3 Simple Ways to Change Your Behavior and Take Control of Your Life

The French philosopher, Henri Bergson, once said that, "To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."

Change is unavoidable, continuous, and is occurring all the time. 

Our country changes, our city changes, our neighborhood changes, our family changes, and we as individuals change. Sometimes it may not be perceptible by someone on the outside.

But, we know ourselves better than anyone else when we have changed. 

Our political views may have changed, our attitudes may have changed, our appearances may have changed, and even our faculties may have changed.

The term change itself has an even deeper significant when it is in reference to a change in behavior that represents coming to a fork in the road and having to choose one direction or another. If you're dissatisfied with your present state and want to change, that is significant. 

If you are dissatisfied with your career; if you're dissatisfied with your marriage or other important relationships; if you're dissatisfied with your lifestyle; or if you're dissatisfied with your career; a major change may be necessary. A desire to change and a willingness to do so is essential. No one can change you or your situation. It has to begin with you. It has to begin inside.

1. Some people continue to change jobs, mate, and friends, but never think of changing themselves. Don't become that person. If you feel that you are stuck in a rut and is seriously desirous of making a change in your life, don't hesitate to seek professional help. 

If you don't have a close friend who has your best interest at heart, then find a therapist that you can trust and establish a good working relationship with that particular person. 

2. Be willing to take your therapist's recommendations seriously. Just talking about your problem will not bring about the change you need. You must be willing to do homework between the sessions and talk about your efforts and experiences when you return to the session. Most people do not change because willingness to make the effort is lacking.

3. Think about change as taking control your life. Get off of the roller coaster ride where you are allowing others to affect your emotional level by what they say or do. It is about making the decision to become that person you want to be, to begin taking the necessary steps in that direction, and to resolve to continue to grow the rest of your life

 
You may also like Take Control of Your Life with Lifestyle Changes. Let me know your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

Take Control of Your Destiny by Breaking Bad Habits

To take control of your life, recognize that habits are response patterns to situations. 

If you are a smoker, you reach for a cigarette when the coffee is served, but not during the soup. 

You don't smoke or even want to in church, in the theater, in a courtroom, or in other places where no one usually smokes. 

Given the right circumstances you will light up.

In order to break a habit, then, you must recognize that you must deal with the source of satisfaction - that is, you must want to change your ways and give up the real or imagined benefits; you must be aware of what you are doing, and, you must take in account the situation that had become associated with the habit.

A number of methods for habit breaking have been proposed by therapists working from different points of views. 

Here I will review some of them and recommend the one that I believe is the most effective.

One method for habit breaking is through negative practice. 
This is deliberately repeating a habit over and over again until you are totally bored with it. This method can be used when you seem to be unaware of when or why you are doing something. 

This procedure calls attention to the situation involved, which makes them recognizable so that preventive action can be taken.

Another method that can be used is the tapering off method. 
This is a long-term process and works only if you are seriously interested in breaking the habit. If the habit is related to a life-threatening disease such as cancer or heart disease your motivation to break the habit can be significantly strong enough so that nothing else may be needed.

Still, another method is to quit cold turkey.  
You may experience significant stress with this approach or you may perhaps experience some joy out of being able to make such a complete break. 

This is not a method, but a decision that you make and are willing to stick with despite the potential discomfort that you will experience.

Finally, in my judgment the best way to break any habit is to follow the five main components of the habit reversal method:

1. Recognize that the habit is a strong or persistent urge that is not rooted in deeper psychological problems.
2. Keep precise record of urges and count the number of times that you actually succumb to them.
3. Develop an awareness of the chain of events that leads to or results in the unwanted behavior.
4. Learn relaxation method as a means of combating the urges.
5. And, substitute a response that incompatible with the unwanted behaviors.

If you really desire to quit any habit and take control of your life, these five easy step process really works.


Your Thoughts. Leave Your Comments Below

Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Health

Spirituality has been defined as the belief and practices that develop based on personal values and ideology of the meaning and purpose of life as part of a larger scheme.

