import all my data and get it updated despite doing a little house cleaning along the way.
@@CDs_UA-cam_ It has been around a year now that I am using Obsidian. It find it to a very good app which can be used for many different purposes.
@@MJ-ur9tc 😐 I’ll check it out again,,, I’m not a programmer,,, Do you still have to use some kind of low level code to get everything set up and working?
I liked that fishbowl flowchart organization, but learning curve was to big for me to utilize. 🤷🏼♂️
@@CDs_UA-cam_ It uses markdown code which is simple. Learning a few commands becomes powerful and there are a lot of plugins the community has created which add a lot of nice features as well.
Reading a book is a conversation and or argument.. Just brings reading to life 🤓 Thank you Ryan
I also use 4"x6" notecards but I don't use a common-place book: I use a 'common-place Wall'. I use binder clips to hold 'classes' of notecards together in packets with a cover-title card on top then hang these packets by the arms of the binder clips onto a premeasured grid of thumbtacks on a wall. I suspect this gives me a more 'at-a-glance' reference to my various studies- projects- records-etc.
Wow! Great idea! I'm gonna try that!👍👍👍
I love that
I just came across this. Thank you a thousand times over. I have been doing this my entire life. However, I took a college course and thought I had a reading disability. Why were most able to just read a chapter, understand and regurgitate the information on a test? Why was it taking me so long to get through a chapter. I was doing this system, to be able to "own" the material. The biggest hurdle is when an author feels it's necessary to get super wordy. I spend more time trying to understand their points than learning the material. Unfortunately I can't change the book, but the system does help me. Another drawback, and advantage, is it's all online. I find myself trying to make notes as I'm reading the chapter. It's harder when you don't have the material in front of you. Thank you for sharing your system. I'm also jealous that you were able to work with a mentor (Rob Greene).
"Speedreading is BS" - thank you, Ryan! Thank you! I am already partway to having a Commonplace Book like you do, because I treat non-fiction book as tools, buying them in paperback and marking them up. I buy hardback copies of the rare few that I want to keep because they are or have been life-changing for me. I want a pristine copy too (and these days, also an audiobook copy if the reader is good) in my bookcase in case it ever goes out of print. The best of books can do this over a long enough time. All I have to do now is get the cards and box to keep them in.
Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's main adviser and fixer for many years, kept a commonplace book too, including a book called "The King", which was about the King, who must have been a nightmare to work for! I wonder how much that book was responsible for his relative longevity as an adviser, in helping him to pivot and be adaptable to the King's ever-changing moods.
Knowing is not enough we must apply,willing is not enough,we must do.
‐Bruce Lee.
Goethe, actually...
Some 40 years ago I wanted to document what I was reading because of the relevance to what I was doing at the time so I just started to put colored post-it tabs in books. This led to using notepad to track the information more easily. I also added a "#" in front of keywords (that are tracked through a notepad file) which allows me to search for specific information in any given book. At 71 years old the automation helps a lot in finding related information across multiple books. What this does not do is anchor the information through muscle memory as you put it. Yet, I am able to anchor the information in memory through meditation and hypnosis techniques connected with the specific notes. The meditation and hypnosis techniques are the repetition element that parallels each technique. Different techniques that produce similar results. Both seem to work which is the goal. This was the basis of a "catch-and-release" concept of reading books for specific information in an effort to not have a massive physical library in the event I needed to downsize as I aged. This works for me with that in mind.
I like the part when you mention how one book leads us to another book. I love this constant reading journey 😀
Cross readings. Amazing!
I have been feeling a lack in my system. No more!
Thank you for sharing your system. Your energy is contagious and powerful.
"It's a short, 1,100 page book. I read it in a week." 💀💀💀
60% which are skipped
It would take me forever to read 1,100 pages lol. When he said a week I was oh snap I need to catch up
That would by read for the year.
(slow reading 😶)
Brrooooo
I shiver everytime he says he folds the pages.
I just ordered a simple box and note cards, cost me 10 bucks. I am an avid reader, I am skeptical about stoicism, and haven’t read any of your books yet, but I like you share your writing and reading processes. I am inspired by your mentor-mentee relationship with Robert Greene as well. It seems like you really taken his mastery advice to heart! 😂
I will experiment with your methods. Thank you for sharing them, Ryan! 🙏🏻
I love this, I do the exact same thing with reading books, when I write on them, highlight them, a part of me feels connected to the book as if I wrote it. If i don't annotate on a book a lot of the words brush past me when I have read them. And rewriting raw prose phrases into a notebook helps too, it lodges a new technique into my writer muscle memory. Great video!
