This is a fast-paced world after all. You are faced with revolutionary changes and there’s so much to learn. This article will show you some of the dangerous mindsets that hold you back from learning effectively.
- I’m too old to learn As you grow older, there is this tiny voice in your head saying, “You are getting old and your brain is getting ‘rusty’”. It’s true that your brain cells are killed over the years. But look at Albert Einstein, scientists have proved that he had only tapped less than 1 % of his brain’s power. It’s not an excuse to say that you can’t learn because you are too old. Exercising your brain is like exercising your muscles. When you train your muscles, it gets developed and becomes stronger. The more you do, the more satisfaction you’ll get from the results. This applies to learning too. If you consistently train your brain to learn new things, you will learn things much faster.
- I know everything. Perhaps you are successful; you have an honors degree or even a master degree. And you assumed that you have learnt everything you need to know. You believed that you are right and everybody is wrong. You won’t listen to anyone except yourself. Eventually someone is going to be hot on your heels and surpass you sooner or later. It’s only when you fail would you start to realize that you’ve got to learn again.
- I’m not smart enough. You lost your job and you are finding a new one. You have been in a specialized industry for several years. Now it’s time to re-learn from scratch. You wanted to learn something new, but you are worried that you are not smart enough. And you keep putting it off. Even before you fight a war, you have surrendered. By thinking negatively, you have lost half the war. Although you may have started learning, but half way through, you feel that you are not smart enough and give up halfway. The truth is that to master a skill, there are many learning curves and obstacles to break through. Maybe you are just a few steps away from mastering the skill. Think about it, won’t it be a waste to give up halfway?
- There are many people who are smarter than me. You are in a class full of young, talented and intelligent professionals. When you looked at the mirror, you felt you are inferior to them. In terms of learning abilities, these people are more proficient and skillful than you are. You cannot help it but thinking negatively about yourself. The truth is there is always somebody better than you are. And the only way you will have an edge is through endless and continuous learning. It is your battle, not a battle with others.
- This is not for me. I’m sure you have been very enthusiastic when you first picking up something new. You may hit dead ends occasionally but at the start, your enthusiasm has pulled it through. After a while, you keep going nowhere. You are near the intermediate stage but you are somehow stuck and you can’t advance to the next stage. You saw your friends improving and you are on the plateau. All the fun, excitement and enthusiasm die off. Now, you are tired of learning and you want to give up. You said to yourself, “This is not for me”. The truth is this will be a deadly habit that will hinder your success. Think about it, it’s just an excuse to escape from the fact that you are not confident about yourself and your learning abilities. If you give up learning because it’s not for you, then you will never master anything.
- Not focus. Some people have the tendency of learning many things at the same time. One moment they are reading a “how to invest” book, the other they are reading a “how to do ebay”. If you find yourself distracted, maybe it’s time to focus. Imagine you are multi tasking, doing many different things at one go – talking on the phone, watching television, doing your work on the laptop. Would you able to do it well? I doubt so. My advice to you… Stay focused.
- I can learn it another day. You returned home from a tiring day of heavy workload, stressful working environment and even long hours of office hours. You have already planned to read another chapter of your book. But you decided to put it off again. In fact, for the past week, you have procrastinated and delayed your lessons or classes. After a month, you simply forget about it. The fact is to learn effectively, you got to be disciplined. No matter how tired you are, you have to stick with your plans and deadlines. Please share some of your learning obstacles and comments about learning effectively. George Tee is the author of “Secrets Of Scoring ‘A’s” and founder of Learning Nest – Secretsofstudying.com . A few of his popular articles are 5 Hacks That Make Study Simple And Effective, How To Effectively Manage Your Time and How I Excel In My Exams And Emerge Among The Top 53 Students.
