6
1. Define a Major Goal — Set a clear purpose before reading. Tell your brain what to filter for and prioritize.
2. Marginalia — Write notes, questions, and reactions directly in the margins. Turn reading into a dialogue with the author.
3. Active Reading — Engage fully: preview, question, annotate, pause, and reflect. Don't just let your eyes move — make your mind work.
4. Reformulate — Restate ideas in your own words. If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it yet.
5. Connect — Link new ideas to what you already know — experiences, other books, real-world events. More connections = stronger memory.
6. Teach This — Explain what you learned to someone else. Teaching exposes gaps and locks knowledge in permanently.
The Golden Rule: Never close the book without creating output—a note, a summary, a question. If you didn't produce something, you didn't really read.
One-line mantra: Read with a question, mark it up, make it yours, link it, teach it.