I am a book person as well with , highlighter in hand, sticky tabs top and sides, color code column notes 📝 🤭 Thank You for sharing your inspiring thoughts with us👍
Thank you so much for the advice of annotating between the lines while reading. I used to have many fleeting thoughts and sparks of ideas while reading but I lost most of them in a blink of eye. Now I always read with a pencil at hand and turn off my cell phone so I can set myself in a deep thinking process along with the text and in the meantime keep jotting down whatever interesting thought that occurs to me. I finally got to keep them in this way.
Nice to see that Holiday and his mentor are using the Zettelkasten method, I came across it a few months ago, from the book "How to Take Smart Notes" by S. Ahrens.
I only buy the books (non-fiction) that I want to write in and have it mean something different when I read it next. If I find one in the library, I stop reading until I have my own copy to write in. I'm in the process of making something like this system work for me but when you find known references in newer sources you really found what you're looking for.
I personally have just started this! I used a kettlkasten digital system, but know prefer the physical system because it forces me to physically look through the material. The digits system is out of sight, out of mind. Great content 👍🏻
I've finished your two books at the same time: Obstacle is the way and The Ego is the Enemy. I felt honored to read them, they are amazing. The timing they matched with my life right now, sounds perfectly. For sure, I'll reread these books during my life. In the future, I'll give to my son, my grandchild... Thanks a lot for #sharingiscaring everything you've learned in your life. I hope you keep on your journey Ryan!! You great!! I'll start read The stillness is the key right now!
I'm excited to say I'm already doing Step 1. I have my Stoic books in a 'turnstile' order, and when I get back to the first one, I'll be ready to start with Step 2. THANK YOU!!
As a person who has countless pocket notebooks and full size notebooks and piles of loose leaf paper from years and years of writing things down if only because it improves my quality of life, keeping track is tough.
I like this system. I have seen and heard of systems like it before. For whatever reason I've never adopted this system or one like it, but I think I ought to.
The wicked challenge is going to be going back through my own notes and converting them to note cards. You think it's tough doing that with a thousand page book (which I absolutely believe that it is)
At least the book that was written to be a book is probably reasonably coherently organized. Not so for my personal notes. Not to mention some past versions of myself have been less disciplined than less organized than the present...
finally someone sides with me in matter of speed reading!!! thought I am the only one who believes in taking your time while reading and drink in the words one by one
You are an inspiration Ryan. Everytime I watch your video or read your book, I end up learning some thing valuable and simultaneously get inspired to kickstart my life again.
00:26, That Music is always Motivating me to read Books
I died laughing when you said speed reading is bullshit. I always thought I was slow because I had to reread to hear the writers voice for context.
People think they should read a lot of books, when the opposite is the truth. You need to read just a few GOOD books every year. It's better to read 5 good books a year than 30 books that were written just to be written.
And with a good book you have to take your time.
If anyone is interested in a list of good books, made by Jordan Peterson:
jordanbpeterson(.)com/great-books/
Speed reading good for different type of things like articles , reports ...etc.
Two things-regarding The Obstacle is the Way-in my therapy training we know we are hitting the sweet spot when we encounter resistance-a nerve has been struck, so to speak. 2) If you hold Truman in high regard, his entries in his diary, found in a book of lists (don’t recall the name), summed up the year with one line. Some were things like (paraphrasing): “appointed as judge,” “out of work,” “ate well this year,” showed his highs and lows simply and elegantly. If you’re ever in Independence, MO, I recommend a visit to his home and the museum. I love his daughter’s Washington, DC mysteries which were very well done.
Really like the concept that authors are "professional readers." As an author myself, I've read _a lot_ of books and am a total book geek / snob.
"You're supposed to be in an argument, in a discussion with the author. It's a two way street". This is a brilliant statement as I'm used to consuming books as a responder versus and active participant in a discussion. I'm going to revisit collecting physical books in contrast with my Kindle...
It's a cliche. This man speaks almost exclusively in cliches.
Your organization by themes is the most useful organization method I've seen, this was extremely helpful!
You need to understand that some of us that read on our devices is because of eyesight issues. I love the fact that I can change the font size so I can read comfortably.
I’m sure he understands that.
I’m a seminarian and this, I can tell, is a good system. I have to remember a lot of information for research. I’ll have to give your system a try!
