For most of my life, I thought exposure to information meant learning.

I assumed learning worked by some kind of osmosis. Read enough books, highlight enough sentences, listen to enough podcasts at 1.5x speed, and my brain’s hard drive would stuff it all in there.

I’ve “read” so many books that felt profound in the moment, but if you asked me for a summary the next day, my memory of it had already evaporated.

Then I heard an insight from the author of Make it Stick that devolved any notion of my previous belief: Learning isn’t repeated exposure; it’s repeated recall.

Seeing the same ideas over and over again creates familiarity. Trying to pull it out of your own head creates understanding. It’s the difference between knowing the way to your friend’s house vs. needing Google Maps every time.

I first noticed it when I started writing summaries of the books I read. The moment I’d sit down to explain the ideas in my own words, my brain would stall out. The concepts I swore I understood went into hiding. If I couldn’t recall it without the book open, I didn’t actually know it.

This is why flashcards work. Why teaching someone else works. Why writing a short summary from memory beats rereading the same chapter for the third time.

Once I realized this, my habits changed.

Memory doesn’t just store up data. You have to open the files periodically to exercise those thinking muscles.

That’s when you stop agreeing with the idea and start actually having it.

Alright, ya caught me. Another “power of your subconscious mind” book. This one has been on my shelf for over a decade, untouched. I remember hearing Terry Crews singing its praises on a podcast with Tim Ferriss. “In order to ‘have’ you must ‘do,’ and in order to ‘do’ you must ‘be.’”

Although I still put Joseph Murphy’s The Power of Your Subconscious Mind at the top of my list, this book is an excellent alternative on the subject matter.

It’s so easy to get caught up in life and all the stresses. Our natural state is one of negativity, anxiety, and worry. The last thing you want to hear is “Think positive!” or “Be grateful!” But that’s not what this is about.

What this book is about is tapping into the unseen power of the Universe. I realize how woo-woo that sounds, but once you embrace it, it doesn’t sound ridiculous at all. This unseen power is at your fingertips, ready to be harnessed. We’re just too busy to notice it and, admittedly, too lazy to work on it. To manifest this energy, this book teaches you how to visualize, contemplate, and focus on what it is you truly want in life. It reveals that we only get what we desire most, and how to apply ourselves with a laserlike focus upon a goal, task, or project.

Charles Haanel wrote this book in the early 1900s with complete conviction that we are not separate from the power and the creative energy that gave birth to all that is; we are a part of it. He implores the reader to recognize that our lives are truly under our control by virtue of the thoughts we have and the feelings that they generate. Those who do the thinking in the world create and rule the world around them.

The language is a bit antiquated, so the first 50 pages are a bit difficult. But once you get past that, the messaging becomes abundantly clear.

I’ve been seeing all the doom-and-gloom takes about reading being dead because of phones and TikTok. But in this brilliant article, Adam Mastroianni explains that the data doesn’t actually back that up. Book sales are still solid and indie bookstores are thriving, and even though people do read a little less than they used to, it’s not some civilization-ending collapse. He details how, regardless of the technology or the forms of media that emerge, people have always and will always choose text for the deepest thinking. If you want to shape complex ideas and actually understand the world, there is no substitute for putting words on a page.

If you need more proof that the power of the written word is still immense, take a look at this chart showing how simple changes in vocabulary can affect the general psyche of an entire country. Even though the power of mainstream media has certainly dwindled in the past decade, its ability to shape political agendas and steer public opinion is still massive.

This was such a fantastic listen right out of the gate. Former 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young shares his story of meeting Stephen Covey (author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) on a flight, and how the resulting conversation changed the course of his life.

The idea that resonated most was when Covey told him to let yourself see how good you can be. As a result, Steve Young went on to win NFL MVP in 1992 and 1994, earn a law degree from BYU while playing in multiple Super Bowls, and became a co-founder of a Private Equity firm (HGGC), which manages more than $6.9B in capital commitments. He also authored two books — QB: My Life Behind the Spiral and The Law of Love.

Thanks for reading!