Learning, Training and Achievement

The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn ~ Alvin Toffler

The future is now. The ability to learn has never been more important than it is in this information age. The ability to seek information, to digest it and to use it is an essential skill in the wired world that we live in today. The importance of learning cannot be overstated.

This article presents a strategy to achieve effective learning in four steps.

1. Exposure

Exposure to materials and resources about the subject you are trying to learn. For example, if you want to learn about harvesting honey, you can:

a. Visit a honey bee farm.

b. Research online

c. Scan books on the subject

The exposure period of learning is a right-brain activity . During this stage, do not put unnecessary pressure on yourself . See how things work and pick-up only what you need. Make use of all your senses. Being a right-brain activity , the exposure approach aids the brain in forming pattern.

2. Integration

After the period of exposure when, you should allow for some time the information to sink-in. Let your subconscious mind go to work. Relax, go fishing or for a walk in the woods. You should let your mind to sort-out things naturally . This period of inactivity should not be too long. Two to three days should suffice before you consciously start to sort the materials you have gathered. This is the time you will be asking questions. It is important that you remain motivated during this stage as this mental activity can be exhausting. The integration process is a left-brain activity . Pace yourself and again do not put yourself under too much pressure.

3. Action

This is a whole-brain process. This is the stage where you put into use what you have gathered and sorted. It is essential to effective learning that you don’t rush this process. If you are learning a practical skill such as knitting, it is time to start doing it.

4. Continuous Improvement

This is the longest stage and will continue as long as the motivation to improve is present. Action will lead to feedback. Feedback means more information to be integrated and put in action. This is a cycle that kept is spinning by your drive

In order to achieve effective learning through the four steps described above you should acquire the skills to:

i) seek resources/materials for you to gain exposure

ii) associate the resources/materials using your whole-brain(left, right, senses, etc)

iii) move yourself from one process to another

Happy learning.

Abdul Majid is interested in the potentials of the human mind, body and spirit.