It refers to the belief that there is a power outside of one's own that transcends understanding.

For many individuals, identifying with a religion and having religious beliefs influence their spirituality. However, spirituality is not confined to those who belonged to an organized religion or have religious beliefs.

People can develop spirituality without practicing a particular religion or believing in the powers of a supreme being. 

However, whatever is the nature of their spirituality, many individuals achieve a sense of inner peace and harmony as well as emotional fulfillment by believing that life has a purpose.

In my view spirituality and religiosity are interrelated with religiosity focusing on the external expressions of spirituality or faith. In other words religious practices can foster spirituality while spiritual practices could involve aspects of religious participation.

Nevertheless, a breakdown in spirituality can have a negative impact on one's mental well-being.

The key issue here is that whether changing their lives to improve their mental health or dealing with the recovery from a health problem, people with strong spiritual beliefs benefit from the foundation of confidence and purpose that their beliefs provide.

Now let's look at the three dimensions of spirituality. They are:
a. making personal meaning out of situations
b. coming to an understanding of self
c. appreciating the importance of connection with others.

Spirituality then may be considered a mechanism of social support, positive coping, and decision-making, avoidance of substance abuse, and help in times of stress.


What are your thoughts about spirituality? Leave your comments below.

5 Secrets to Having Great Conversations

The 5 Secrets of  Great Conversation emphasize conversation as being an art. Just as a great artist can avoid boring topics. 

This is perhaps the one to emphasize most. To practice the art of conversation, keep abreast of current events, tune in to your fellow conservationists, and enjoy the experience.

Use these secrets whether you are a parent talking with your children, an adult talking with your spouse, or in a group of people that you are just getting acquainted with. Modify them to meet the occasion. 

Now here are the 5 Secrets of Great Conversation:

1. Avoid Boring Topics

Keep your health complaints for your doctor unless those you are talking to can be of assistance, don't talk about your personal and domestic affairs, and forget about bringing up your in-laws and pets. 

Read the newspapers online if you don’t want to buy the print editions. I buy the print editions only on the weekends. Choose two or three monthly magazines that go in depth on topics you’re interested in. And, keep current in your area of expertise.

2. Don’t Offend

The best manners come from empathy. It's feeling as though you are the other person – – put yourself in his place. They are simply expressions of the decent respect the one human being owes to another and is owed in return. Try to be sensitive to those around you.

3. Don’t Gossip

The Bible says, " Do not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Gossip, by definition, is rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature. 

In other words, don't talk behind your neighbors back. It reflects on your character. Spreading rumors are about as hard to unspread as butter.

4. Include Everyone In

To exclude someone from a conversation is as unthinkable as it would be for a hostess to omit serving one of her guests at dinner. Don't leave anyone out. Reach out to all. Let your eyes communicate cordially with each in turn. 

Be aware of everyone's reaction to what you are saying. Put yourself in the shoes of the other person who is feeling left out.  Make a point of setting him or her at ease.

5. Listening

"Know how to listen, says Plutarch, and you can learn from those who speak badly." Fifty percent of the talking is listening – – not just with your ears, but with all your senses; and, with your heart as well as your mind.  

Close listening for correct information is essential to good conversation, social, or business. The greatest compliment you can pay to anyone is to really listen to what he has to say. And, the way to show you have been listening is to answer responsibly.

What do you think?

Leave your comments below.

10 No Nonsense Strategies to Easily Manage Your Time Effectively

When you manage something, you direct or control the use of it. Although you cannot direct time, you can certainly control your use of it.

All of us have the same amount of time, but how we use it, has a significant effect on the success we experience in life.

Time management does not involve any secret principles.

Rather, it involves setting priorities, organizing your life according to those priorities, making a commitment to keeping them, and enjoying the journey along the way with less stress and more accomplishments.

Here are the 10 simple and easy time management strategies.

