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No, it’s not the thumbnail (although it’s a significant improvement from past videos).
The secret behind engaging YouTube videos will surprise you. You’ll either hate it or love it.
If you hate it, you have to learn how to love it because it’s the difference between engaging and non-engaging videos.
If the video is not engaging, regardless of its value, people won’t continue watching.
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Ever since I went back to my YouTube channel, I decided to read and review one book each week on my YouTube channel.
So far, I have reviewed books like Thrive by Arianna Huffington, Power Of Broke by Daymond John, and The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz (The Pumpkin Plan review was a while ago so I may read the book again and create a new video of me reviewing the book).
Since I suddenly went from not reading at all to forcing myself to get through at least one book every week, I had to read these books fast. The faster I read these books, the quicker I can review them and do other things for my business.
At the same time, I don’t want to rush the books. Rush the books, and then you don’t remember the insights.
I was about to get started with a speed reading course and do some research about that. However, my brother pointed out that speed reading hurts your eyes big-time.
He read an eye yoga book and told me that the speed reading methods make your eyes function similarly to a lazy eye.
Basic summary: speed reading can hurt your vision. And since I have bad long-range vision to begin with, I don’t need that to get any worse.
So this blog post won’t contain tips about skimming through pages or when to rotate your eyes to the next line of text.
I will be discussing the methods that will help you speed read, but at the same time, not hurt your vision.
#1: Read Shorter Books
Theoretically, you could read a 100 page book twice as fast as a 200 page book. Unless it’s ancient text because that always takes forever to read.
If you read shorter books, you will get them done sooner. I like to read shorter books because they give me a lot of great information, usually cost less, and involve less of my time.
A few caveats though. If there is a particular book you want to read, but it is a lengthy book, then read it. I wasn’t going to stop myself from reading Think and Grow Rich because it’s over 200 pages long.
I have read many books that surpassed 200 pages. I don’t care how many pages Seth Godin’s books are. If it’s sitting on my desk, I am going to read it to completion.
But here’s a caveat in favor of reading shorter books. It’s easy to look at a short book and think something like this:
“This book has less than 100 pages. It must be worthless.”
Well, this blog post would barely be 10 pages if that. The fact that you are reading to this point proves this blog post has been useful in some way.
A blog post is not a book, but don’t think that a small page count indicates a bad book or that a book with a lot of pages must be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Some short books do a good job at summarizing the same points that lengthy books explain within hundreds of extra pages.
I like to have a mixture of both types of books, but when I am reading, I almost always read the shorter books.
So how do I read the longer books?
#2: Listen To Audiobooks
I am currently experimenting with this option, but I think it has a lot of promise.
The idea behind audiobooks is that you can’t read a book all of the time, so you can listen to the audio version instead. There are certain scenarios that prevent us from reading, but audio wouldn’t be a problem.
I run every day, and if you have ever tried to run and read at the same time, you know it’s a disaster. However, what about running and listening to a book at the same time?
People listen to music all of the time while they run. Why can’t I listen to a book every once in a while?
Say what you may about the audiobook audio speed. First off, if you think the audiobook is too slow, there are ways to enhance the speed. The lowest rate I have seen so far for an audiobook is 150 WPM. I run anywhere from 1-2 hours per day.
When I try this out, I’ll hear anywhere from 9,000 to 18,000 words in each run. I can increase the amount of words I hear during each run by speeding up the audio rate.
Not all books are available as audiobooks. That is why when you create your book list, you should look to see which books on your list have audiobook versions and which ones do not before you decide on which hardcovers to buy.
I use Audible to read my audiobooks. You’ll get a free book every month just for signing up!
#3: Turn Reading Into A Daily Habit
I’m not Charles Duhigg, but I do take habits seriously. Habits will make or break you in anything that you pursue. If you want to read more books, you have to read every day.
It doesn’t matter how often you read. On some days, I manage to read for over an hour. On other days, I can barely read for more than five minutes.
However, I read every day, and each day adds more momentum to the last.
Once you turn reading books into a daily habit, it gets much easier to read the books. According to science, it takes about 66 days for something to become a habit.
That means the first 66 days are going to be the hardest, but after that, it’s all smooth sailing from there.
#4: Only Read Books That You Want To Read
This is the golden rule. Only choose to read the books that you would want to read. If you are forced to read a book that you don’t want to read, then you will find yourself slogging through it (unless the plot or content is really good).
But why take a chance when it comes to your reading (and your time). Only read the books that you know will fascinate you right from the start. Before you buy a book, you should get an idea of whether that book will be the right one for you or not.
You can do that by reading the author’s blog posts, customer reviews, and/or by reading the first few pages of the book’s free preview (assuming it’s on Amazon).
Once you decide on the book you want to read next, the final decision is deciding which format you will read the book in.
In Conclusion
Reading is important because it expands your knowledge. If you get new insights from the books that you read, then you are moving closer and closer to the dreams you wish to accomplish.
Before I put myself in a position where I could start calling myself a digital marketing expert, I read the books and blog posts written by the experts (experts are people who don’t have to tell you that they are experts for you to believe in their expertise).
