How I Learn Decides Where I Am: Here’s How To Learn Better

“You don’t want your brain to be like the Internet.”

Learning Expert, Dr. Will Thalheimer

Can Learning To Learn Better Lead To More Success?

Is it just a lack of knowledge that's holding you back?

The Internet is full of knowledge.

Full of facts, ideas, opinions, images.

And everything, for the most part, is equally accessible to everyone.

It can be great, when we’re trying to research a topic, or whenever we want to learn something new.

Smart people get seduced by knowledge, because the understanding of it has always come more easily to them.

Plus, most of us were lauded with praise in school, during formative years, whenever we displayed that knowledge came easily to us, on tests, and in class.

By the time we're thrust out into "the real world", many of us are unskilled in "taking decisive action" and in "relationship-building", and so we (intro-)revert to just learning more knowledge.

That's how we were programmed.

Some people have compared the Internet to the human mind, saying that there’s all this information, interconnected in one way or another.

Our brains operate a little differently, though.

One major difference is that our brains have an ordered, organic / alive structure to them. 

The internet contains information that comes from our natural minds, but is expressed through an inorganic / man-made technological lens, and on a technological platform.

Also, our minds can be very spongey.

We can’t just allow anything and everything we come across (or, that comes to mind) the same level of access as those thoughts that’re more important to us.

Most of us learn differently.

Some of us learn better through reading, some through writing, or speaking, or visually, etc.

Most of us, however, would agree that we can decide what comes in and what stays in through learning and memory.

On paper, that rings true, right?

But what about in practice?

What’s our experience with, say, learning a new skill, or remembering to stick with a New Year’s resolution?

Most of us don’t have too pristine a record with things like that.

Some of us resolve to witticisms, or self-deprecating humor.

“I resolve not to follow-thru on my weightloss goal this year,” we joke.

Some of us quote stale sayings as if they were Scripture.

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!”

Didn't the "Dog Whisperer" disprove that myth? Is it just an excuse?

Is there a "past-due" date on our ability to learn?

So much for that “No Regrets” Post you shared the other day, right?

(The one that attracted the entire force of Spelling Police!)

So much for your legacy.

And what’s your tombstone going to say?

“Here lies Eric. All his rezolutions were lies (and misspelled!)”

“RIP Eric: You no longer have to pretend like next year will be better.”

Those might be funny as someone else’s epitaph.

You might laugh at that on a sitcom.

Obviously, we’d never want to learn that we’re being remembered this way.

So What Can I Do?

First, I’ve got to learn how I remember, which will then lead to learning how I best learn.

An over-arching framework that most of us have heard of is:

Learn - Do - Review

And this, I’ve found, works well for me.

Except I’ll add in “Teach” at the end so:

Learn - Do - Review - Teach

And then, ultimately, repeating those last 3, so:

Learn - Do - Review - Teach - Do - Review - Teach - Do - Review - Teach - etc…

That would be all that's needed if you've already mastered “learning”.

That's not the case with me, though: I’m still learning how to learn.

In my experience, so far, I’ve found something that seems to be a constant for all of us:

We learn and remember better through both Context and Spacing.

What’s that mean?

I'm glad you asked!

Let me give you some context on these methods.

What Is Context In Learning?

Context simply means that you create a practice session that’s as close to the “performance” of what you’re trying to learn as possible.

For example, you’re learning how to give a speech in front of a bunch of people.

Adding in “context” would mean that you practice in front of as many people as possible.

Simple enough, right?

So, it should be easy for everyone to learn whatever they want. They just need to add in some context.

Got it.

Thanks, Eric!

Hang on….

Not so fast. (Maybe I’m projecting how I normally respond to information when someone’s trying to teach me. I just want to “get it” and then go and do it—ASAP.)

There’s usually more to it than just taking some one-size-fits-all formula and running with it.

The “more to it” part, for me, is usually me finding some way to get in the way of myself.

People say that we like to complicate things.

I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to that.

However, a lot of times—and just from being alive—we have a lot of complications that’ve been embedded into us.

Whether it’s from some trauma, or just from some negative experience, or even from a well-meaning parent or authority figure that unintentionally misled or scarred us when we were at our most-impressionable.

Whatever the case, there’s usually some “unpacking” we need to do of our “baggage” first.

Ok, So…Again: What Can I Do?

It’s similar to what I’ve talked about before, with how there’s an inertia of sorts tied into our mind, will, and emotional responses to things—including learning.

If I learn while I’m stressed and overworked, then that becomes my “new normal”, and I’ll learn better going forward when I’m stressed and overworked.

