Hello,

After the Anthony Robbins workshop last week I decided I had to start reading a lot more than just one book per week.  It certainly is the best way to get new ideas, new viewpoints and to learn things that have been properly tried and tested ( unlike most of what is on the internet!)    So I took a few days off and decided to get caught up.  At one point I “read” 21 books in 24 hours.

So how on Earth did I do that?

I used the new Blinkist app.   Instead of ploughing through the 673 pages of Tim Ferriss’ Tools of Titans ( which was well worth the read BTW) Blinkist summarizes the books into their key sections.

And then, best of all, they have narrations so you can just listen with your eyes closed, or in your car or commute without adding to your daily “screen time.”

It costs $79 for a whole year, which I’m probably going to go for at some point,  or even better you can get a free trial for 24 hours where you can access all their books.   Hence the 21 books I read in 24 hours.

It was really cool, both re-reading important books like Stephen Covey’s Success habits book to Think and Grow Rich,  to learning new things about gut bacteria, memory techniques, autism, languages or gamification,  all because it’s an “all you can eat” plan.

It’s always great learning new things, and especially when they are peer reviewed and available without having to travel to London or the US.

So give the Blinkist app a try and see how you go!

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.   I know some of you are going to ask, so here’s the full list of books I read:

• Moonwalking with Einstein about memory
• Don’t sleep there are snakes by Daniel Everett about unique Amazonian language. Really recommended for language teachers!
• In a different key – the sometimes unbelievable history of Autism by Caren Zucker
• Deep work – Cal Newport – minimize distractions, get the non-teaching work done more quickly
• Stephen Covey 7 habits – great for advanced English classes! + 8th habit
• Get momentum Jodi Womak – not that much
• Follow your gut by Rob Night -most of your body is your biome
• Awaken the Giant Within Tony Robbins – a definite must read
• A brief history of time Stephen Hawkins – a crash course in physics
• The little book of hygge Meik Wiking – why Denmark is so happy 🙂
• Night school by Richard Wiseman – sleep learning is real
• The Happiness equation Neil Pasricha
• Mother Tongue Bill Bryson about how the English language came about
• Are you fully charged Tom Rather – nutrition
• Success through a positive attitude and think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill
• Get Smart Brian Tracy – the only one where I missed the original narration, Brian Tracy himself is more awesome 🙂
• The smartest places on Earth Antoine van Agtmael
• Influence – Robert Cialdini –  how companies get you to buy more, and teachers get students to do things
• Reality is broken – Jane McGonigal – why games make people happy.
• The Gamification Revolution – Gabe Zichermann – how to make anything into a game
• Millionaire – Janet Gleeson – The crazy story of how paper money came about
• Genius – James Glieck on Richard Feynman

P.P.S.  And if any of you want to see where I took my few days off, here it is 🙂

P.P.S.   This app also plays a big part in my C1/C2 Level Advanced course.   VIP Members can get my full training on how to teach Advanced Levels here.