Chapter 1
This chapter gives a glimpse of the magic power of your mind and shows you that you are capable of much more than what others have told you.
You will learn two mind power study techniques:
- The Finger Technique to Read Faster
- The Topper’s Daily Routine
The Finger Technique to Improve Your Reading Speed Quickly: Proof that You are Capable of Achieving Much More than What Others have Told You
Yes. In this section, we (you and I together) prove that your mind is capable of much more than what others have told you so far.
In 30 minutes, you will learn the “Finger Technique” in 4 easy steps for faster reading and prove that you have the ability to read much faster than you currently do.
Before you learn the Finger Technique, I want you to know it is an extremely powerful technique to improve your reading speed in just 30 minutes.
Here is what users are saying:
I topped DAV College Chandigarh. I increased my reading speed from 303 to 1000 words per minute.”
– Sanjeev Dixit, Panchkula, Haryana
“Very useful for my BSc and ICWA exams. Within a single day, I increased my reading speed from 275 to 455 words per minute”
– S Jayaprakash, Madras, TN
“I am very happy to inform you that my son Ravi Anand increased his reading speed from 228 to a surprisingly high 1818 words per minute. Thank you for your course.”
– Dr. M L Singh, MS, Eye Surgeon, Bihar
“It was very beneficial for my IAS exam.”
– Rajnikant Dikshit, Gorakhpur, UP
“Unbelievably, I improved my reading speed from 75 to 200 words per minute. My son (in class 4) improved his memory. .”
– Prof M Bhatnagar, Ph.D., Formerly in the US
“My parents are very happy. I had never before got distinction, but now I got 78% in Maths and 80% in Science.”
– Pankaj Kumar, Nasik, MS
Now, slowly read the instructions below.
There is no hurry. Just do as I say.
Do not skip any step.
Every person’s mind works similarly. That is why my instructions and techniques are equally useful for everyone. Even if you are already very good at your studies, believe me, you will become better.
Do not skip a step because you are smarter than ordinary people.
All I ask is your half an hour so that I can prove to you that your mind is much more powerful than you thought.
Let us begin.
First, find your reading speed
Let us first find out your current reading speed.
Get a watch that can measure time in seconds. If possible, ask someone to check the time as you read.
Read the following at your normal reading speed. There is no hurry. Find out how much time you take to read the following.
Ready … start…
The young man had looked everywhere for a good manager but had found only a few. The few he did find could not share their secrets with him. He began to think maybe he would never find out what made a good manager successful.
Then he began hearing fantastic stories about a special manager who lived, surprisingly, in a nearby city. He heard that people liked to work for this man and that they got great results together. The young man wondered if the stories were true and, if so, whether this manager would be willing to share his secrets with him.
So, he telephoned the special manager’s secretary for an appointment. The secretary put him through immediately.
The young man asked this special manager when he could meet him. He heard, “Any time this week is fine, except Wednesday morning. You decide the time.”
The young man quietly laughed because this supposedly marvelous manager sounded like an untrue person to him. What kind of manager had so much time available? But the young man was fascinated. He went to see him.
When the young man arrived at the manager’s office, he found him relaxing and looking out of the window. When the young man coughed, the manager turned and smiled. He invited the young man to sit down. And asked, “What can I do for you?”
Stop and see the time on your watch.
Find your approximate reading speed on the chart below. Write it here for comparing later ____________
SPEED CHART
Now, Get Ready to Improve Your Reading Speed
Please get ready to learn two techniques:
- The Eye-Finger Coordination Technique
- The Finger Technique
Eye-Finger Coordination Technique
Use this technique twice daily for the first week. Then, for the next 3 weeks, use it twice a week.
The goal of this technique is to (1) train your finger to move fast under lines of printing within the vertical marker lines (2) train your eyes to follow your finger as it moves and to see just above the finger without trying to understand at all.
To make sure our mind does not try to understand words, we keep the book upside down. Yes. All the words will look upside down and so you don’t have to try to understand anything – not even a single word.
Now move your finger under the lines of print and try to see words just above your finger as the finger moves. To move your finger as fast as possible, please note that you move your finger within the vertical marker lines as shown in the diagram below.
Eye-Finger Coordination Technique:
Turn the book upside down. Move your finger from left to right under each
line of print within the vertical marker lines
to guide your eyes to move faster without trying to read at all
Use this technique for 5 minutes while moving your finger smoothly and rapidly with a sense of urgency and seeing the words above the finger.
