Learning at school was easier, as the brain absorbed knowledge like a sponge. The adult brain resists with all its might: it is difficult to find motivation and time to develop, it is scary to make a mistake and waste energy, you have to force yourself to retrain. Here is how to deal with it.
Don’t Be Afraid to Learn New Things
Imagine that you have two boxes in front of you. The first is empty, the second is full of fragile objects. It’s easy to fill the first box with anything, but to fit something in the second one, you either have to throw some things away or squeeze in the new stuff so that the rest doesn’t break.
An adult’s brain is a second box of accumulated experience and knowledge. When we try to put new information into the brain, it fears that the familiar order will suffer.
New knowledge can be more useful than old knowledge. To learn effectively, see learning not as an enemy that will shake the familiar picture of the world, but as an opportunity to develop and become smarter.
To get rid of fear, do the exercise. Divide the sheet of paper into two columns. In the first one, write five things that are important to you in learning. In the second one, what you can do to make the important things come true. The exercise will help turn a scary fear into concrete steps you need to take to allay your fears and learn for pleasure.
Sell Your Brain on the Idea That You Need to Learn
Authority and obedience are the foundation of a child’s learning. For adults, other people’s authority doesn’t work. Doing something for nothing is hard – you need to understand the benefit of the action.
The benefit can be material – “I’m learning so I can get more money for my work and spend it on things that bring me pleasure.” Or the benefit could be just the pleasure, “I’m learning new strategies for PlayAmo Canada online casino and getting high from it.”
To want to learn, you have to sell the brain the idea that learning will be beneficial. If the brain understands that learning will not bring it money or pleasure, it will be hard to learn.
Take Responsibility for Learning
There are 3 positions in learning. The first is the resort position. It’s as if the person is lying on a lounge, waiting to be served a cocktail of knowledge with bits and pieces of experience.
The second position is the passenger. It’s as if the person is being taken somewhere; he or she absorbs new information, but doesn’t try to influence the learning process.
The third position is the driver. Man himself paves the way to the knowledge, if something does not like it, turn off the road and look for another route. Learning from the driver’s position is useful, you get a new and interesting experience, develop autonomy and achieve the result you want, not others.
When training, choose the driver’s position. Find a learning format that is comfortable; ask questions of the instructor if something is unclear; ask for feedback; discuss if you can do additional tasks. Remember you are responsible for the result.
Create a Comfortable lLearning Environment
Stress and discomfort are bad fuel for learning. If you’re an introvert, face-to-face classes can be uncomfortable – you’ll be nervous and anxious instead of absorbing information. If, on the contrary, live contact with the teacher and other students is important to you, choose the face-to-face format.
Comfort depends not only on the training format. If it’s difficult to study at home, because your relatives distract you, go to the library or a cafe. Can’t concentrate for long – take small breaks to distract yourself. Think of the things you enjoy, and add those things to your studies. It will get much easier.
Choose an Educational Program to Suit Your Purpose
Sometimes picking the right educational course is harder than taking it. There are 5,000 courses on Coursera alone, the largest online education project in the world. How do you choose an educational program from a variety of options?
The first thing you should look at when choosing a course is the result you are promised. If the result isn’t clearly articulated, don’t hesitate to ask the instructor what you will be able to do at the end of the course.
The second important thing when choosing training is how the knowledge will benefit you in life. Make sure this information is in the syllabus. There may be a lot of interesting information in the course, but it will be useless if they don’t tell you how to put it into practice.
Third, who created the educational program. Pay attention to the experience of experts and teachers, look at their social media, and understand whether you like the way they deliver their thoughts. If you feel that you like the teacher and his or her approach to learning, go for it.
Finally, read reviews. Reviews on promotional course pages may seem overly complimentary. If you feel you are being cheated, read reviews on third-party resources, ask people you know about the course, or contact alumni.
Keep Track of Your Emotions
Imagine that you are doing an educational course and suddenly realize that you are bored. It’s important to stop and analyze what you don’t like. Write out everything that pisses you off in the course and think about whether you can change these things. Talk to the teacher about what’s bothering you, together you can find a solution.
If you can’t change the things you don’t like, remember your purpose. You need to understand why learning is important to you, and what will happen if you don’t get that knowledge. Achieving a goal and a result is good motivation to keep learning.
Even if you remember why you are learning, the goal may not seem important. That’s okay because you’re evolving, changing, and starting to think differently. If the original goal ceases to motivate you, come up with a new one.
If you don’t like learning, the goal doesn’t motivate you, and you can’t change it, you don’t have to force yourself. Find a new way to learn that is fun and rewarding.
