this video is exactly how reading leveled up my life and the app i'm using to level
up my reading so yeah a bit different to the uni vlogs obviously we've still got the nerd
vlog coming the one where we show up spain that you saw at the end of the last video
unfortunately that's not going out until next week at the earliest because i just genuinely
don't have time to edit it right now not really ideal but anyway today's video basically i'm going
to be splitting this video into two key chapters the first bit is going to be the back story and
basically how reading kind of leveled up my life over the last year and a half two years and the
second half of the video is going to be the app that i am using to level up my reading and hence
level up the level up to level up the leveling up of my life quick spoiler is actually the headway
app and honestly it has been an absolute godsend we'll get started in the second half of the video
okay so how has reading changed my life well before the first lockdown all i was reading were
things like science fiction i was doing things like harry potter diversion hunger games all
of the classic fictions all the classic stories and yeah i really enjoy it it was kind of a form
of escapism and it was more kind of just like a leisure activity and i wasn't getting too much
value from it it was just like watching netflix but obviously slightly more mentally engaging and
did that offer a little more value than netflix shows but then coming in to the first lockdown
when covert hit i really kind of reestablished my priorities and re-established my views on my views
on life really and i kind of reestablished my priorities for more of an academic standpoint to
building out my overall character and everything that came with me as a person as a package i
really wanted just to be the best package that i possibly could be so at the time i was actually
working as sainsbury's and over lockdown i picked up a lot of morning shifts so i'd start at like
four or five a.m and i'd work through until like 89 a.m but it meant i was working when the shop
was closed so i was allowed to listen to music but instead of listening to music what i did
was i picked up my first audiobook and the first book that i found i've been wanting to read for
ages but i thought that would be beneficial for developing that character that book was how to win
friends and influence people by dale carnegie and honestly to this day that book was one of
the greatest books for shifting my social paradigm and making me view relationships as more than just
small talk and more than just like surface level interaction i was actually able to see the value
in deeper relationships and exactly how i could improve those relationships and my experiences
with other people and honestly from that point my view on relationships and everything like
that completely changed and i am so so grateful for having listened to that audiobook because it
has allowed me to build out so many more fruitful and more beneficial relationships in my life and
relationships in addition to all of this content i've been consuming with a massive catalyst for
everything that i've got up until this point like obviously with my youtube channel with my work in
the startup space and everything like that that all comes down to relationships and that stemmed
from that paradigm shift i attained listening to that book but knowing that that book could have
such a significant change in my mindset led me to want to read more so i ended up starting the seven
habits of highly effective teens and absolute gem of a book and i read that fully i didn't listen to
it in an audiobook again one of the greatest books i could have read and it just changed my overall
outlook on so many different things winning my internal battles before tackling my like
external battles and prior to reading all of this stuff quite honestly i wasn't that confident
internally and externally and that really changed after reading that book like i started develop
that interview i started to develop that inner confidence and that led to external confidence
and just made me so much happier and have so much of a better mindset and that just spiraled into
consuming loads of similar personal development type pieces of content so i listened to novells
podcasts i listened to podcasts on my mental models and mental thinking i just began consuming
loads more content in the personal development space honestly that set me on a rocket ship
trajectory where i just was feeling so much more content so much happier feeling like a
more effective person and every aspect of my life started to improve i hold that shift in
content consumption responsible for all of that yeah comparing the person that i was before like
the person i am now i am just so so glad that i started to consume all of my content and then
took action on everything i was reading because it has done absolute wonders i mean i'm sure you can
tell from the videos like it has changed me as a person significantly and i'm very very glad that
it has however even though i knew reading to be so critical and i knew that it had such a profound
effect on my life i often found it hard to find the time to actually sit down and read a book but
it just isn't something that comes to your mind when you're thinking about everything you want to
do in a day and if you haven't already established like a solid reading habit it is hard to find
the time to do that so in the new morning routine that i put together over christmas i carved out 20
minutes each day to do that reading though with the content i was consuming i noticed there was
