This morning I finished the final disc in the PhotoReading Whole Mind System Course.  Since this is the final review that I will write (this time around, anyway - plan on a "PhotoReading revisited" sometime later), I decided to give my thoughts a few hours to gel.  Disc Eight of the PhotoReading Course is primarily focused on applying PhotoReading to your life, with discussions about studying, business reading, career changes, memory improvement, and achieving your personal goals.  All totally worthwhile stuff, right?  It wraps up the entire PhotoReading course with a relaxation/NLP/hypnosis-ish session meant to help you follow through on the goals that you set for your own PhotoReading progress.

At this point, I feel confident that I know how I can apply PhotoReading to help in various areas of my life - areas where "reading stuff about that particular thing" might be helpful, anyway.  There aren't many areas where you couldn't read material that would at least support your overall goal - for instance, PhotoReading 5 books on fitness before starting a fitness program.  Clearly reading the books isn't going to get you fit, but you would be reinforcing what you're doing on the outside with information on the inside.  I'll let you know how that goes. 🙂

The goal-setting exercise was helpful - because as the program ends it is natural to ponder the "where do I go from here" question.  Not only does Paul Scheele help you structure your next goals for your PhotoReading, but he also guides you through a hypnosis-like (I know I keep qualifying the "hypnosis" - but I think it actually IS hypnosis in the "state of focused attention using creative visualization" sense) exercise to get your subconscious mind in alignment with your conscious goals.  At this point it's too early to tell how good my follow-through is going to be, but I do have personal PhotoReading goals that I intend to stick to.

If you are contemplating buying PhotoReading, you are also probably wondering whether or not you should get the Deluxe edition versus the Classic edition.  I purchased the Deluxe edition - at the time figuring that I would more than make up the $100.00 difference (if you buy using the discount offered by Steve Pavlina) with increased productivity.  The Deluxe version offers you 3 DVDs (the "PhotoReading Results Supercharger") with excerpts from an advanced PhotoReading seminar along with interviews of PhotoReading students.  The PhotoReading DVDs go over the concepts that you learn in the course - plus some additional concepts that are only covered in the live seminar.  I have to say that the DVDs are useful, primarily from the perspective of reinforcing what you are learning in the course.  It's also valuable to hear about/watch the experience of seminar participants, both in terms of gaining motivation and comparing my experience with theirs. 

The other PhotoReading Deluxe item that was very important to me when I was ordering was the PhotoReading Activation paraliminal CD.  I haven't even listened to it once yet - so I can't tell you if it's helpful or not.  The instructions on the PhotoReading Activation paraliminal (which is offered to participants of the live seminar) say to listen to it once a day for a week after completing the PhotoReading course - so I suppose that'll be something that I do next.  And you thought I was done!?!?

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS ON PHOTOREADING DELUXE VERSUS PHOTOREADING CLASSIC:  Essentially, if it's important to you to learn the skills of PhotoReading (and that's it), then all you need is the PhotoReading Classic course.  You get all of the CDs that I've reviewed, the Memory Supercharger paraliminal (which I haven't used yet), the books that I mentioned - everything that you need to learn how to PhotoRead and prepare yourself to take PhotoReading to the next level.  The "bonus" materials that come with the PhotoReading Deluxe course are cool, and do offer something of value (to the extent that I've used them).  So if $100 or so isn't a big deal to you, and you can manage to get the Deluxe course at a discount, then I'd say go for it.  Mostly from a "why the hell not?" perspective, along with the benefit that you will get from additional reinforcement of what you learn through watching the DVDs and listening to the Paraliminal.  I repeat, though - if the difference between the Classic and the Deluxe is a stretch for you financially, then I wouldn't worry about the PhotoReading Deluxe Course - just buy the Classic and invest your time in focusing your attention on the course, going through all the exercises, and continuing to PhotoRead when the course is over.

So, where am I at with PhotoReading now that I've finished the course?  I've learned all of the basic PhotoReading skills.  I've seen how effective PhotoReading can be in absorbing material much more quickly than if I had used my "elementary" reading skills.  I have acquired a new way of reading that promises to revolutionize the way that I get through the books/reading material that I want to get through.  I am feeling encouraged enough that I will definitely keep using PhotoReading, keep developing my skills as a PhotoReader, and try to take things to the next level with Direct Learning and Syntopic Reading.  Am I glad that I purchased the PhotoReading Deluxe Course and devoted time to actually taking it?  Absolutely!  I'm excited to see where my PhotoReading journey takes me, and I promise to keep you all updated every so often.

If you've read through this entire series, I hope that the information contained within has helped you in your quest to learn more about PhotoReading, and that reading about my experience has encouraged you (as well as entertained you).  If there are any specific questions you have that I haven't addressed, please feel free to ask in the comments - or to e-mail me: neil at neilsattin dot com.  Thanks so much for sticking with me through this process.  And now....back to our regularly scheduled programming - thoughts on living a balanced life.