| PhotoReading: |  |
| An Introduction to the PhotoReading Whole Mind System | |
Have you ever wondered how the brain works?
Information goes in. It gets processed. And, it comes out.
The quality of the output depends on the quality of the input. Garbage in. Garbage out. Just like with computers.
The quality of the input depends on your motivation, needs, expectations and self-image. If your self-image is lousy, guess what? The input is lousy, the processing is lousy, and the output is lousy. The best way to improve your self-image as a reader is to listen to the tapes that are a part of the PhotoReading program including the Memory Supercharger.
Motivation. Well, it is like cleaning the garage. Have you ever cleaned a garage? Of course not. Cleaning the garage is not possible, unless, maybe, the neighbors are coming over for a party and you will be sitting around in lawn chairs. Then the garage gets cleaned. That sparkle of motivation does wonders.
Reading is the same thing: so many people look at reading as being a tedious, laborious, arduous activity. But if you put a sparkle of motivation in your reading, miracles can happen! All you have to do is take just 15-20 before you read anything and ask yourself what you are going to get out of the materials. What is in this that can benefit me? What did the author intend me to get. What do I need to know so that I may perform this task. And so on. Don't wait for answers. Just ask, and that will get the circuits going. Besides, your other-than-conscious mind which can handle 20,000 pieces of information at a time will begin churning away to find what you need as soon as you start reading.
Expectations. Then spend 15-20 seconds and tell yourself what you are going to get from the materials. I'm going to get out of this whatever I need to perform this task. I'm going to get out of this the author's main points. I'm going to get out of this whatever I need to talk intelligently on the subject, to give a speech, to ace a test, to write a report, etc.
The power of positive expectancy. The power of affirmation. It is incredible. Take an attorney who was at lunch with an expert witness during a court recess. The witness said that what was needed to get the case thrown out of court was in a book, but it would take hours to find it. The attorney took the book, entered his accelerated learning state, affirmed his intent, did a couple other things, and PhotoRead the book. Then he immediately turned to a page, pointed, and said, "What we need is right here." And sure enough, that very passage was what they needed.
A heating and air-conditioning specialist was called to a new office tower in downtown Minneapolis. The system was down. He had never worked on that system before but he knew that two blinking lights had something to do with the reason. He went down to his truck to get the operating manual, entered his accelerated learning state, affirmed his intent, did a couple other things, and PhotoRead the manual. He was paged, went to the phone, and asked the person whether he knew anything about that system. As those words were coming from his mouth, he opened the manual, and his eyes automatically focused on the words describing the blinking lights. The paragraphs beneath told him exactly what to do to correct the problem.
An auto mechanic was back at the garage. The workers couldn't find information on a particular part. He said, "Wait a minute. I've paid for this course. Give me the book." He got into his accelerated learning state, affirmed his intent, did a couple other things, and PhotoRead the spec book. When finished he started talking about the part. He said it was on page 145. And sure enough, it was...verbatim with what he was saying.
None of these three PhotoReaders could say how they knew the answers, how they automatically activated the information. All they knew is that they affirmed their intent, set their expectations.
They also didn't fall into the trap of so many people: I'm going to get these techniques and practice them. When I get good, I'll use them. Bull.
I remember back in high school basketball. During the weekday practice we performed at maybe 80% of capacity. It wasn't until the Friday night game did we give it 100 or 110%. That is the same with PhotoReading. Put it to the test right away. Use it now.
As Yoda, from The Empire Strikes Back said, "Try? There is no try. There is only do or not do."
There are a couple other things which impede the flow of information. These are perceptual defenses and repression mechanisms of your brain. These have to do with tapes you may have going on inside your head: Slow down. You can't possibly read that fast... Go to college? You're not bright enough... You have to study hard to get ahead. And on and on.
The best way to take care of these tapes is with our tapes. With the PhotoReading class you will also get two additional accelerated, NLP relaxation tapes-you receive one with the self-study program. We suggest that you listen to these as you fall asleep at night. Additionally, the instructors are trained to help you. If you ever have any questions, feel free to call us during the day. We can help you with most any challenge.
You don't want to eliminate these defenses and mechanisms because these do serve purposes – you just want to control the ones which impede your success. For example, what would happen to your conscious mind after you just PhotoRead a dictionary if you did not have repression mechanisms? You would have billions of words bouncing in your head. Remember, your other-than-conscious mind can handle 20,000 pieces of information and your conscious mind can only handle seven.
There are four types of people who have problems with PhotoReading.
The first are people who are overly analytical. The act of analyzing is a function of your conscious mind, and PhotoReading is a function of your other-than-conscious mind. What happens to an absorbing experience when you analyze it? Poof! It is gone. You cannot PhotoRead and analyze at the same time.