an abundance of context backstory and metaphors added little bit examples to the key points that
the book was trying to put across and that meant that getting the full value of the book and then
going through all of these unnecessary examples obviously it did add value and help you to
understand the points better unless you have the time to sit down and go in depth into the book
it just wasn't very helpful all i wanted was 20 minutes and each morning to do was give me some
key ideas i could action in that day but also put me in a working mindset and get me set up
for everything i had planned and that is when i came across headway headway is an app that takes
all of the key concepts of a book and summarizes them in 20 minutes basically eliminating all of
the unnecessary information unless so backstory and unnecessary contacts contacts context now
obviously that's not going to work things like academic books where everything in that book you
need to read to be able to understand those concepts but for personal development books
and the books that i stress so much about in this video is going to be a godsend so i reach out to
them and ask if i can make this video so for the next month i use the app on all of its features to
see if a it was actually any good but then b see if it was going to offer any value for you guys
spoiler the fact i'm making this video means it does okay so first of all how does it work when
you open the app to find something you want to read is actually really easy you can either start
a challenge with x number of books all aiming to bet you in a particular area jump into one
of their curated collections or just explore the different categories that they have over
this challenge i actually did the 14-day challenge on self-confidence and that was a brilliant series
a couple of the books i didn't get on with that much but all of the rest added loads of different
viewpoints and definitely helped to alter my social paradigm for the better okay but then
once you've actually chosen a book there are three different ways to tackle it you can either listen
to it read it or have it visually explained though the visual explanation is only available for a few
books now most often i found myself listening to the submarines as in the morning i'd pair it with
a walk and honestly this was such a good way to kick start the day you get the blood flowing and
the insights as well as offering value just helped to put you in a productive mindset and get you set
up for everything else you wanted to tackle that day in that morning however if i did find myself
not wanting to get out of bed and not finding myself with the drive to get up and go for that
walk i'd instead just read the summary or if it was an option have it visually explained because
the visual explanations they were sick but the best part about reading them was you could turn
all of the key insights into flashcards by just clicking remember and then you were able to review
those over a spaced period to help you recall the information the app essentially just takes
the notes for you and helps you to remember it all which is definitely something i struggle
with when it comes to just reading or listening to audiobooks myself i don't find i really should be
doing this like i don't have an excuse but i don't find myself with enough drive to go and make notes
on that book and then try to actually record in the future i just kind of take it on board at that
time definitely change that then of course for those of you that are motivated by metrics you can
set daily goals keep a reading streak and monitor your progress on the profile page just helping you
to build up that habit and keep consistent yeah honestly with my time in using headway it really
sat nicely in that morning routine helped to kick start each and every one of those days i did use
it admittedly there were days i didn't use it but those days i did start my day like that they were
so so much more productive i mentioned this in my morning routine video but having a solid start to
your day is the single greatest thing that you can do for your productivity throughout and it
just allows you to get so so much more done and feel more fulfilled while you're doing it so yeah
the morning routine aspect of the app absolutely banging then when it comes to the insights of
the books themselves they are offering you really valuable points and the fact that it skips all of
the context in the backstory it's not necessarily that helpful unless again you have time to really
deep dive into those books it is going to give you quick tangible actions that you can do to start
leveling up your life through personal development and through the insights all these brilliant
authors like i said at the start these type of books honestly changed the course of my life for
the better and i am so grateful that i started so if you guys do want to start a new reading habit
do you want to start leveling up your life i don't think you quite have enough time to sit down and
blast out hundreds of pages of books headway is arguably a brilliant compromise so if you
do want to check it out links in the description below but otherwise yeah i do hope you've enjoyed
this video next few videos are going to be my organization for this time a lot of things have
happened this week that's kind of thrown that off and i'll be explaining that in the next few
videos and then of course we have the neha spain travel vlog which i am so so excited for anyway
i'm going to edit this video and head back to uni hope you guys enjoyed i'll see you in the next one