1. Do it immediately. If a task can be completed in less than a minute, do it on the spot. So instead of putting the glasses and dishes in the sink and walking away, Wash them right away. Get it over with.

2. Organize your documents. Learn how to organize your documents and photos on your home or work computer. Consider the many free photo organizing applications and the organizing features in your word processing applications and use one or more of them.

3. Purge your email of all unnecessary messages. Get serious about it.

4. Organize your bookmarks. Determine the categories that are important to you and set them up.

5. Count to ten when you feel snowed under by clutter and general disorder, Just putting things back in their rightful place including the trash can. And always have a bag ready for thrift store donations.

6. Organize and file your junk email. Establish at least two new email accounts. Use one for all the retail and internet, promotions you want to receive, and for your shopping. The other email account should be for your relatives, friends, and urgent emails. Visited these accounts twice a day and dispatch everything you don’t want to save into the recycle bin.

7. Cook more rice than you need for your today’s meal. Use leftovers for spanish rice, fried rice, red beans and rice, or other good rice recipes.

8. Organize your bookshelves. You may find a favorite book that you just totally forgot to read or that you can benefit from rereading. Others you may just decide to donate.

9. Recycle instantly. Keep waste baskets in strategic spots around your home, and deposit junk mail, and unwanted catalogs in them. Buy a shredder and remember to shred anything with sensitive information.

10. And, finally, start your day smart. Begin your day with a healthy and delicious breakfast. Consider oatmeal, fruit, and raisin toast, an omelet, grits, and wheat toast, a raisin toast sandwich of your choice of jam and cream cheese and a piece of fruit. Or if you prefer something even lighter, how about raisin toast, and cottage cheese with fruit. Reduce or eliminate the amount of meat you eat for breakfast. You’ll then be more alert and have more energy.


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3 Quick Tips to Get Motivated and Stop Fooling Around

Motivation is the force that leads people to take action. When you’re motivated, you do something. And that’s something that you do are tied to the pursuit of your goals.

The goals that you choose and adopt reflect your feelings or emotional involvement with current circumstances and the hope that you can make things better.

Motivation comes from action that reflects your inner needs. You are motivated when you are dissatisfied and want to improve your situation.

Now, here are the 3 Quick Tips to Get Motivated 

1. Mapping Out Your Destination
On close examination, motivation flows through you in three phases. Consider the first phase as your goals.  Define your goals and your route plans – – your trip to your final destination. You need to evaluate and juggle information.

Sift through all the would-be objectives to determine which are the most beneficial. Weigh all the potential risks. And, calculate all the possible outcomes until you lock in on the best goal under the circumstances.

2. Get Revved Up

Once you fix upon your goals or goal, you need to get revved up. You need to turn on the key, adjust the mirrors, and, hit the gas pedal. With the route map in hand and a full tank of gas, you need to hit the road.

3. Start Driving
Now, you will not be driving around aimlessly, you will be moving in a very specific, goal oriented direction. Moreover, when you form new goals, you begin a motivational cycle all over again. This can happen in a matter of seconds, over a long period of time, or anywhere in between. 

This mapping, revving up, and driving is the sequence that you have to go through no matter what goal you pursue and is fundamental for helping you to overcome setbacks.

You may want to think seriously about Goal Setting and if you need some motivational thoughts, go to Success Sayings.

Leave your comments below.

Manage Your Mind for Fun and Profit

Although, you are busy that's no excuse for reading inspirational and motivating literature. 

Carve out the time to read even if it's only twenty minutes a day. I guarantee you'll enjoy it so much that you will find even more time to do so.  

The old adage, you are what you read, still rings true. When your reading materials are success-oriented and optimistic, your achievement level will be high. 

Stop Reading Pessimistic Materials 
If your reading materials are pessimistic or depicts people as victims of circumstance, your achievement level will be low. 

Conversely, achievement oriented literature will help you to think in terms of goals and success. It can be most supportive of you in your pursuit of inner strength and self-reliance.  

