Putting New Skills To Work
It’s always amazed me that there are people who waste their time, even when learning something useful in school. As you may know, I run training programs for a very wide range of audiences, starting from as young as 9 years and as “young” as 76. The difference between those who actually apply their skills versus those who are in the “in one ear and out the other” mentality are very stark. In one group, there’s a lot of slacking. They don’t really take to heart anything that is mentioned by the teacher, trainer or instructor. They use everything as an excuse not to get started. It’s the cold airconditioning. It’s the bad weather. The teacher/instructor is boring. I don’t see any need for me to learn this. Blah blah blah, and the list goes on.
In the other group, I can see energy and emotion targeted in one direction: to accomplish their goals. It doesn’t matter whether they understand the entire course. In fact, they might actually be confused about 50% of the things that are learnt. They only need one thing they understand, to be able to use and apply immediately. Then they use it. They ACT on it. They take simple steps to reach their goals and when they reach their goals, they end up being much more confident of achieving the next step. Then they ACT again.
I remember one time when I was acquiring my accelerated learning skills. It was really difficult at first because I never was given the best way to apply those skills. After all, it was a generic training on how to use memory/mindmaps. It was easy to just give up. I remember moments where I literally forced myself to “just do it” (Nike should pay a commission here, ha). It became a discipline that I am proud of, because I’m quite certain that in most contexts, I learn far faster than most other people.
When I first learnt NLP (neurolinguistic programming), I discovered that it was a powerful skill. Yet, I also know that most of the people who learnt NLP with me in that class no longer use the skill. For me, I incisively looked at each skill component and started to practice. I analyzed my own situation and asked myself what was the most effective way to create the outcome that I wanted. I remember I had a period of my life where training was literally non-stop, and I was on the verge of being fatigued. One day I asked myself “what if I could believe that 4.5 hours of sleep was more than enough, so that I could last through these long days?” I applied a technique that was never meant for such a purpose, so that I could temporarily shift my beliefs and I managed to enjoy the tough period, before enjoying a much needed rest. It was a time where my NLP skill was useful for the context that posed a challenge to me.
Once I had confidence that one small area worked for me, I became more confident of my skills and continued to apply them. Sure, there’s a lot of talk about setting exciting goals and going out there to achieve greatness. But it won’t last long unless you start doing something. Anything to build your skill.
Remember the progression of the alphabet? You had to start with ABC. Before the number “12”, you had to learn the number “1” and “2”. You needed basic building blocks. So, rather than rejecting everything you learn when you ask “why should I learn this”, change the question you have in your mind. Ask instead, “where can I use this, and how can I achieve mastery over this”. You will find a tremendous difference in your achievements.
We’ve heard the expression “knowledge is power”. In reality, knowledge, when not applied is nothing. Knowledge, when applied, gives you ultimate power.
Stuart Tan is an international speaker who has been training since 1994. Today, he co-runs one of Singapore’s largest training establishments and has spoken to over 100,000 audience members. For more information about his speaking services, visit him at http://Facebook.StuartTan.com