Remember More Of What You Read

I read a lot, and I don’t retain as much as I’d like.

Research shows (research here) that we must be tested on what we read rather than just studying it for greater retention.

The issue is that writing tests for yourself from what you’ve just read is laborious at best and non-existent at worst.

Now, thanks to our mate Chat-GPT, we can resolve this problem for any book in PDF format—here’s how.

1. Open ChatGPT (Get the premium version if you want to talk with it)

2. Select “Attach File”

   

3. Upload any PDF you are working with (I recently downloaded this book if you want to test this in real-time)

4. Use this prompt once the book is uploaded
   
   “Could you create a test for me and just ask me questions so I can see if I've learned the material properly? I've been reading the first 50 to 70 pages. Could you create a small test to see if I've nailed what's been learned or shared in the book so far, and see if my answers are correct in my understanding?”

Here is an example of what you’ll get:

This micro-testing is a tool for increasing retention, improving understanding, and ultimately learning more from what you read.

If you are feeling boujee, you can even use the paid version of ChatGPT to do all this via voice.

Most of business is simply taking other people’s lessons and applying them to your own life to see if they fit.

To understand more of what I mean by this, read Rhys’s piece on Operating Principles below.

Operating Principals

Some say move fast and break things. Others cringe at the thought—and believe in perfectionism, like the inside of the clock should be just as pretty as the outside...

These phrases are folklore in Silicon Valley. They're baseline decision-making tools that are encoded into everything certain founders do. Which eventually trickle down to us via the words of tech observers like Paul Graham.

Paul and others claim they offer the secret to success in start-up land. And I believe them.

They're called operating principles.

Once these founders find their principles, they double down on them—again and again until the results are there for everyone to see.

• Jeff Bezos: Be customer-obsessed.

• Reid Hoffman: Be embarrassed by your first version.

• Eric Ries: Iterate faster than everyone else.

I can't prove it, but I think these principles are, in many ways, what separates the people who have this game figured out from those who never make it past Go again.

Without principles, you're like a rudderless boat lost at sea, hoping you'll somehow drift home.

These principles shouldn't be picked at random. They become yours by making sense for your business and your skill set. You probably already have some, even if you are yet to recognise them.

Less the witty catchphrases; maybe that will come later. I found mine by borrowing from others—keeping the ones that fit and discarding the rest.

Over time, this formed a core set of principles that guide my decisions across all my projects.

• Simplicity - do everything as simply as possible.

• Frugality - do everything as efficiently as possible.

• Focus - do one thing at a time.

• Urgency - do it today instead of tomorrow.

Individually, they're useful, but their combination sets them apart.

It's like Naval Ravikant's theory on becoming rich.

He says you need to become the best in the world at something. But becoming the best in the world at a single pursuit is nearly impossible, so instead you should aim to be the best at a combination of things. And you keep iterating until you find your unique combination that you're number one at.

There are infinite possible combinations of principles. What matters is finding your combination.

These are the entrepreneur's DNA and, ultimately, what should replace business values. Values are antiquated behavioural ideas, and you can't force adults to "behave". They're going to do what they do. But you can shape their thinking and by proxy of your employees, how your company operates.

They might even explain why some entrepreneurs hit it big once, but every other venture flops, while others succeed repeatedly. Elon Musk, for instance, applies a consistent set of engineering principles across all his ventures, and it works. But that same approach might flop if he tried fashion. Meanwhile, Facebook's early "move fast and break things" motto would be a disaster for Peter Beck at Rocket Lab.

Like I said, they are the closest thing we have to a key to success. They're our secret recovery phrase if you will. Unique to us all. Waiting to be found; invaluable when they are.