Keep the book you never get to read either in your car, in your briefcase, or in your purse. If you are waiting in a long line some where, or if you are caught waiting for a tardy child, it will become an opportunity to read.

And, finally, think about a book that you absolutely loved when you were in college and reread it. Great literature is every bit as great the second time around.

Find Time to Exercise Daily
For the body consider this. Nearly six out of ten people experience no daily exercise. However, like any other activity, it takes both choice and commitment. 

Walking, jogging, biking, or working out regularly on a home exercise machine such as a stationary bike can have a positive impact on your physical and emotional health, but you have to choose to do it and commit to doing it. 

Do it even if you think you don't have time for it. It's good for the mind, good for the soul, and it doesn't have to cost you a cent. 

Also consider walking with a friend. It's a perfect way to do two things at once: exercise and create an opportunity for good conversation. 

In addition to a regular exercise routine, get extra exercise by walking up a flight of stairs rather than using an elevator.

Keep Exercising Simple 
Back to the simple home exercise machine. It works fine. Forget the fancy looking exercise machines you see advertised on television and forget joining the local health club. You don't need either before you start exercising. 

In reality, the foundation of any good exercise program needs to be no more complicated than taking a walk or a jog for free and adding a few other activities such as sit-ups, push-ups, or jumping on an exercise bike if you just want to work on certain parts of the body and to give yourself some variety. 

This is all that is required for you to have a positive effect on your health.

To get the maximum enjoyment from life, you need to pursue the care and feeding of both your mind and your body. Think about health as a broad goal for both your mind and your body.

Your Comments?

How to Make Stress Work for You

At any time, financial conditions can become a source of stress and can significantly complicate both your personal and family life .  

Although stress is a commonly used term, a useful definition of stress for this article is that it is an uncomfortable experience especially when it is overwhelmingly based on personal events and circumstances. This experience is not lost on the self-employed.

Worry Can Take It's Toll on Your Well-bring
Worry over job loss, mounting bills, and family responsibilities can take its toll on your personal well-being. In that the number one thing that couples argue about, even in good economic times, is money, financial stress can take its toll on marriage and other committed relationships. 

Psychosomatic illnesses can result in insomnia, high blood pressure, migraines, stomach disorders, loss of appetite, a reduced desire to engage in fun activities, and irritableness. Even anxiety, depression, and panic cannot be ruled out. Other family members will begin to wonder about the changes in your behavior and the deterioration in your relationship with them.

Know the Sources of Stress
An American Psychological Association survey conducted in 2008 found that eight in ten people identified money (81%) and the economy (80%) as a significant source of stress in their lives. Other sources of stress include housing costs (62%), and job stability (56%). Two years after this study, the situation worsened. Government programs were not and will never be the solution. 

The terrible Obama economy, the only administration that didn't realize at least a 3% growth in our economy, added $10 trillion to our national debt. This was more debt than all the other previous Presidents combined. He essentially borrowed from our future and piled debt on our children and grandchildren.

You Must Survive and Grow
Now that the Obama era is over and with our economic conditions has significantly improved, you as a self-employed person have a great opportunity to survive and grow. And beyond that, be the expert that your stressed out clients look to for help. You have to manage stress in your life by learning all you can about what causes stress in your life, and what works for you in dealing with it. And, then you must make stress work for you rather than against you. 

A wider view of stress is that the uncomfortable experience, correctly identified, should be welcomed and accepted. Use stress to invigorate your creativity and resourcefulness -- to wake up the creativity inside you thus allowing you to invent ways to circumvent or overcome challenging events and circumstances and to help you in your work with your clients.


How do you manage stress in your life? Leave your comments below.

8 Secret Steps to Easy Blog Writing

Writing a blog should not be a difficult or arduous task. 

• Rather it should be a pleasurable outpouring of your position on an issue; 
• an expression of your strong feelings about a current event; 
• an exposition on a topic on which you have done some significant research; 
• or maybe just sharing a particular point of view on something you have some real interest in.

