One of the main obstacles I have found in my life and others, is time. The other is not having the knowledge or the know how to do something. When those two things comprise against the solution to your problem, the odds go against you quickly. I have heard many say, "I just don't have time to learn _______________"(Fill in the blank).These 2 reasons, alongside money, are probably in the top 3 for what makes someone achieve or not. So if you could learn how to beat the learning curve and the time it took to get you there, wouldn't it make sense to do so? Below are some ideas and free resources that could help you along your quest for knowledge.
I have personally implemented these ideas into my own life and noticed that it made significant changes to overcome the issues listed above.
Ask
Find individuals that can help you attain knowledge. Have at least one question they can answer to help you move forward. If you picked one person a day, at the end of the year you would know 365 bits of information. If you are asking the question, you should probably at least get one tidbit of information beneficial to you. We live in a society that encourages us to act as if we already know, regardless, if we really know or not. That does not make for a stable environment to ask questions, but go against the status quo and do it anyway.
Being humble and honest with individuals and groups when it comes to your lack of knowledge pays off. It is human nature for the other person to instantly start trying to show you how much they know, so they start telling you, when you make it clear that you lack the knowledge. It is not so much that the other person is willing to help, versus the fact that they want to show you how much they know. Funny how that works...isn't it? Hehe.
Find groups of people in a quest for the same knowledge as you. Make up points of connections, and exchange ideas. Teamwork pays off.
Speed read
This is a super power that Warren Buffet and Bill Gates both specifically said they would love to have. You can check the video out here .
Take a test right here that will show you your speed reading skills currently. In addition, I have added some resources to further supplement the ability to speed read.
Audio books
If you don't like to read, use audio books. They are more common now than ever.
Here is a list of the top audio book websites as of July 2013.
Find a mentor
It makes sense to find others that already know the answers to your questions. Who better to help you than someone that is an expert already. Even as little as 10 minutes in their presence, could take months, if not years, off of your learning curve. They stand out in their field. If you cannot get them one on one, hunt down their websites and products.
Take time to learn how you learn
To learn faster, having a plan on how to learn is a great start. Many of us were taught to learn by repetition but after reading this free E-book by Scott H. Young, you might just think that there are more effective ways to learn . Reading this really provoked my thought when it came to how I was learning.
You can watch Scott talking about the MIT challenge by clicking down below:
Mind Maps are another great way to change up your learning skills. The concept is taking things and grouping them so they will make sense later. It is believed that our brains don't have a problem storing the information, it is having an organized process for retrieval, that is the main problem.
What would be 2 key things you would try to learn, providing that you had the resources to do so?
Provide Your Feedback below
Found these very interesting and inspiring
ReplyDeleteThanks SherryAnne. Glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteWow! Thank you so much for this article James. I have to say that this could not have come at a better time for me. I'm going to add a bookmark to this page so I can come back to it whenever I need to. You're awesome! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Vashti. I figure we can all use a tune up every know and then...LOL. I revisited this topic as a refresher for myself as well.Very smart on your behalf to bookmark it. Knowledge is only good if we know where we left it last..
DeleteLOL. Good luck in your endeavours. Thanks for the feedback!
Great Blog James, I have been trying so hard to learn additional information quickly and I find that I will listen to an audio book 2 or 3 times and continue to hear new information each time. Thanks for the additional ideas!
ReplyDeleteWendy Cooley, wendycooley.com
That is true Wendy. I have been further maximizing my time by taking notes only to information that I find applicable to my situation, and putting it into action as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI know I am guilty of reading or listening to a book and then figuring out later I never did anything it said...lol. Thanks for your feedback Wendy.