Didn't know about this system until now, however I began some time ago to draw elements or stories from the book I was reading, basically to understand and remember the subject better. Definitely will implement this more!
How do you read a 1100 page book in a week and still have time for other things? I consider myself a slow reader, and 1100 pages take me about 2 months. Love the video though, as always incredibly insightful
Skim most likely
As a child of ADHD who daydreams while reading, I wish I could read and absorb that fast.
What a cop out...I have ADHD..reading isn't a problem. A little discipline maybe?
@@masonbush3686 good for you. Did I say it was a problem?
@@masonbush3686 nobody said reading was a problem, but getting distracted in your mind easily rather. I'd agree that it's probably something you can train.
I've done this note taking my whole life. I just never decided to put them together like this in a system. I may have to try this
Cool! I've been doing that for many years! I first used the method to learn and prepare tours as a Park Ranger. And over the years to learn about yoga/anatomy and also to teach (a variety of subjects). Great way to learn and retain what I read.
2:00 You probably said that almost in passing lol. But it spoke in volumes for me. Thank you.
I started recording my notes and ideas in OneNote about 8 years ago. I have notebooks for different subjects and projects as well a a notebook for each year I use to manage my to-do list. I LOVE the fact I can keyword search 8 years worth of ideas in just a few clicks. I'm aware of the benefit of writing my content by hand, but the sheer volume of information as well as trying to recall ideas has driven me to a digital format.
I'd like to believe my kids will someday read some of what I collected but I think it will just be like China that gets donated...only they will just have to hit the delete key.
Just bOught discipline is the key here in the philippines. First book I ever bought for leisure, ended becoming a development book for me. Great book! Hoping to read your other books if I have extra money.
Hey Ryan. Can you make a video on how you organize your writing time. When do you write blog post, email, books etc.
I live on the road full-time and while I have a few well worn books I'll take with me everywhere i've moved to using a Kindle for my daily reading. I'll have to get creative with how to implement some of this using my Kindle. My common place note cards is apple notes. I works pretty well I reckon.
I love the system to retain and reuse! Bullet journaling may be another good medium for common place book. I'm inspired to try this.
This is one of the most practical and useful study guides I’ve seen on UA-cam.
This is great, very enlightening. I agree with you that doing it manually, eschewing technology is the way to go. Reading, and writing are human, sensual pursuits, using technology takes away from that.
Thank you for the great video.
was just randomly skipping through youtube and watching your video and I saw you have a shirt from "ghost town living"s cerro gordo at 4:40 such a funny cross over!
really enjoyed your insights on reading! thanks a lot
This reminded me of Niklas Luhman, a German sociologist, philosopher and prominent thinker in systems theory. He also used a notebox-system, for which he was famous.
From Wikipedia:
"Note-taking system (Zettelkasten): Luhmann was famous for his extensive use of the "slip box" or Zettelkasten note-taking method. He built up a zettelkasten of some 90,000 index cards for his research, and credited it with making his extraordinarily prolific writing possible. It was digitized and made available online in 2019. Luhmann described the zettelkasten as part of his research into systems theory in the essay Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen."
02:04 FINALLLYYYYYYYY someone says that. thanks a lot
Damn am I glad you exist, your work and others have directed me towards a level of personal responsibility that has shockingly afforded me more freedom with a sense of purpose I thought impossible before. I am and will likely remain a work in progress but I believe I have finally come to understand it really is about the journey. Keep it up I doubt I am the only one you have helped and I imagine there is more of us who would find value in the work you have and will do.
Is it towards that you’re moving toward? Is it?
I really liked this video. Great ideas to apply to my reading and note taking. Also, I totally agree with you on the topic of "speed reading is bullsh...". Reading is supposed to be an activity that one enjoys and savors like a good meal, cigar or a special moment with your woman. You don't want to rush and do it fast in those occasions
Many thanks to the creator of this video, keep them coming 😊👍🏾👌🏽💯💯💯
Its funny how I do these things, read, fold, and write. This is gold, Ryan!
He's a machine! Amazing! Focus is unbelievable! Thank you for posting this....rekindling a flame to be productive again.
Your greatness is your process, Thank You sharing this applicable wisdom method. Writing on the tablet of your heart like Biblical prophets did. Things you love about life are usually character enhancing interfaces with the truth of being. Lose reception, acquire perception.
New to Mr Holiday. All I can say is WOW!! Already ordered some books!