Blog Writing as a Release

As an independent consultant the writings I often do include writing reports, designing programs, evaluating programs, and developing proposals to acquire grant moneys along with helping new blog writers get off and running. 

Blog writing then is a release from that type of demanding writing. As I write this, I am experiencing a release from my normal and typical writing directly associated with making a living.

Blog Writing Simplified

Blog writing, simplified, can be broken down into eight specific and easy tasks:

1. Identify the substance of what you want to write about.

2. Work on the title of the blog. The title is extremely important. It will determine whether or not someone actually decides to read your blog. Make the title a catchy and intriguing one.

3. Develop a strong lead paragraph. This is important because, after the title, the paragraph must make the reader wants to further explore what you have to say.

4. Keep your main points you want to make to no less than three and no more than nine. Two are too few. Ten are too many.

5. Support each of your points with facts and data. If you choose to quote a so-called expert, keep it to a minimum. The important thing is to make sure that your facts and data are from reputable sources.

6. Keep your sentences short and concise. Write in the active voice. And, write to the reader. Let the reader know that you are talking to him or her.

7. Use bullet points if they are appropriate to your blog and avoid jargon unless you are willing to explain what it means.

8. Conclude your blog with a summary of your main points or a simplified restatement of the essence of your blog

There it is. Blog writing should be a release, but also valuable to the reader. Consider it to be therapeutic and have fun doing so.

I'd like to know your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

4 Secrets of Setting Goals in Life

We are all increasingly bombarded by events beyond our control. Wars, inflation, recession, and other outside stresses impinge on our emotions. 

When we add these events to career, family, health, financial, and personal problems, it is apparent why stress overload is such a common problem.

While these realities are here, with its rapid changes, our delicate human nervous system remains unchanged.  We continually search for firm ground on which to stand and meet our problems. 

Goals and Setting Goals in Life is that firm ground. 

Have a Goal Oriented Plan for Your Life
The truth is that if you don't have a goal oriented game plan for your life and personal development, you may well lose control of those events upon which you can exercise control. For example, you may feel reasonably secure in your career today, but are you prepared for a second, or perhaps a third career if circumstances make such a decision necessary?

Things happen unexpectedly - - career crisis, health problems, and family problems - - and, without planning you will end up being a reactor rather than an actor in life.  

Goal setting makes you an active agent in molding your life and enables you to be clear what you want. Keep in mind that not much of life is accomplished without specific, smart goals.

The pleasure of taking control of your life is, by itself, worth the effort. It prepares you for the inevitable changes that occur as you pass from decade to decade through marriage, children, career changes, retirement, and so on. 

It gives you a full perspective on your life. You can see, perhaps for the first-time, whether or not you are structuring your life to realize your potential and achieve personal fulfillment.

Here Then are Four Principles to Follow:
1. Define your goals clearly 
The failure to establish clear goals is one of the chief obstacles to achievement and personal fulfillment. The art of goal setting lies in your ability to focus on one well-defined objective at a time. A clearly defined goal is one that is specific and measurable and one that is set within a specific time frame.

2. Put your goals in writing 
Goal writing is the tool for achievement and fulfillment. Your goals must mesh with your commitment and your purpose in life. Successful people in all walks of life have found that goal writing can provide the energy and the will to achieve them. Writing down goals forces you to be specific. Your goals become more real and you avoid the dangers of vague, indefinite objectives.

3. Record baseline data 
In setting goals in Life, you need specific information about your present actions in order to establish a basis for change. It is important to have a complete and accurate record of where you stand now if you are to establish a goal for change. 

For example, if your goal is to double the amount of time you spend walking each week, keep track of the time you currently spend walking and figure the average. In setting baseline data, don't rely on memory. Make a record as it occurs and give yourself a long enough period of time to get a fair average. Good baseline information is the foundation for setting successful goals.