After 5 minutes with this technique, please close your eyes and give them rest for 2 minutes. To relax your eyes, as shown below, you can cover them with your palms without pressing against the eyes but just cover them in a way to eliminate light reaching your eyes.
How to give rest to your eyes:
Cover your eyes with your palms to stop any light entering your eyes,
but without pressing against the eyes
After relaxing your eyes, you are ready to learn the Finger Technique below.
The Finger Technique
Use the Finger Technique for all of your reading during the training period.
The Finger Technique is similar to the Eye-Finger Coordination Technique with just one difference: In the Finger Technique, you keep the book normal/upright so that as you move your finger, you can see the words, read, and understand them, as shown in below.
Do not move your lips and do not speak aloud as you read.
The goal is to train your mind and eyes to read faster and faster, so do not try to understand everything. It is enough to understand 70% or 80% only. What is important is to move your finger fast and see or read the words as your finger moves under a line.
The Finger Technique of Speed Reading:
Keep the book normal/upright so that you can read as your eyes follow the finger.
Now using the Finger Technique read for 5 more minutes with a sense of urgency.
Again take a 2-minute break to give rest to your eyes.
Repeat the Eye-Finger Coordination Technique for 5 minutes and the Finger Technique for 5 minutes.
Now, Find Your New Increased Reading Speed
Now you are ready to test your reading speed again using the Finger Technique. Move your finger fast within the vertical marker lines.
Remember that you don’t need to understand everything perfectly. If you miss some words, that is okay.
Remember not to move your lips and do not speak aloud as you read.
First, take a 2-minute break to give rest to your eyes.
Now you are ready to take the test again and read fast with a sense of urgency.
Find out how much time you take to read the following.
Ready … start …
Many years later, the man looked back on the time when he first heard of the principles of Two Minute Management. It seemed like a long time ago. He was glad he had written down what he learned from the Two Minute Manager.
He had written his notes into a book and had given copies to many people.
He recalled someone telephoning to say, “I can’t thank you enough. It’s made a big difference in my work.” That pleased him.
As he thought back on the past, he smiled. He remembered how much he had learned from the original Two Minute Manager and he was grateful.
The new manager was also happy that he did take the knowledge one step further. By giving copies to many other people in his company, he solved many practical problems.
Everyone who worked with him felt safe. They could also see why the seemingly simple Two Minute Management techniques worked so well with people.
Each person who had his copy of the text could read and re-read it at his own pace until he could understand it and put it to good use himself. The manager knew fully well the very practical advantage of repetition in learning anything new.
Sharing the knowledge in this simple and honest way had, of course, saved him a good amount of time. And it had surely made his job easier.
Many of the people reporting to him had become Two Minute Managers themselves. And they, in turn, had done the same for many of the people who reported to them.
The entire company had become more effective.
As he sat in his chair thinking, the new Two Minute Manager realized what a lucky individual he was. He had given himself the chance of getting greater results in less time.
Stop and see the time on your watch.
Find your approximate reading speed on the chart below.
SPEED CHART
Write down your new faster reading speed here ____________
Old reading speed ______________
Almost everyone almost doubles their reading speed. A few people need to practice more to get the results.
If you want to calculate the percentage improvement in your reading speed, you can use the following steps.
Difference in Speed = _______ words per minute
Percent Improvement = speed difference X 100 old speed
= ________ %
Now, are you convinced that your mind and eyes can read much faster than you currently reading?
Do not worry about understanding perfectly. Today is just the first day, so you do not understand fully when you read faster. Keep practicing for days and weeks. Your understanding will improve in the next few days. Within a week you will have a normal understanding. Also, remember that you do not have to understand every word. For example, if you miss something while reading a newspaper or a novel, it is okay.
The Topper’s Daily Routine: Your Guide to Super Success
You can learn the Topper’s Daily Routine quickly and start benefiting right today. The Topper’s Daily Routine requires a total of about 15 to 20 minutes a day of revising your schoolwork. I also recommend some physical exercise for 30 minutes.
As you learn other specific techniques from this book, the Topper’s Daily Routine becomes more and more effective and powerful for you.
If you ask me to pick the single most important technique from this book, it is the Topper’s Daily Routine.
