Tag: learning

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books motivation teaching

Reinforce a Lesson by Teaching Someone

Cartoon of a teacher and a circle-shaped character

The other day, a coworker was asking me how I keep my notes organized. I responded that I have got a lot out of a web site and book about the Bullet Journal Method.

It reminded me of how valuable it is to reinforce a lesson by telling or teaching someone the same lesson. I have been using a variation of the method for some time and bought the book in the spring. I was reminded of how effective the method was when I told him how it helped me.

If you are a lifelong learner, I suggest you find a way to teach what you’ve learned to others. You don’t have to be an official, formal teacher. You can just share what you’ve learned to your friends or people at work.

If you have found a piece of knowledge to be useful for you, chances are another person can benefit from it. In turn, that helps you remember the lesson and reinforce it in your own mind.

Categories
motivation wisdom

Getting Wisdom and Understanding

There is a big difference between believing you’ve gotten wisdom, and continually seeking wisdom. The minute you think you’ve arrived, that you’ve learned all you need to learn, then you become less and less wise.

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.

Proverbs 4:7 NLT

There is always something new to learn. I have discovered I may have to relearn the same lesson from weeks, or even years ago. There may be a subtle insight to that lesson. Because I can never fully know every angle of a lesson, new understanding can transform what I thought was rock-solid truth.

Preconceived notions can backfire if you aren’t always willing to learn. Make sure you are getting wisdom and not believe you got wisdom a long time ago. You never know what new insight will transform the way you see and do things.

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motivation

Don’t Just listen, But Do What it Says!

Listening and learning are very important. However, if we do nothing with our newfound knowledge, do we deceive ourselves?

What if my trash company lets me know they will be picking up my garbage early due to a holiday? Now I have some knowledge. Does it do me any good if I just do what I’ve always done and not get my trash to the curb early? No, I’ll just have an overflowing, smelly trash can I’ll need to put up for an additional week.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22 NIV

Learning is great. But knowledge without application becomes trivia. I can learn how to start a business, write a blog post or be kind to my neighbor, and do nothing with that knowledge, I’m just deceiving myself.

Let’s learn something new today… and do something with it. You never know. It may change your situation or even the world.

Categories
motivation Proverbs

Get All the Advice and Instruction You Can

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

Proverbs 19:20 NLT

We live in an age where we have access to instant information. If we have a question, we can always Google it on our phones. Libraries have buildings and online version. We have access to online universities, podcasts, and audiobooks. We can communicate with experts on the other side of the world. The opportunities to learn are endless.

At the same time, technology had made knowledge advance at lightning speed. Are you still relying on what you learned in school? That knowledge was probably obsolete by the time you graduated. Even if you are an expert in a field, choosing not to learn more can make you a dinosaur within a few years.

Whether you are just starting in your career, or have been working for decades, there is always something to learn. The old can learn from the young as well as the young from the old.

It is a great time to be a learner. Choose to learn something new every day!

Categories
Business teaching

Teaching in Order to Learn

It amazes me whenever it happens. Whenever I teach, I learn just as much as the students. I have seen it when I lead kids in large group on a Sunday morning. And I have seen it in the workplace as well. 

For the last two weeks at work, I’ve had the opportunity to teach a person my duties. I’ve been in my role for under ten months and there are many things about my job that are still new to me. The person who taught me retired in late June. Since then, I have been applying what she taught me. Now I have the chance to do the same for another person.

As I have shown her the systems, the exceptions and the why behind the way we do things, I have been energized. Sure, I am not using the same words, and every experience is different. In fact, that is part of the teaching/learning process that thrills me. I can paraphrase what I was taught and see the results in a whole new way.

We have this tendency to believe once we are done with our formal schooling, we are done with education. This fallacy keeps us from growing. I have found it is much better to keep learning. And one of the best ways to learn is to teach others what we do.

Blogging is one way we can do that. And that is why I am going continue writing about my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned through being a writer, illustrator, and a graphics manager.