I'm reading "Unlimited Power" by Anthony Robbins. It's a book I first picked up to impress a girl I was dating back in my early twenties. She was enthralled by Tony and his ideas. I was enthralled by her and her... ideas. Among other things.

When I first got the book I mangled it up real good. I bent back the corners of pages, folded the cover so it was nice and creased, and generally made it look as if I'd read the book dozens of times. Then one day when the girl and I were first starting to date I "accidentally" left it sitting in the floorboard of my car. "Oh, sorry about that! I don't know how that got there!"

Sheesh, the things a guy will do for the girl he loves.

A couple of years later, after the girl had broken my heart and moved on, I was working in a job I hated. I was there for a paycheck, and nothing more. There was no passion in my work, no reason for me to push myself, no point in trying to get ahead. It was a dead end. No matter how many times I was praised for the work I did I was criticized twice as much and far more often.

At that time I picked up the book again and actually started reading it. I got about a third of the way through it and found that it really was shaping my thinking. It really was helping me deal with where I was in life and what I wanted to change. Heck, at the time I read it I wasn't much younger than Tony had been when he wrote it! So there was hope. I could make sweeping changes in my life, be happier, get to where I wanted to be.

And I stopped reading the book.

Why? I wish I could say. I did the things he suggested and saw the benefits. I was in better shape physically because I followed his advice on diet and exercise. I had a better mental outlook because I listened to what he had to say about positive attitude and belief having an impact on you. In so many ways I had adapted what I'd read into my daily life. And yet, I never finished reading the book.

Since then I've changed quite a bit in my life. I went back to college and got a different degree. Two of them, as a matter of fact. Then I went to grad school and earned another. I began working in the media doing things I had always found interesting. I never really made much money doing it, but I loved the work! I've written two novels (neither published) and have been picked up by several newspapers and magazines to write occasional articles, columns and blogs. In many ways I'm much more successful than I was when I had the dead end job, but I've never quite made the mark. I've never quite hit that vague, undefined goal I had (can you guess why?).

And that book sat on my shelf through it all. Occasionally I'd pick it up, thumb through it, say to myself, "I should finish reading this some day." Now, here I am ten years later, and I'm finally starting the book again.

Why is this important, one might ask? Well, it's not that Tony Robbins is so great and that I'd be a fool not to listen to him. It's more a question of getting myself to be the person I always dreamt of being. Meeting my goals, having the success I want, and having the freedom that I feel is vital to my existence. That's the point. Not the book. The book can't do that for me. Only I can do that. But reading that book all those years ago was helping me in a very important way.

It got me thinking.

I think that Tony Robbins is on to something with his techniques. He uses Neural Linguistic Programming, for one thing, which is a tried and true method of achieving the results you want over and over. But Tony's philosophies are just part of the equation for me. It's more about the thinking.

Thinking is something that we don't see a lot of these days. It isn't taught anymore. In public schools, students are taught to "learn" by memorizing facts. They aren't shown how those facts connect to anything. There's a gap between memorization and learning, and that gap is filled with thinking. Thinking skills are vital.

I try never to read something and accept it at face value. Over the past year or so I've started using a technique that was adapted by theologists to study the bible. It's called lectio divina, and it seems simple but it's a deceptively difficult way to study something. And it produces results that become deeply ingrained in the reader.

The precepts are READ, THINK, PRAY, LIVE.

I'm a Christian. Prayer is a part of my daily life. But even if I were a non-Christian this would be the best way to study anything and learn it inside and out. If you feel more comfortable substituting "MEDITATE" for prayer, be my guest.

You begin with the most obvious and easiest step. Read what you want to understand. That's simple, right? If you're interested in a topic, read about it. Read varied and wide. Read everything you can get your hands on. Take a look at opposing views (this is the best thing you could possibly do), pick-up books and articles and web sites that explain your chosen topic in every possible light.

Then think about it. This seems easy, but it's the hardest step in my opinion. This is the part where you make a point to purposefully sit and ponder what you've read. Let it roll over in your mind. Hold a dialogue with yourself on the opposing points you've read, the facts you've gathered and what they mean in connection with each other. Talking it over with someone else would probably help. If you can find someone who has the same interest or who is (better yet) an expert on the topic that would be a tremendous resource. But writing about it is one of the very best ways to keep your thoughts focused. Write down everything you've learned, everything you believe and everything you still have questions about.

Pray about what you've learned. Meditation and prayer are times of mental peace. Your thoughts aren't on you anymore. They're on God or some sublime consciousness. I'm no good at the hippy talk about new age philosophy but whatever your beliefs may be, taking the time to turn your thoughts away from yourself and seek the advice of a higher power gives you the humility to step back from the problem. You're no longer an investigator trying to piece together a puzzle that's missing some pieces. You're a child asking a parent why the sky is blue or why the Democrats are willing to filibuster to get a minority rule in Congress (or whatever your question may be). You're humbling yourself, which means you're willing to listen.

And the final step is to live. Take what you're learned, apply it to yourself and your thinking. Let your thoughts reshape you, if necessary. Sometimes all of this just amounts to a confirmation of what you already believe. When that happens, it's great! You get a boost of confidence and you come out with a whole body of knowledge that you can use to support your view. In other words, you're an expert.

So here I am reading "Unlimited Power" again. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. It's a good starting point. It gets you thinking. And like I said, thinking is the hardest part.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor for ViewOnline Magazine at www.viewonline.com. He is also a Writer/Producer for Hat Digital Media. You can reach Kevin via e-mail at kevin@viewonline.com. He is thinking of all the reading he has to do.