Why I re-read my favorite books multiple times a year

Why I re-read my favorite books multiple times a yearWhy I re-read my favorite books multiple times a yearAbout four years ago I decided to read100 new books a year. Ive kept up that habit until recently.I stopped reading two new books a week because I forgot almost everything I learned more than a year earlier. And theres no way you can remember even a quarter of a book you read three years ago.I made this discovery this year when I started worrying about random things in my life. I thought, Didnt I deal with this issue years ago?And I was right, Ive read a lot about worrying, Ive coached people,and I even wrote a book about it.But Im bedrngnis a machine- Im not immune to the challenges that we all face. No one is.So I decided to re-read one of my all-time favorite personal development books,How To Stop Worrying and Start Livingby Dale Carnegie. After that, I remembered how to deal with worry again.Once I realized that knowledge disappears quickly from our minds, Ive been re-reading and studying at least one good book a week. We must arm ourselves against the challenge of life byrepeatingthe things we learn so often that they become a habit.If you want to master a particular skill, dont assume that reading a few books on the topic will help you do that- it requires endless repetition. Ryan Holiday said it best inThe Daily StoicWhen we repeat an action so often it becomes unconscious behavior, we can default to it without thinking.After re-reading close to 40 books this year, I want to share 5 tips with you that can help you master the skills that you value in life.1. Keep your all-time favorite books closeThe books you want to master need to be in a place where you see them every day. Keep them on your desk, on your nightstand, on the dinner table.Let the books remind you of what you want to get out of life. A book likeOn The Shortness Of Lifeis a constant reminder that life must be lived.Thats why I love to have it on my desk. I do the same with other books t hat are important to me likeOn Writing Wellby William Zinsser.So look at your life. What behaviors, characteristics, or skills do you want to make your own? What books are about those things? Keep those books close. But dont keep a stack of 30 books on your desk. Pick only 1-2 books per topic. And stick to thebest.2. Make sure youve highlighted your booksI always highlight a book when I read it for the first time. Now, when I want to go back and study a book, I dont need to reread everything. I look at my highlights, but I also read the whole paragraph.Every time someone tells me they are afraid to highlight books or that they dont want to buy books, I question that persons will to learn. Look, whats more important? Keeping your books neat? Or improving your life?Highlight your books. Make notes on the pages. Turn the book into something thatsyours.3. Grab a book and go through it in a day (or two)Ive learned that the meaning of a book changes over time. Thats not because of the boo k changes but becauseyouchange.The first time I readThe One Thingby Gary Keller, I learned about thepower of compounding. The second time I read it, I learned about the importance of blocking large chunks of time to get meaningful work done.Thats because I was in a different phase. And thats also why you want to read good books more than once. The great thing about re-reading non-fiction books is that it doesnt take much time.If youve highlighted a book, you can go through the whole book in three to four hours, in my experience. I can do that in one or two days. And I always learn something new.4. Make personal notes about the book in your journalNo matter how often you read a good book, youll still forget the majority of the content. It doesnt matter how good or useful a book is, over time, we forget a lot of what weve learned.But when you make notes about the things youve learned from a book, you start internalizing knowledge. Once you write about a topic in your own words, it bec omes a part of your muscle memory.Thats why I recommend writing notes to yourself in yourjournal. Just like Marcus Aurelius did in his journal (which later was published as Meditations). Tell yourself do this and dont do that.5. Repeat this process every week with a new book - multiple times a yearIts better to re-read a good book several times a year, compared to reading a decent book only once or twice. So as you keep rereading books, narrow down your list.I started with about 50 books I wanted to re-read. Ive cut it down to half by now. My goal is to end up with 8 books that I will skim through once a month (two a week). Once the material becomes a habit and is in my muscle memory, I intend to move to another book.Theres nothing new about this learning principle. Its exactly the same strategy Bruce Lee used to become one of the biggest martial artists and actors in history. He saidI fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one ki ck 10,000 times.Similarly, I dont admire the person who has read 1,000 books, but I admire the person who has read one book 1,000 times.This article first appeared on Darius Foroux.