This becomes a self-fulfilling-prophecy “perspective bias”.

“I learn better when I’m stressed out,” or, “I get more done when there’s chaos all around me.”

We see someone else, seemingly with everything in order, their workspace, cars, homes all clean and clear of clutter, and we think, “Well, lucky them. They were born with the ability to have all of their affairs in order. But that’s just not me.” Yet, when was the last time you actually worked in a sleek, cleaned-up, simplified work environment?

Is it really harder for you to work there?

Would it just be doomed to become messy and disorganized because that's just "who you are" or "what you do"...?

The truth is, we’re all very adaptable. However, after we’ve carved out a groove, through repetition. And it takes much more mental and emotional work to climb out of that groove. In addition to the “climb”, we then have to wear down a new (neural) path before it becomes as easy to travel down as our former habit was.

Have you ever changed a habit?

Have you ever overcome something negative that you'd been doing, and actually changed your behavior?

Chances are, you have, especially if you're reading this.

Most people just placate their shame by "getting into acceptance".

This is a slippery slope to navigate because we all agree that excessive shame, and a lack of self-acceptance is bad.

No argument there.

But when did that become: "Turn off your conscience," or "Just accept who you are, where you are, and settle for mediocrity."...?

You judge a thing by its fruit, right?

What's the fruit of losing the belief that you can improve?

What's the fruit of losing faith in your ability to grow?

And even if you've never changed a bad habit, matured into different thinking, or changed your mind on something (for the better)--you've no doubt seen someone else do it, right?

Ok, so it is possible, yes?

Once you can see that it is possible, the faith / belief / confidence becomes available to you that you’re able to hike out of the current valley that you’re in, and grind your way into another, better (for you) groove.

What’s the best, easiest way to grind, then?

And wait--you were going to tell me about Spacing!

OMGosh, your intuition is on-point today!

Those two actually go together....

How Do I Use Spacing To Learn Better?

This is just the reps that you put in, along with the intervals in between the repeated action.

For example, have you ever done any weightlifting or any specific exercise at the gym?

Do you remember the first several attempts at it?

Your limbs were shaky.

Your motion was zig-zagging, instead of straight and true.

And this went on for days--weeks, maybe--ya?

But after a while, your main muscles got stronger, more solidified.

Your stabilizer muscles strengthened.

And both the motion required, along with the weight itself became easier to maneuver.

You can translate this same process into your work habits.

You can use these same techniques on what you choose to focus on.

The Spacing side of this "Learning Equation" requires that kind of repetition to work.

Once you’ve committed to your reps, you then plan out the “space” in between them.

It's a little bit different than how you would perform reps at the gym. Let me explain:

The general rule, with Spacing to learn new things easier (i.e. to remember how to do them, as well as get better at doing them) is that the more space between reps, the better.

For example, 1 hour is better than 10 minutes, in between attempts at your new habit of say, focusing on value-producing activities, as opposed to mindless entertainment on Social Media.

24 hours spacing in between “reps” is significantly better than 1 hour.

There’s some connection between the subconscious mind being able to mull things over while we sleep that contributes to a faster learning curve.

The trenches of your new groove is being built, even while you sleep. Don't spread it out much further than 24 hours, though--at least, not until you've turned it into a habit.

This is also where your brain decides whether or not it’s convinced that this “new thing” is here to stay, or if it’s just some whimsical, temporary diversion.

You may know that you want it, at all costs.

And you may believe that you’re carving out this new groove, no matter what.

But, contrary to popular opinion, you are not encapsulated within your brain.

I Think Therefore…

There are “rebellious”, self-sabotaging factions of thoughts within all of us that do not want the perceived increase in responsibility that comes along with you becoming more successful in any/all areas of your life.

Consistent, well-planned Spacing can both limit and squash those self-doubt “hater thoughts” that will try and talk you out of you making a change for the better.

I’ve found that if I can personify and separate myself from those doubting thoughts—and see them as an enemy—then my resolve solidifies, and my success becomes easier.

Again, there’s the “I think therefore I am” crowd that would disagree with me, but the only thing that determines success is results, right?

Once I decided that I am not (only) my thoughts—and that some of my thoughts weren’t fit to live with me (be sheltered, nurtured, and fed) anymore—my resistance to positive change lessened.

People talk all the time about taking a stand, and being opposed to something, or being for something.

And that’s all good, but for me, it starts within.

After You’ve Sharpened The Ax, Start Swinging It

I want to first decide which parts of me are serving me well, and should be rewarded (with more attention, and love).