One of the best videos I have seen on how to read. Thank you for sharing your method of reading Ryan Holiday.
Super insightful. Thanks!
I used to take notes and my envelope is full of thousands of intermediate papers. Now I am going to try this out notecards and a commonplace book because i stopped taking notes for 2 months and just read books and highlight. But now I know how. Thank you so much for this!
I don't know why I didn't get your book first when i started making book reading a habit late april and I only got to know you and read your first book (ego is the enemy) Last month.
Now i am curious about your other books and robert greene's.
@3:34 Does anyone know where to purchase this box from? I would very much appreciate a link to amazon or something that nature
I markup my books but then create an index of it, and have tags in their. I put that index into Evernote. Then when I clip things into Evernote, I use similar tags. So in that sense, Evernote becomes like his notecards. It's not all handwritten, but I'm also not an author, I have other things to do. I recently created a very technical training and had to draw on over 30 references, and use this technique to really get to know my knowledge and create about 10,000 words on this topic.
I'm just getting into Marcus Aurelius and stoicism and i'm hooked. Ordered your daily stoic book and it will be here tomorrow, really looking forward to it! Got the feeling i'm not done with your books after that.
I used to study like you read. Resume, and study that over and over again
I am so happy to hear that “ speed reading is bs” because I was introduced to this concept of speed reading recently. I was struggling to comprehend most of the content while trying to “ speed read”.
Speed reading can be utilised for “revision” of highlighted points , not for first time read
Ryan, this video so resonated with me. I really appreciate your passion and your process. I too am a slow reader ad 1,100 pages in a week seems monumental. But the discipline that you bestow is so motivating. I see the value of writing on cards, but I believe I am going to use the software Obsidian and the Zettlekasten method to record my thoughts. But you are right in that the physical aspect of writiing and the use of muscle memory helps you to create the mental links that a software package like Obsidian. All the best . . .
+1, I just started with Zettelkasten+Obsidian a few weeks ago as well. Best I've seen so far to consolidate knowledge and associations.
wow the way you do it man really nails it, and yes no screens when reading,I like that quote you said "not all readers are leaders but all leaders have to be readers" I need information to get better
I do something similar but with architectural designs. I'll have some idea and I'll work it out 20-50+ different ways in 1-2 notebooks. I continue to refine the idea until eventually I'm left with a few really polished designs that I can then put into a more final draft.
This type of note card system is called the zettlekasten for anyone curious.
This is really good. I used this system which I used for my fourth book worked very well. I am now using it on my current work.
for me, I don't like writing directly on the book so I use transparent sticky notes on the page to highlight and make notes. this really does help you engage with the book
I got in the habbit of writing down quotes that I like. From all types of media. Some of my favorites are from the tv show Highlander.
Really have enjoyed your channel Finding Stoicism has become a big deal in my life Wish i had found all this earlier Found that i have had some of ideas in my life from early on Reading the stoics has validated somethings I have tghought about and have live by THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SHARING
Thank you brotha. Trusting you’re method. One day I’ll shake your hand for the impact it’s made on my life.
Can you do a separate video just on the cataloging? I didn't quite get the system you have for going back and finding a particular notecard.
Thanks and TFP!
Just the type of video I needed today! Thank you for this Daily Stoic! :)
I’m trying this method. The only modification will be that once I’ve done my note cards, I’m taking the data and placing them in my Obsidian note app with back-links connecting the notes.
Just finished Courage is calling and wholly enjoyed it. I would definitely read it again.
This is awesome, thank you. I've watched many of your videos and enjoy them very much. I'm part way thru Meditations which I've seen you refer to a lot and a friend of mine, recommended it as well. This system is of your is up my alley and will try it out. I've recently starting reading to relax and as you said here, get away from all the screens in our lives. I use to say "I'm not a reader"....I won't be saying that again. Also thank you for saying speed reading is BS. It helps me accept me learning this process. Thanks for the Inspiration Ryan. Cheers.
Love the Organizaing System - Your Common Book. I have taken notes of podcasts/books/lectures -- all in various notebooks. It is a good way to reinforce the material in my brain -- but I have always had trouble going back and finding material. Will try the new Common Book System! Thx!
Can you do how to do "common place book" and how you categorize in detail for full video?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten
can find more information here.
obsidian.md/
here is a digital tool i use.
I love seeing your enthusiasm in the research and learning process. Thank you for this video! ❤