If you are analytical by nature, give yourself permission to take the course without analyzing the process. Just do it. When you feel the need to analyze, go some place unusual – like in the basement behind the freezer in the potato bin – and analyze the process to your heart's content. But don't analyze it wherever you do your reading; you don't want to pollute the area.
The second type of person is one whose expectations are out of whack. We can look at it two ways. First, if you are so far behind with your reading whether at the office or in school, and if PhotoReading is your only salvation, then stay away. Otherwise you'll cross the fine line from a positive expectancy to wanting it so much that you force it. This part of the mind does not react favorably to force, and it will throw up blocks.
The other way to look at expectations is, what happens if you are the one person in the class who does not get the dictionary – maybe you have some tapes that haven't been taken care of yet, and maybe you just need more time – but what happens if you don't get the dictionary and you are expecting it? You will kick yourself and ruin the rest of the learning experience.
So expect nothing. Come with a childlike curiosity, a go with the flow attitude. Come to play and have fun. Sure, I was just saying that you had to set your expectations, but you don't want to set yourself up for failure. You want success.
Approach PhotoReading without expectations. Know that it has worked for others and be open to the possibility of it working for you. If it works, great, you'll have a whole new set of skills that will dramatically change the way you process information forever. If it doesn't work, well, you have experienced a mind-opening class, probably doubled or tripled your reading speed, met some neat people, and you get your money back. The course has a full satisfaction guarantee which enjoys 90% success. That means that everyone can do it.
The third type of person is one who has control issues. This is a person who always needs to be in control. With PhotoReading you need to let go control of your conscious mind to better build control of your other-than-conscious mind. If you are controlling by nature, you need to take off your control and leave it in an invisible bag outside the classroom. This way you can play with being out of control in the classroom, so eventually you can feel comfortable being out of control in real life. You can always pick up your control if you need it.
The fourth type of person who has problems is one we can do nothing about. If you are this type of person, stay away. This is a person who approaches PhotoReading with the idea that they are going to prove that PhotoReading doesn't work, because if they can't prove it doesn't work, then it must work.
The easiest thing in the world to do is prove that PhotoReading doesn't work. This is because the act of proving is done by the conscious mind, that little voice in the back of your head. This voice can only handle seven pieces of information. It can't understand 20,000 pieces of information so it is going to do everything in its power to talk you out of it. Even if you don't want PhotoReading to work that little voice may drive you nuts. So, if you are this type of person then stay away. Save yourself, save us, and save the other people in the class aggravation.
The reason I'm writing about these four types of people is because everyone has a little of each, and you may even have one or two stronger than the others. We have discovered that just being cognizant of the potential problems is enough to overcome them. If, however, you have challenges in the class do not hesitate to talk with the instructor or call us during the day.
There are many benefits for you to take PhotoReading now
If you did nothing but attended the classes, you'll open your mind to the greater possibilities. You may ask yourself, "If PhotoReading is possible, what else is possible? What else can I use my powerful inner mind to do?"
If you just listen to the tapes, you will deepen relaxation, stimulate motivation (even for cleaning the garage!), and study, read and learn in a relaxed, fun and positive way. You even enhance your memory, not only for reading but for everything: where you put your car keys, names and faces, things you've read before.
If you play the peripheral and internal awareness games you'll strengthen concentration, increase the use of your intuitive processes, you'll be able to respond effectively to challenges, and you'll learn new ways to recall information. Right now to remember something you probably just think and X!&$? (grunt) – there are other ways. And you learn to respond effectively to challenges – pop tests, angry clients, surprise meetings, etc.
If you use the accelerative learning states you'll be able to reduce stress, focus on the task at hand, and maintain relaxed alertness all day. One of the reasons a division of 3M and the State of Minnesota brought us in was stress management – PhotoReading was a back door way of teaching stress management.
By PhotoReading you will be able to absorb information rather rapidly. You'll extract key concepts quickly. We'll teach you how to pull the core concepts from a book in ten or so minutes or from a magazine article in 20-30 seconds. And if you don't reduce the amount of time you spend reading, you'll be getting a lot more done in the same amount of time.
By using the whole mind reading system you will employ alternative reading methods, read in an demanding and purposeful manner, increase creativity and problem solving, stay on top of current reading, read books you've purchased but never gotten to finish, and build confidence in handling printed information. No more will big words, small print, thick books and the ticking clock intimidate you. If you only have three minutes, you will be able to get a heck of a lot done. It is amazing how productive you can be with little or no effort.
Visit the Official PhotoReading Website to order the PhotoReading Personal Learning Course or enroll in a PhotoReading seminar.
Learning Strategies Corporation
2000 Plymouth Road
Minnetonka, Minnesota 55305-2335 USA800-735-8273 • 952-476-9200 • Fax 952-475-2373
"PhotoReading" is a trademark of Learning Strategies Corporation