Got Your Motivating?

Speed Reading: Got Your Motivation?

If I ask you what turns you on, what moves you to action, and you answer
Everything, you just made an enemy. It takes an awful lot to wake folks up
from their day dreaming, and get them to use their left hemisphere
for planning, logic and reasoning.

Accept these two scientific facts and use them to analyze motivation.

You are going to live into your nineties, and if you choose to become a
lifelong learner you reduce your risk of dementia up to 60%, and add
up to ten years to your longevity.

How

If you want longevity, a healthy long life, the neurological research from
Harvard, Oxford and the NY Times through 2008, indicate using your
brain to learn is your secret weapon. Just remember the exercise cliché, use-it-or-
lose-it. Sure, it applies to muscles, and your three-pound coconut.

The Secrets

Remember sitting in school twiddling your thumbs, and praying for the bell to
end your suffering? But wait, one instructor wanted to wake up the class, and
he mentioned one single word that grabbed your attention.

He used an exciting example to explain boring Metaphors, Similes, and Figures of
Speech, and it shook you upright in your seat. Maybe it was the name of a tv show
you watched last night, or it was the killer word, S-E-X. Remember?

Attention

If you aint got attention, you are not in control of your brain. Who is running your
programming and using your hardware? Choices: Is it your Subconscious, Right
Hemisphere or Ego-Self, cause it sure is not your Consciousness, Left Hemisphere,
or Echt-Self (genuine, real, and authentic thinking)?

Accessing Your Attention

Curiosity excites your attention and shakes you awake. Curiosity causes an emotion
of hope you will discover something valuable for your life. Wait, the new
emotion creates a mental-image in your mind’s eye, and you can see-and-feel
something new, and you are not bored anymore.

Motivation is a feeling that moves you into the conscious world instead of
daydreaming. Without motivation there is no learning, no memory, and zero
personal growth.

Remember this: if you remain in your comfort-zone, (status-quo), and homeostasis
(equilibrium), nothing happens because your brain is just on idle. But say the secret
word and win a chicken: disruption. To command your attention, to learn and
remember, you must disrupt your comfort-zone.

How

You need novelty to awake your sleeping giant, something to snap you out of
daydreaming. The secret is asking yourself questions. Why? It arouses your
curiosity because Inquiring Minds have to know answers to questions. It is an
Instinct, and hardwired.

You already know these seven (7) questions, but do not use them to take control of
your brain power. The order counts: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Which?
and How?

Stay with me for personal growth. See in your mind’s eye an Owl. What does the
Owl say, all you kindergarteners? Who, Who? Right. The Owl jumps onto a
sombrero (Hat) and you associate the question, What? with the three letters of the
word Hat.

The Owl on the Hat turns into a Hen, and that prompts us for the question, When?
Reason: H-E-N is in the word, When, right? Now, the Hen turns into a Hare
(rabbit), which reminds us of the question, Where? Listen, it sounds like hair (hare).

The Hare morphs into a gigantic EYE, which reminds is of the question, Why?
The EYE transforms into a Witch flying on her broom. This reminds us of the
homonym question, Which? Lastly, the Witch turns into a Cow, reminding us of
the power Question, How? Now you got the schema of knowledge, use it.

Listen to a lecture and summarize the key points and important details. Read a
lesson or finish a book, ask yourself the seven (7) critical questions.

Too Hard

There are two major groups of folks on the planet Earth: the Vital Few (20%) and
the Trivial Many (80%). You are in the Elite Few, so exercise your motivation to
get comfortable with using these seven mental images and key questions.

Why

Your assignment, if you accept it Mr. Phelps, is to ask these seven (7) questions of
everything important you read or listen (lectures) to. If you write a 1-2 sentence
response for each of the seven questions, you summarize the critical details and key
ideas of whatever you wish to learn and remember.

The end result for thousands of Speed Reading students is to be labeled a genius
by your teachers and principals. Those who use this system called FistNoting at
school and in their career, improve their personal competency up to 85%. They
enter the group called the Vital Few, the 20% who become leaders and producers.

The rest who find it too hard and irrelevant to their future, stay with the Trivial
Many, and miss out on future promotions and financial success. How do we know?
Over 20 years of research and feedback.

Last thing

Four elements required for motivation:
Attention – Relevancy- Build Self-Confidence-Satisfaction. If you do not focus
your Attention, go to sleep. If you cannot find value, usefulness and relevance to
what you are learning, go back to sleep.

Does what you are learning produce a sense of self-confidence in you? If not, it is
sleepy-time. Finally, you must be satisfied with your new sense of core-competence.
You have to get a surge of well being from accomplishing the learning task.

You cannot feel that way about all the stuff you have to learn? Fake it, and do it
anyway because learning requires Persistence and Determination.

Use it or Lose it

Here’s the magic formula: Act as-if, feel as-if, believe as-if, whatever your
mind is learning, is worth your Attention, is really Relevant to your life, is
Confidence Building, and the results are deeply Satisfying.

Endwords

If you choose to add an additional ten years to your longevity, and protect yourself
from Alzheimers and other forms of dementia, be a lifelong learner.

We suggest you learn to Speed Read. Our graduates read three (3) books, articles
and reports in the time it takes your competitors to hardly finish one. And you will
double your long term memory. Ask us how.

copyright © H. Bernard Wechsler
www.speedlearning.org hbw@speedlearning.org
1-877-567-2500
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