4. Break goals into sub goals 
Trying to make the transition from present performance to a desired goal in a single jump can lead to early failure and loss of confidence. Sub goals are stepping stones to success. A big goal is not a measure of your present status. 

It is a target -- something you need to attain ultimately. You shouldn't feel like a failure if your goal is not achieved tomorrow or the next day. You need the smaller sub goals that are just beyond your current ability but still within the realm of present possibility.

These goals can be very supportive as they help build your winning streak. Most importantly they can provide the foundation for successful activity.


Do you set goals? What has been your experience?

8 Ways to Know If You Are Goal Directed

A person going nowhere can be sure of reaching his destination. Don't go nowhere. Your success improves when you set goals that are specific, short-term, and challenging. 

The big goal is not a measure of your present status. Rather, it is a target -- something you mean to ultimately realize. 

What you need to focus on are smaller, short range goals which are just beyond your current ability but still within the range of present possibility.

Set Supportive Goals
Your goals should be very supportive and satisfying as they will help you build your winning streak and a foundation for successful activity. 

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. Moreover, make your commitments in bite size chunks. A house is built one brick at a time. An artist paints one stroke at a time. And, you also should work in small increments.

Set Challenging Goals
Besides setting supportive and satisfying goals, set challenging goals. Strong interest and involvement in activities are sparked by challenges. Easy to reach goals spark little interest or effort. However, unrealistically high goals can bring failure and diminished self-confidence.

It is also important that your goals are concerns that you want to accomplish and not what you want to avoid. Researchers have found that the choice of avoidant goals is associated with poor performance and distress. 

Here then are the 8 Ways to Know if You are Goal Directed:

1. Do you set long-term and short-term goals?.
2. Do you set challenging goals that are neither too easy or beyond your reach?.
3. Are you good at managing your time and setting priorities to make sure you get the most important things done?.
4. Do you regularly make to-do lists and successfully get things done?.
5. Do you set guidelines and consistently meet them?
6. Do you regularly monitor how well you are progressing towards your goals and make changes in your behavior if necessary?
7. When you're under pressure, do you still plan your day and weeks in a clear and logical manner?
8. Do you set task-involved, mastery goals rather than self-centered or work-avoidant goals?

If most of the descriptions characterize you, than you are likely to be a goal-directed individual. If these statements do not characterize you, then consider ways that you can become more goal-directed.

Planning how to reach your goal and monitoring progress towards your goal are critical aspects of your achievement. 

Researchers have also found that high achieving individuals monitor their own learning and systematically evaluate their progress toward their goals more than low-prescription achieving individuals.

Have you been to a motivational speech, gotten charged up and then felt disappointed afterwards? The key is to try and see if you can internalize it and make it personal through goal formulation.

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Control Your Destiny by Working Smarter and More Efficiently

As a blogger, you must be organized and your computer must be your best friend and assistant. 

Using your computer efficiently, being organized, and working smarter is the key.

If you can't find an important document, if you forget to make an important phone call, or you forget to pay an important bill on time, you will not only waste time, but it can cost you money.

Here are 7 ways to work smarter and keep this type of stress at a minimum:

1. Keep your desk organized.
Keep your files that you are currently working on close to your desk. I use two file crates that accommodate file folders always nearby. One crate has the folders that I am currently working on while the other crate has the research that I need to support the articles, blogs, and letters that I'm writing at that time.

2. Manage your time wisely.
Break your time down into segments associated with tasks. Here's how to do it. Determine what tasks that need to be completed each week. If you are like me, there are certain tasks that are consistent from week to week such as Phone Calls, Copywriting, Operations (organizing, filing, planning), Meetings, and Accounting. You may have other tasks that may not have to be addressed each week. Lay all this out and associate a segment of time to each task, either 30 minutes or more.

3. Learn keyboard shortcuts.
Here are some shortcuts for using Windows Logo: Start Menu Windows; Windows Logo +R: Run dialog box;  Windows Logo +E: Windows Explorer; Windows key +D  Desktop to foreground ; Alt + Tab: Switch to another running program; Alt + F4: Quit Program; CTRL+ ESC: Opens the Start Menu;  ALT+SPACE: Displays the main System menu; ALT+F4: Closes the current window. 

