So many books, so little time? Headway might be your solution!
Review of Headway, the Book Summary App
As you might have guessed from my blog’s name, I’m an avid reader of personal development books and happily devour them from cover to cover, one right after the other. My biggest challenge is narrowing down my ever-growing ‘To Read’ list and deciding which book to pick up next! There are just so many incredible books out there, packed full of transformative ideas, but never enough time to read them all!
Also, after completing numerous qualifications over the years (and admittedly feeling a bit burnt out) I have started to explore new ways to fuel my passion for personal growth without the commitment of formal courses. I have turned to shorter, more flexible options like online courses, podcasts, and YouTube videos.
When I was offered the opportunity to review the book summary app Headway*, it felt like a refreshing new way to explore the personal development genre, allowing me to sample the many books that have piqued my interest and pursue my love of learning in a format that’s accessible and suited to my busy lifestyle as a working mum!
*Disclosure: I was given complimentary access to the Headway app in exchange for an honest review.
What is Headway?
Put simply, Headway is an app that offers summaries of bestselling non-fiction books. With a library of over 2,000 titles, it covers a wide range of topics including Leadership, Business & Career, Productivity, Self-Growth, Sport & Fitness, Happiness, Health, and more. Each summary is available in both written form and as a short audio recording (usually around 15 minutes long).
I have to admit I’m not one for audio books as I much prefer to read and find I absorb information better that way. I gave the audio feature a good try but found the narration difficult to follow (however you can leave feedback on your experience after you’ve completed the summary). In the end, I decided to go back and read the summary instead. If you choose to listen to the summary, then try not to listen to it all one go as there’s a lot of information to take in!
Why should you use the Headway app?
If you’re short on time but still want to focus on personal development, Headway might be the perfect app for you! Whether you’re waiting for an appointment, commuting on public transport, or just looking to break the cycle of doom-scrolling, Headway offers a quick and convenient way to develop your knowledge and skills. You can download summaries to read or listen to offline, making it easy to learn on the go. The app is especially helpful if you have a specific goal in mind (like improving your leadership skills) as it allows you to browse a wide range of literature on the topic and you can then decide which books would be worth purchasing and reading in more detail.
The app is also ideal for those who enjoy setting learning goals and tracking their progress. After each summary, Headway displays how much time you’ve spent reading and highlights the number of key insights you’ve absorbed. It sets achievable daily targets (like reading one summary a day) and offers personalised challenges, such as a 5-day series of summaries that will help users to build a better morning routine. The app also tracks your learning streaks and provides a clear overview of your growth via the Activity page which logs daily missions, time spent on the app, and the number of insights and key points you’ve learned over the week.
If you’re someone who enjoys using reward charts (and who doesn’t love a gold star for a job well done?) then you will find Headway highly motivating! As you work through the challenges, you earn virtual trophies that recognise your achievements and keep you progressing toward your personal development goals.
One of the challenges when reading self-help books (especially if you read a lot of them like I do) is remembering the key insights after you’ve finished the book. A great feature of the Headway app is its highlight function, which lets you select and save important passages as you read. This creates a ready-made list of key points that you can revisit at any time. You can even share the nuggets of wisdom that you retrieve from the summaries with your friends and followers on social media or copy them into your own notes file for future reference.
Another useful feature is the ‘Remember’ option, which appears beneath key passages in the summaries. Simply tap it, and the passage is saved as a flashcard. The app uses a technique called ‘spaced repetition,’ which prompts you to review the flashcards regularly to help embed the information in your memory.
My experience of using Headway
I began by taking a quiz that asked about my development areas, goals, personality, and typical behaviors. This information helps the app to recommend relevant summaries. If your development goals change, you can update the suggested titles anytime by accessing the Manage Recommendations feature.
I didn’t have any specific books in mind when I first started using the app, but I was pleasantly surprised by the wide selection, many of which were already on my ‘To Read’ list. I especially appreciated how the app encourages further development by recommending titles based on what you’ve just finished reading. It also offers curated Collections of summaries focused on important issues like overcoming toxic relationships and finding happiness, making it easy to explore the areas that matter most to you.
Here are my thoughts on the summaries I’ve explored so far:
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
As a classic people pleaser, I thought this book would be perfect for me! It encourages you to release the urge to change others or control how they see you. Robbins invites readers to adopt the ‘Let Them’ mindset and focus instead on adapting how they respond to others. This might involve grounding yourself before reacting, setting clear boundaries, identifying what’s within the scope of your control, and making decisions based on your values and principles. Robbins also recommends that you stay curious and step into the other person’s point of view, considering how their past experiences may have shaped their attitudes and behaviour.
I found the summary insightful and engaging, and appreciated the actionable tips at the end which helped to put the theory into practice. I felt compelled to order a copy of the book to explore the ideas in more detail. It’s now at the top of my reading list!
Quiet by Susan Cain
I chose this summary because I’m currently reading (and thoroughly enjoying) the full book, and wanted to see how the summary compared. I was also eager to deepen my understanding of my introverted nature and explore how to use my strengths as an introvert in the workplace.
Obviously the book goes into much more detail about how society influences our perceptions of introverts, the scientific studies behind introversion and extroversion, and the interplay of nature and nurture. However, I think the summary captured the essence of the research and key arguments that Cain makes. In this respect, I can see how the summary acts as a useful companion to the full book. I found that it served as an aide-mémoire, making it easy to revisit the main points from Cain’s original work.
Even on its own, the summary offers readers valuable insights into their personality, which can help foster greater self-awareness and self-acceptance. For example, it affirms that it’s perfectly ok to prefer solitude and to take time for yourself when you become overstimulated. It helps you to understand why you are highly sensitive to your environment and other’s emotions. Rather than suppressing these traits and trying to conform to the extrovert ideal (which I spent years trying to do!), it assures introverts that its ok to seek out roles and working environments that align with their natural strengths.
How to Do the Work by Dr Nicole LePera
I selected this book summary because I’m intrigued by the concept of self-healing and all that it involves. I’m always on the lookout for new tools to support my mental well-being and have actively worked on healing from painful experiences in my past.
The core premise is that while therapy can be incredibly valuable in aiding the healing process, true change stems from the choices you make and your every day actions. The summary provides several practical tips drawn from LePera’s work. For instance, she recommends daily journaling as a way to increase self-awareness, recognise unhelpful patterns, and set goals. She also stresses the importance of mindfulness, which involves bringing your attention back to the present moment and focusing on what’s around you, rather than getting caught up in your thoughts or emotions. Additionally, LePera encourages you to explore your past to better understand the roots of your trauma. That said, I felt that the full context and guidance needed to safely and effectively carry out these practices would only be found in the book itself (so I promptly added it to my wish list!)
While the Headway app is no substitute for deep, immersive reading, I can definitely see myself incorporating it into my weekly personal development routine. To suit my learning style, I’d start by listening to the audio summary of the book and would then read through the written version, highlighting the key passages, to ensure that I’d captured the main points.
I found that there are many benefits to using Headway. It offers an efficient way to sample a wide range of personal development books, which is especially helpful as there are so many out there and you can’t read them all! If you are stuck for time but still have a passion for learning, it helps you to set achievable development goals and provides concise, accessible insights from the books and topics that interest you the most.
If you would like to try out the Headway app, visit makeheadway.com to get started.
