Become A Reading Machine – Review

How to read 300 books a year? Become a Reading Machine review.

Chances are that you might have a pile of non-fiction books on your shelf waiting to be read. You will read them soon, you say. They are on your list. However, you are a busy person, but next month you will start reading all those books on getting more productive, developing good habits, growing our business or exploring tips to generate better ideas.

I know, I know. We all feel and know that we need to change the way we read and learn. There are too many things going on that require our time and concentration. And, that pile of books actually never goes down, it rather seems to grow. So what is the solution?

Last year I took Udemy’s Become A Reading Machine course (view website). I have been knowing the class for much longer, but it took me a while to get started. Well, it changed the way I approach and process information fundamentally. So, keep reading my Become A Reading Machine review to see if this class can help you read more books as well.

Become A Reading Machine – Overview

In a nutshell, Become A Reading Machine Masterclass (view course), will teach you the tactics used by Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban, and Will Smith to read over 300 books in a year. You will study two different learning techniques and turn the knowledge into action, alongside numerous methods to becoming a successful reader.

Hang on, 300 books a year? That is one book almost every single day. I don’t think I have the time for that let alone how could this even be possible. These were my thoughts and probably the reason why it took me so long to get enrolled. From today’s perspective, it is much clearer. However, don’t focus too much on the number 300. It’s a bit of marketing.

The key lesson I took away from this class is simple and actually quite logical. Firstly, no more reading the traditional way when it comes to non-fiction books. And secondly, rather actively work with books and immediately implement the knowledge learned into daily life.

If knowledge isn’t applied it remains theoretical knowledge and does not become a skill or work experience. Hence, Become A Reading Machine will teach you to effectively skim and scan for key information that can be applied without delay.

Use tools – No matter how thick a book might look, its key information can often be summarized in a few pages. This is the concept behind Blinkist, a service that provides book summaries as well as key facts and learnings that can be studied and applied immediately.

Using digital resources is just another effective strategy to manage reading 300 books a year without actually reading every page individually. You simply don’t have to.

Let’s sum it up – Reading books does not mean reading page after page. That is the way we learned reading in school. Instead, you apply speed reading techniques to extract the core information and apply the knowledge in your life or business environment.

But that’s not all. Become A Reading Machine will also show you how to best approach different types of books be it autobiographies, success stories or book teaching skills. Taking notes is a crucial part, and you will learn good techniques to use here.

Work with books – Do you actually write into your books? If not, then try to do so, try to work with books intensively. It is your book unless you have borrowed it from the local library or a friend. Apparently, it still makes a lot of sense actually to own books. You will need a copy to review your notes for a fresh-up quickly and to deepen your knowledge.

Below, I will list the topics taught in Become A Reading Machine. If you prefer to view the information on the original course page just click the link below

Students: 14,000+ | Review rating: ★★★★☆ | 4.1 (>2,800 ratings)
Language: English | Auto Subtitles: 8 Languages
Pricing: from $11.99. View course. Save up to 95%.

Become A Reading Machine – Curriculum

Learning outcome – One of the main goals is to be able to read roughly 100 books this year. Ok, if you start in December, you might need to adjust a bit. Keep it real. You will know how to ingrain the knowledge that you won’t forget it again: Think ‘apply knowledge’ here. Don’t worry, it is all packed into a 7-step framework and I found it easy to follow.

Requirements – There are no requirements for this course aside from an aspiration to learn and the inclination to sit down and read. All skill levels are welcomed. If you are interested in reading more non-fiction books, or if you are a dreamer who wants to achieve more in life, then the Become a Reading Machine Masterclass is a good choice.

Duration – The entirety of the course is 3.5 hours long. Each section is taught through engaging videos that challenge you to understand your own abilities and opinions, and how you can shift them to be more beneficial. There are five sections broken down into:

1. Why Read a Book a day?

• The importance to accelerate learning and its benefits
• Why reading is crucial to your success
• What successful people have to say about reading
• The benefits of reading

2. The Mindset Shift

• Understanding why you were taught to read and the misunderstandings of learning to read in school
• Learning to create action, not just conversation
• How to read and reread
• How to change your standards to better suit you for success
• The standards that will help you read a book a day

3. What to Read (and When)

• Important habits to push you to read and read a lot of books
• How to organize your books—what you’ve read, what you want to read, and reviewing those you’ve already read
• Break reading into 2 categories and the 3 different books you should be reading
• Which books add value to your life

4. The Action Plan

• Understanding how to take on a book from opening it up to finishing it, so that you get the most out of the experience
• 3 different reading techniques and their usage in different scenarios
• Material to skip and how to read faster
• Digesting the crucial information you are reading
• Taking notes in and on the book
• Understanding how to review the material in a book, so that it becomes ingrained in you

5. Summary

• Wrapping up what you have learned throughout the Become A Reading Machine course and applying it to the 300 book challenge

Become A Reading Machine Review – Pros & Cons

While I’m very passionate about the course, it does not mean it is all shiny or flawless. People have different views, goals, and experiences. I already summed up the benefits of Become A Reading Machine in the paragraphs above and below, so here is rather a round-up of the things to consider or good to know.

Some critics circle around the usefulness of individual sections. A few students mention they could only make use of 2-3 sections while the rest had been quite generic.

Participants also mention that Brandon is somehow inconsistent with the number of books to be read, e.g., 100, 200, and 300 which can be confusing. As mentioned, I recommend ignoring that number anyway, as it is the learning concept that matters here and not really a specific number. It could be 159 or 238 and you would be still fine.

Last but not least, there seem to be different expectations of what the course should deliver. Some primarily expect strategies to read faster while the focus is on how to best approach books and extract information without reading the whole material. I recommend looking into Spreeder if you look for a pure reading improvement program.

Become A Reading Machine – Review Verdict

Become A Reading Machine is certainly one of the more interesting courses on Udemy as you can take a lot of knowledge away that can have an immediate impact. I don’t think the information in it is all-new, but Brandon walks you through the class in such an encouraging way that you will easily adapt the key techniques and want to apply them straight away.

There are lots of techniques to be learned here. One good thing is, that after finishing each section you will also be tested on your gained knowledge with a carefully structured quiz. An additional five bonus sections and resources are also generously included so that you can further solidify your reading abilities.

Last but not least, upon completing the Become a Reading Machine course, you will indeed feel like a learning machine with newly founded mentors to help you along your journey. Of course, we are still humans, but it feels great to go through books at much higher speeds, something machines can do only.

You will also understand how to choose the right books and material so that you can read them with efficiency and apply the knowledge to your own life. Remember, to apply new knowledge immediately. Otherwise, you will forget it and it will never become a skill.

Good luck fellow learners. If you have taken the Become a Reading Machine course yourself, let me know your good or not so good experiences in the comments below.

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Sources: Effective Book Learning Techniques – 1

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