4. Keep adequate supplies available. Don't have your printer running out of toner when you have an important document that need to be printed immediately. The same goes for ink cartridges. Always keep spares on hand.

6. Don't get caught up in playing games or engaging in idle chit chat. I have two adult acquaintances that hold responsible positions in my community who play games on their computers almost from the time they arrive home to the time they go to bed. Personally, I believe in a life time of personal growth. 

In my opinion this is not the way to do it. I don't do idle text messaging, idle conversation (although I do love good intelligent and invigorating conversation) and I prefer to read for both relaxation and personal growth.

7. Read newspapers and articles online. Almost every print publication has an online version. I use Feedly and Pocket for these purposes.Save it and read periodically during the day. But, to each his own. By the way, there are some print publications that I prefer to have as a physical copy to read while I'm traveling.

To work smart requires you to have the proper mindset. Make it a priority and your will have satisfying results

What are your strategies. Leave your thoughts below.

9 Steps Serious Bloggers Can Use to Increase Reading Speed 50% to 100%

                 Time Your ReadingIf you are like most bloggers and self-employed people, you want to learn how to read fast just to keep current in your industry and to gain valuable information for yourself and to share with others. 

If you read all the available and useful information word for word, you'll wind up spending all your time reading and not have time for anything else.

These 9 Steps for Increasing your Reading Speed will help you to experience reading, not as a chore to be put off as long as you can, but as an enjoyable and satisfying skill as well as another way to take control of your future.

You can learn to read faster by following these 9 steps:

1. Take at least one minute to review the material before reading it. 
First, skim to get a feel of what the piece contains, then the introductory material, section and chapter titles, index, and any other signposts. Next, treat the body of the text as a series of paragraphs, each paragraph being a self-contained unit with his own message to convey.

As soon as you have grasped the message, move immediately onto the next paragraph and repeat the process.

2. Become an active, rather than a passive reader. 
Instead of reading individual words, actively search out the important, descriptive, and meaningful ideas. Don't get bogged down in details. Move rapidly over the material.

3. Develop the knack of concatenation (linking two things together). 
Stop reading one word at a time and develop the habit of joining several words and repeating them as one unit. Learn to read by thought units rather than by individual words. You should take in between four and six words in a single glance.

4. Don't linger or reread words, phrases, or sentences. 
As difficult as it may be to break this non-productive habit, doing so will pay tremendous dividends. One way you can do this is to place a small slip of paper over the lines you have just read.

5. If your time permits, read at least one hour every day. 
Break it up into 20 minute segments, if necessary, and both select your reading materials carefully and find an optimum reading speed. Get rid of distractions and concentrate on what you are reading.

6. Eliminate poor physical habits such as sounding out the words in silent reading. This step doesn't need any further explanation.

7. Watch for the signpost in reading. 
Signposts are words or phrases which tell you in a split second whether there's going to be an abrupt change in the author's trend of thought or whether, on the contrary, the writer is really going to add more details to what is already been said. 

Some of the common turn about signals are: but, despite, on the contrary, however, nonetheless, yet, and rather. When you see these words you know instantaneously that the author is about to introduce a thought that is in opposition to the one he has just stated.

8. While you shouldn't sacrifice comprehension for speed, make a conscious effort to increase your reading speed. Still, make sure you understand what you are reading.

9.Reinforce what you read. At the earliest opportunity, think back on what you learned in your last reading session. Review the important points and any related information relayed by the author.

To make it easy, here are 5 questions you can ask yourself about what you read, What was the piece about? What important information was presented? What, if any, opinions did the writer present? What is your opinion of the piece? Name one element of the piece that makes it stand apart. This procedure helps to firmly implant the information in your memory.

Your Thoughts. Leave your comments below.