And then which parts (I’m speaking mentally and figuratively here—not physically!) need to be cut off, pruned.

Most of us have heard about how the word “decide” comes from a root that means “to cut” and “to sever”.

Decision. Incision. Excise.

You can use any "instrument" you want, since you have free will there—but once you make a decision, start scanning your thoughts, looking for “enemies” that need their heads removed.

With all the violence in the media, in entertainment, we can become desensitized to it.

I would argue that violence has an important place in our lives, however.

(don’t “Click to Tweet” the above line—hear me out…).

Violence against another human is never good.

I’ve seen a lot of shows and movies that have implied that, but I can’t remember it ever happening in real life where it was anything but a tragedy.

So Where Can Violence Be “Good”?

Keep in mind, this isn’t medical advice, or psychological counsel.

This is just my experience, and opinion.

That being said, at some point during the slicing and dicing of my decision-making, I began to notice something.

It seemed that the more “violent” and aggressive I became against my enemy hater-thoughts, the more unlikely they were to come back for more.

The more I separated my personal belief in and from them, the less they tried to influence me along those lines.

Now, I don’t know if this is all just subconscious, defense-mechanism-type stuff or what.

Does it even matter, initially, whether these thoughts have some kind of life of their own, or if they’re just completely derived from my own doubts and worries?

Not to me, it doesn’t.

The key here is that once I started pushing / fighting back against the thoughts that had (in effect) self-sabotaged me for so long, those thoughts started to dissipate and even disappear completely.

A "Take No Prisoners" Kind Of Power

I suddenly started to feel this surge of power—almost as though I had discovered some superpower that had been inside of me, but dormant, this entire time.

And it is power. It comes back to the freedom I gain when I decide to be 100% responsible for what goes on within me.

Again, I’m talking emotionally, and mentally here--within your soul--not physically.

Some people believe that every single physical ailment comes from some negative choice that we’ve made.

I’m not sure I believe that. I think I’d like to, because it would provide me with some kind of control over my health and physical well-being.

I’ve just seen so much sickness and disease, and so many other negative physical ailments--things that just seem 100% unfair--and not at all matching what I know about the person that’s battling them.

Since I don’t know much about that, I’m going to steer clear.

However, I do know that many (if not all) of my choices begin as a thought.

And I also know that I can tend to my thought life in the same way that I can tend to a garden, or a home, or a car, or my relationships.

I know that as I improve my thoughts, and utilize certain methods, I can make learning much easier for myself.

Lastly, I know you’ve heard this final tip before (and that it makes most of us groan), but I’ll say it anyway:

Journaling helps.

This can get all those “voices” that are inside your head, out onto paper.

At that point, you can decide what’s true. What’s a lie.

What’s helping you, what’s hurting you, and what do you want to focus on more.

There may be some “thought scanner” invention somewhere on the horizon that’ll do the job better but, for now, journaling is still the best way to “unpack” those thoughts.

When you do it with/for the purpose of determining where you’re at, what you want, and what you really stand for, it usually leads to empowering growth.

So, if you’ve been sitting on the fence (again) about journaling, there you go—another vote for it.

The Recap Of All Of This

Start by Journaling, to see what’s going on and what you want to be going on. If you can't (or just plain refuse to) journal, then get someone: a Coach, Mentor, close friend--someone that you trust. And "journal out loud" to them. Share your thoughts, and use them as a sounding-board. This will help to accomplish similar results.

(Note: if you're not paying them, then offer to do the same for them. This is a Big "ask" of someone.)

Start paying more attention to your thoughts.

Don’t just accept the negative thoughts.

And if you decide that you don’t want those kinds of thoughts anymore, resist them. Fight back against them.

Create a “Learning Framework” for yourself, utilizing “Context” and “Spacing”.

Set that framework up in the pattern of:

Learn - Do - Review - (Teach) - Learn - Do - Review - (Teach) - etc

And remember:

"How I learn is directly proportional to how successful I am."

(which is me, quoting myself for effect)!

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I was always told, growing up in Business, “There’s no silver bullet!” whenever I would ask people for some tip—you know, something specific—that could help me to get better. Or they'd just say, "Hard work!" or "Determination," or something else obvious and unhelpful.

In spite of, and maybe because of, this I prefer giving out good, helpful ideas—with specific action(s) that can be taken--right away, preferably.

There may not be one silver bullet, but there are hundreds, and probably thousands of Silver Bullets. 

You just read (another) one of em. This one, in fact, was an entire clip. (Thanks again!).

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