Are you a learner?

"In times of change, the learner shall inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer

What a phenomenal quote! The moment we think we have it all figured out, we are on a losing path. So we want to stay on our toes all the time and keep learning. This does make you wonder though, what is exactly meant by learning?

Not understanding what learning actually means causes confusion, and leads to people saying they know something, when their behavior and results would suggest they haven't even heard of it. Our schooling system has further blurred the line between gathering facts and learning. If we are able to hear something, recollect and repeat it, they say we have learned it, when all they have done is repeat some information. We can see this in the ever-widening knowing-doing gap in our lives. This is when we don't DO what already KNOW how to do.  For e.g. most of us know how we can improve our productivity, but we don't do it. We know we should not react to other people but respond to them after thinking, but that knowledge doesn't stop us from blowing a fuse if someone is really annoying us etc. Not understanding this knowing-doing gap causes enormous frustration and confusion because you don't know WHY you are not getting the results.

Fig. 1 The conventional model for gathering information

Fig. 2 The 4-step process for learning and changing paradigms

The reason for this is that the part of the mind that contains the facts (conscious mind) is not the part of the mind that controls our motivation, actions and results (subconscious mind). By merely repeating facts, we are developing our memory, which is a faculty of the conscious mind, but the paradigm (our habitual programming) is deep in our subconscious mind and untouched. Hence, the paradigm dictates the results we are obtaining. The only way to actually cause a dramatic change in our results is to replace our paradigm with consciously empowering ideas. With this is mind, Bob talks about a 4-stage learning process that changes the paradigm.

1. Consciously entertain an idea. - This is the part where you think about the idea.  
2. Emotionally get involved in it - This is the part where you play around with the end result and see yourself already having achieved the final result. You build your desire and motivation for the goal.
3. Step out and actually act on the idea - Taking action and doing. 
4. Look for feedback in the form of improved results and repeat - This is where learning actually happens. We can figure out what works and what doesn't, and then do more of what works.

This method integrates knowing and doing to produce actual learning. Try it out on something today.