Ideas
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If you misuse a comma or mix up "your and you're," don't expect to get hired by iFixit's Kyle Wiens. He's not the only stickler—a growing number of employers are adopting a zero tolerance approach to grammar. That means one mistake could cost you the job, even if you're otherwise qualified. If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you.
I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why.
Reading for the Rushed
People sometimes ask me how I'm able to read 70+ books every year despite my extra-curricular , professional , and authoring activities. The truth is that although my reading count the past few years has remained fairly consistent, it's far less than my historical count (by half) and pathetically less than truly prolific readers. Alas, people ask and so I'll try to answer the best that I can.
The 26 Major Advantages to Reading More Books and Why 3 in 4 People Are Being Shut Out of Success
I read a Associated Press-Ipsos poll revealing that 1 in 4 adults read no books last year. Yes, that’s 25% of the adults out there are reading zero books. This is sad. I knew intuitively the number of books read each year had gone down but to zero ? Ridiculous! And what about the adults who are reading more than zero books a year.
Introduction to the Great Books of the Western World
The best way to understand the world you live in now is to read the Western canon. By reading these classic books, you’ll develop a deep understanding of why our society is the way it is, why our government operates the way it does, and how the great ideas of history have come to shape our beliefs. You cannot truly think for yourself if you cannot recognize where your ideas and beliefs originate from. By studying the works of Western history, you’ll see that even the “modern” belief sets have been developing for hundreds of years.
The 80/20 Rule of Reading
Last month I created a new rule for myself: the 80/20 Rule of Reading. Now, 80% of my reading time is to be spent on books with only 20% left over for the internet and other sources. It’s been a difficult transition. But, the results have been tremendous. Here’s why I’m focusing 4x as much on books, and why you may want to give the reading rule a try. The Quick “Wow” vs.
How to Really Own Your Books
If you just skim through your books without writing in the margins or highlighting the passages, chances are you aren’t fully engaged in the material. I recently read an inspiring essay from Mortimer Adler , author of How to Read a Book and one of the great minds in education philosophy. He claims that in order to truly “own” a book (i.e. have it become a part of who you are) readers must engage with the page:Go ahead and multiply the number 8,388,628 x 2 in your head. Can you do it in a few seconds? There is a young man who can double that number 24 times in the space of a few seconds. He gets it right every time.
Read the introduction | Brain Rules |
in the 10th grade, I did a book report on "A Clockwork Orange". When I told the teacher upon which book I was basing my report, she said, "Hmmm... that was a weird movie... I watched it and was like 'huh?'... OK" I got an 'A' on the report.
We come from the future.
The Master Course in Personal Development May Already Be Sitting On Your Shelf Reading the great books takes a lot of effort. Studying masterpieces such as the Odyssey or the works of Shakespeare requires more concentration than picking up a Tom Clancy novel.
10 Ways Reading the Great Books Can Improve Your Life
April is National Poetry Month , four weeks dedicated to the celebration of verse. How are you going to enjoy the occasion? Try one of these poetry readings, projects, or resources. Whether you want to hear great poets share their work aloud or embark on a writing venture of your own, you’ll find dozens of links to help you gain a better understanding of poetry. - Get started by checking out “ How to Read a Poem .” - Read “ Introduction to Poetry ” for a poetic look at how to understand verse.
100 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month