The Read the World Challenge is Here, Are You Ready?
We are at the Starting Gate, and all set to begin the Read the World Challenge Marathon. It’s a marathon because slow and steady wins the race. I will send out the weekly prompts Sunday mornings Eastern Standard Time. The Read the World Challenge is about you, and how you can transform your life in a year. If you participate in the reading challenge in the way that I recommend, you will discover that 2016 is a Year of Transformation for you.
Sign-up for the Read the World Challenge today!
To make sure that you succeed on the Read the World Challenge, as well as receive your Monthly Badges for actively participating, there are a few simple things that I’d like you to do.
Succeeding on the Read the World Challenge
- Join the Facebook Group, Read the World. There are a few people who are not on Facebook and will not open an account. Since community is key to everyone’s success on the Challenge, join Leaders Are Great Readers, my LinkedIn Group. You are welcome to join both groups because the discussions on each platform will take a different tone.
- Using the Book Tracker Template, please record the first 12 books you plan to read, based on the document, “The Read the World Challenge in a Nutshell.”
- Each week, post which book you are reading. Include the book number with the title of the book – this makes it easy for me to award the badges I mentioned above. Since I started the Read the World Challenge early to identify any challenges participants would likely encounter, I have already read most of the books for Month One of the Challenge. My examples include: Book One – Contagious
by Jonah Berger; Book Two – Hooked by Nir Eyal and so on. - Take detailed handwritten notes while reading each book. Type up your handwritten notes. This may seem like doing double work, but studies show that people remember more when they take notes by hand. When you type up your handwritten notes, you are committing the information to your long-term memory.
- For each book you read, extract the five big ideas. And for every four books, use the Monthly Reading Matrix to connect the ideas from the four books.
- After you use the Monthly Reading Matrix to connect the big ideas from the four books you read, please share some insights with group members.
- Download the mobile app Diaro, and set up your account. There is also a web-based version. I would like you to track your experiences while reading the books. Is your thinking changing? How is it changing? Have you acquired any new skills? How is it changing the way you perform your work? Writing in your diary is a written account of how your life is transforming while participating in the Read the World Challenge.
- I would like four volunteers to help me run the Read the World Challenge – two for Facebook and two for LinkedIn. Here’s what I need help with: I need a Facilitator to help me run the Groups, a Scribe to capture the important information we share in a downloadable document each month. This is an excellent tool for the cross-pollination of ideas.
- Please actively participate, so we can learn from each other.
by Jonah Berger; Book Two – 
by Nir Eyal and so on.Obstacles I Faced the First Month of the Read the World Challenge
I mentioned previously that I started the Read the World Challenge one month early for myself to try to anticipate the barriers that you would likely face.
- Make sure that you print the document, Elements of the Read the World Challenge, so you know what the requirements are to complete the Challenge each month. I made the mistake of relying on my memory, then was left scrambling to make sure that I met all the requirements. Your memory can fail you, so rely on the document.
- Schedule time every day for reading, when it's scheduled, you'll do it. In addition to scheduling time for reading, make sure that you add notifications, so you are alerted that it's time to read.
- Include books that can help you solve a problem, or develop a skill – books that interest you. I am very interested in learning about virality and how ideas spread. I read Contagious, Hooked, The Misfit Economy, and Non-Obvious with gusto, because I was learning practical information that I can use. I started reading Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread, and I put it down because in the middle of the first chapter, I couldn't see how it would assist me in understanding virality, but I will return to it, just in case I was too hasty. When you have a compelling reason for reading, you will read.
- This is my weakness and I have to work hard at fixing the problem. You see, I love reading, and I love taking notes, but I hate typing up notes. Now, I am scrambling to type up my detailed notes for four books. This has happened to me before, and yet, I haven't quite learned the lesson. I know the value of connecting ideas from the books you read. Since this is a problem for me, I think I need to schedule time each day to type my notes, do you have other solutions for me? Besides using the Livescribe Echo Pen that has a lot of terrible reviews on Amazon, what other technology is available to me? If you have had good experiences, please let me know as well.
, 
, 
, and 
with gusto, because I was learning practical information that I can use. I started reading 
, and I put it down because in the middle of the first chapter, I couldn't see how it would assist me in understanding virality, but I will return to it, just in case I was too hasty. When you have a compelling reason for reading, you will read.Another tip I wanted to give you, which isn't a problem for me, is that when you finish reading a book, start reading the next one, even if it means that you read two books in one week. There will be times when you are busy, and try as you might, you may not be able to read a book during the week. If you are always ahead, it's unlikely that you'll fall behind while participating in the Read the World Challenge.
Tools to Succeed During the Read the World Challenge
Choosing the Right Books Using Taki Moore’s Four Forces
Read the World Challenge Book Tracker
Elements of the Read the World Challenge
Monthly Reading Matrix
If you haven't done so yet, please consider joining the Read the World Challenge and experience a year of transformation!
Sign-up for the Read the World Challenge today!
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