I suggest you follow this technique for three weeks. If you can be regular enough to spend 15 to 20 minutes every day for three weeks, I guarantee you will always be using this technique for your studies. And after completing your education, when you will work on a job, you will continue to use some of these powerful techniques at your job.
What is the Topper’s Daily Routine? It is a systematic approach to studying daily, learning daily, and revising daily. I explain this routine in terms of what to do in the classroom and what to do at home, etc.
Let me give you an overview of the Topper’s Daily Routine. You will learn more details about it in Chapter 4.
Overview of the Topper’s Daily Routine:
Your Guide to Super Success
Quick revision in the class
- Revise the previous day’s class work when you reach and sit in class or before the teacher starts the class.
- Revise today’s class work when the teacher finishes class and leaves the classroom.
Quick revision at home
- In the morning after waking up, exercising, or taking breakfast
- Before going to school
- In the night before going to sleep
- Again next morning
- Sunday – revise this week’s class work two times.
- Monthly (first or last Sunday of the month) – revise monthly class work.
Study and learn at home
- Slowly study to understand class work and to study on your own (self-study)
- Do numerical questions (example: Math)
- Write and revise slowly to memorize difficult things
At home
- Do aerobic exercise for 30 minutes
- Take vitamins and minerals tablets
- Regularly do relaxation and deep breathing
- Sleep during the day also
- Take practice tests, similar to actual tests
At school / college
- Tell the teacher you are studying hard for the competition, merit, etc.
- Request a teacher to correct some of your answer books for practice tests
- Cooperate with other students (you are not competing only against them, but also thousands or lakhs of others)
During exams-days and exams
- Do not eat just before the exam.
- Use alpha-breathing and relaxation techniques.
- Read questions slowly, think, plan and then write answers.
- Sleep well and do not study so hard that you do get tired.
General suggestions
- Read fast.
- Take notes using the “mind-map” technique.
- Take rest after half an hour of study.
How to Take Care of Your Eyes
Human eyes are amazing. Light enters your eye through the lens that focuses it onto the retina. The retina has about 15 crores (150 million) separate light receivers. These light receivers process lakhs and lakhs of light-energy particles per second.
Some people have known for a long time that the pupil size adjusts according to the intensity of light. When light is not bright, the pupil size increases. It also increases when you see something of great interest.
Jewelers in China have known this for centuries. As soon as the jeweler sees an increase in pupil size when showing an item, he knows that the customer is interested in the item and therefore he charges a higher price.
Your eyes can learn to read faster. Consider what happens when you learn to ride a bicycle, a scooter, or a motorcycle. In the beginning, when the scooter moves at 15 kilo-meter per hour, you feel that the scooter is moving very fast. You may not even be confident that you can drive safe enough. As you learn more and practice driving, you become more comfortable. After some practice, you become comfortable at 30 or 40 kilo-meters per hour. Then one day you are driving with a friend who asks you to drive very fast at 80 or 90 or 100 kilo-meters per hour. After driving so fast when you again drive at 40 kilo-meters, that feels slow. Just one practice session at 90 kilo-meters per hour is enough to make you feel comfortable driving at 60 kilo-meters per hour.
What happens is that your nervous system, your muscles, and your eyes all become used to 90 kilo-meters per hour. So when you slow down to 60, you feel very comfortable.
The same is true with reading speed. Simply, try reading extremely fast, much faster than you think you can manage. Then when you read in your normal way, your speed would have automatically increased.
Here I am giving some simple but enormously beneficial hints to help relax your eyes when studying or concentrating.
Light
Sunlight is the best for your eyes. When there is not enough sunlight, use comfortably bright light from electricity.
Breathing
When we concentrate, we tend to hold our breath or we stop breathing for a short period. This creates tension in our eyes and our bodies.
When you study or concentrate, make sure that your breathing is relaxed, deep, and rhythmic.
Blinking
We naturally close and open our eyes and it is called “blinking”. We tend to stop blinking when we concentrate. So make sure that you blink when you concentrate. Also occasionally, look away and blink a few times to relax your eyes.
Palming
This technique is to relax your eyes. Use your palms to cover your eyes without touching the eyelids. Make your palms round like when holding water so that you do not touch the eyelids. Your palms touch your forehead and cheeks so that you feel completely dark.
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