Every holiday I like to give myself a challenge. In 2023, I read an 800-page book during the Thanksgiving break (see here). I’m definitely not doing that again, but I want to continue the tradition and challenge myself. I spent last weekend thinking about what the challenge should be.

Since spring 2024, I’ve been developing the habit of reading a book every week. That’s pretty ingrained now; it feels like second nature. What I haven’t mastered is consistently synthesizing what I learned from each book. I did a series of posts on some books (see here), but that habit wasn’t sustainable.

I now think that synthesizing doesn’t have to be creating a full digest of each book. It can be any of the following:

• Implementing a framework or idea by applying it to a problem (see example here)
• Describing the ideas that resonated with me and why I think they’re valuable (see example here)
• Summarizing a book

That isn’t an exhaustive list, but you get the idea.

I want to make sure I’m learning from these books and that what I learn sticks. One of the best ways I’ve found to make this happen is to share what I’ve learned.

So, my challenge this Thanksgiving holiday is to synthesize what I learned from three books in separate posts. Hopefully, this will help with synthesis after I read and make it second nature.

Wish me luck!