Each time I read a book or blog post, I saw myself as inching closer and closer to my own digital marketing empire. Also my singing empire.
What books do you read? What are your reading habits? How do you read books quickly? Sound off in the comments section below.
It’s great to be inspired by role models. However, I believe that some people are inspired by role models without thinking of how they can reach the same level of success from the role model standpoint.
Get inspired by your role model, but also have a desire to become a role model. I’ll talk more about it in this video.
[Tweet “Myth Busting: The Role Model Status.”]
How much would your business change if you had thousands of people promoting your content…and you didn’t have to pay these people a penny? That extra exposure could be enough to dramatically grow your email list and generate more sales.
Luckily, there is a way to get thousands of people to promote your content. In this video, I’ll reveal how.
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The reality about business is that it isn’t always smooth sailing. The product launch may not go as expected, or you may believe that you need more connections to get more speaking gigs.
It’s easy to envision an imaginary wall blocking our progress. Some people think of this wall the moment they face an obstacle. All of these walls are created from within the mind. Things happen to us and the way we interpret what happens determines how we view challenges.
Even though we have many motivational quotes about the mind we can refer back to, it’s easier to imagine a wall and acknowledge its existence.
However, that wall needs to be broken. And more specifically, since I am excited about the next Avengers movie, that wall needs to get hulk-smashed!
We can’t punch into walls quite like The Hulk. However, the way to smash any wall holding you back is by starting within your mind. You have more control over your mind than anything else. Here’s how you gain control and smash the wall.
Assess
The first step to solving any problem is to acknowledge the problem. Then you plan out a solution. The planning process is when you assess the challenge and identify the steps you will take to conquer the challenge.
The key thing to do when assessing a challenge is to keep it simple. If you make the work look impossible, then you won’t be able to get it done.
Within the planning, you should assess your strengths and weaknesses. Once you identify your strengths and weaknesses, you can do some or all of the following:
The goal you are trying to accomplish will determine which of those three paths is the best one for you. Assessing the situation gives you a theoretical approach to solving a problem.
Assemble
Once you assess the wall and have a theoretical approach to hulk-smashing that wall, preparations must be made.
Depending on what is holding you back, you may have to assemble online tools, expertise in multiple topics related to your niche, and a team of people who can help you out.
No matter what you do, having a team of people to help you out is always beneficial. Whether you hire a freelancer to do some of your work or enlist the help of a mentor, you want to have someone helping you.
This step of the process is to ensure you are prepared to effectively proceed to the next step.
Action
This is the most important step of the entire process. You can do all of the planning and preparation that you want. However, if you do not take action, then that wall will continue to loom in the same spot where it is now.
Taking action is the scary part. Once action is taken, the theory is put to the test. Will the wall get smashed or will it stand?
An important thing to note about taking action is that one day of action won’t result in a smashed wall. For the worthwhile challenges, you’ll have to take consistent, daily action for days, weeks, months, or even years.
The only advice for taking action is to start once you feel prepared enough. You don’t want to wait until you feel fully prepared because that is the perfectionist mindset that holds too many people back.
Adjust
Once you take action, you have taken a significant step towards smashing the wall. Once action has been taken, there is one final step to smashing the wall.
Taking action is based on following a theoretical plan that you believe will succeed. Therefore, the plan looks good on paper, but plans on paper have the potential to exceed our expectations or fall below our expectations. That is why we must track the results we get from carrying out our plans.
Identifying the strong and weak points of your plan will allow you to get better results. You can spend more time on the strong points of your plan and outsource the weaker points of your plan to more qualified people than yourself. It’s okay to admit that you can’t do something as well as a freelancer. You must only focus on doing the things that you are good at and that you enjoy. Everything else should get outsourced.
As you continue adjusting your plan, it is essential to continue looking at your results and asking yourself, “What can I do today to get better results tomorrow?” In some cases, you may get better results the very next day by asking yourself this question. In other cases, better results come in the long-term.
If you look at what you are doing and ask yourself how you can do better, and you put in the work, then you can expect better results–whether those better results come in the short-term or the long-term.
In Conclusion
We get held back by different walls that we create for ourselves. Conquering those walls is not a matter of punching a hole straight into the wall. To conquer the imaginary walls we set for ourselves, we must approach that wall with a plan for its destruction. Knowing how you will conquer any type of setback will put you in a significant advantage.
Of course, not all plans happen the way they were supposed to happen on paper, but if you continue making adjustments, you’ll eventually have a solid, implemented plan that you can be proud of.
What are your tips for hulk-smashing the limitations we put on ourselves? Which of these methods did you like the most? Sound off in the comments section below.
A while ago, I thought it was a bad idea to put your content on other people’s blogs. There was a prevailing myth that putting your content on other people’s blogs meant duplicate content–and that it was disastrous for SEO.
Putting your content on other blogs allows more people to see your content, and it can actually be a good thing for SEO. In this video, I’ll bust the myth and reveal how you can get your content on other blogs.
[Tweet “Myth Busting: Your #Blog Posts Are Only For Your Blog.”]