Recently, some personal inconveniences forced me to take leave of from work earlier than usual. And, I had some idle time. On one hand I was pre-occupied by some assignment, practically, I was free! My pre-occupation was spending some time with my father who was ill, and hospitalised. So, I was with him in the night. Yes, he used to talk for a while all old and new things, but then he was tired and was fast asleep. Naturally for me, it was idle time.
For some odd reason, I didn't carry any book with me, as was my wont. So, after a few minutes of browsing through the magazines I felt bored. But, then I started recollecting some of the ideas I had read a few years back. So much for the introduction, let me come to my point -- I do not remember where and when I read it but the idea was very clear to my mind. It was this simple idea You are allowed to Imperfect!
Quite often, it happens that we do not attempt something because we do not know it! It used to happen with me. You just don't do something because you think you are not perfect at it! It may be an area of doing some simple domestic chore, as simple as fixing a broken switch! As I reflect on these, certain things become clearer. Many of the important things that I have done, I had started when I didn't know a thing about it. But as you work through, things become clearer, and then probably you may go through all the stages which I referred to in my earlier post -- Panic, Inertia, Striving, Coping and Mastery.
So, it again boils down to the same thing. You're allowed to Imperfect. May be it is a panic or inertia stage. Or, it can be even that it may something "insignificant" to improve upon. You're allowed to Imperfect, provided you understand what it means, and you don't make that an excuse for not improving upon yourself.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Are you a Master Learner?
Some of friends commented that my posts in this blog are only related to technology. So, I thought I will also post something not related to technology for a change. (Of course I do hope, I will be able to post more such, in future!)
A couple of years back, I was very much impressed by the idea on Stages of Learning, put forward by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I was quite fond of his books, and purchased quite a few of them. Even today, whenever I get time I go through these books. Also, it is great to read his books, when you're down. It gives a lot of inspiration.
The Stages of Learning -- anything that you come across, whether it is a child learning how to walk, or a teenager on his first job, or those of us from technology learning a new programming language or a typical way of doing new things -- we go through 5 phases. According to Dyer, these are Panic, Inertia, Striving, Coping and Mastery.
As may be very clear to everyone, whenever we come across a particular situation for the first time, it is cause for Panic. We don't know how to face it. Dyer gives the example of punctured tyre of vehicle while you're on a long trip, with no assistance seen nearby. First few moments, you're totally immobilized. This is true of any situation or new learning.
Next few moments are those of Inertia. You are just not able to go forward. You know, that you're facing a problem and you have to solve it. But you just cannot. Sometimes I am astonished at the number of people who "quit" at this point of time. You tend to rationalize that such-and-such is very difficult or "it is just not for me" etc. But as they say, the tough people go beyond this stage quite quickly.
At least, they reach the next stage -- Striving. When you reach this stage, you're trying hard to achieve, what you want. Yes there could initial hiccups. But you work towards overcoming all these, and want to succeed in your learning.
Depending on the effort you put in and how fast a learner you are, you will soon reach a point where we could say you are Coping well. Here you feel comfortable. You know that you can do it, and the worst is behind you.
But, it is rather unfortunate that many people leave it at that. They feel quite complacent, or think that it is good enough. But the most important stage in this 5 stages of learning, is the last one -- Mastery. This is beyond Coping. You have to do deep into it. If you're sure that you have learned a particular task because you feel it is important, it is just not sufficient that you know it -- you have to be a master at it.
Reaching the last stage -- that was most important message I have learned from Dr. Dyer's stages of learning. This has also influenced me a lot whether it is related to career or associated with hobby. Yes, I have read some variants of the same theme depicted by other authors also. May be different words, but quite often I have seen this repeated by many successful people. They just do not rest when everyone does. They go beyond -- and achieve Mastery.
Bye for now.
A couple of years back, I was very much impressed by the idea on Stages of Learning, put forward by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I was quite fond of his books, and purchased quite a few of them. Even today, whenever I get time I go through these books. Also, it is great to read his books, when you're down. It gives a lot of inspiration.
The Stages of Learning -- anything that you come across, whether it is a child learning how to walk, or a teenager on his first job, or those of us from technology learning a new programming language or a typical way of doing new things -- we go through 5 phases. According to Dyer, these are Panic, Inertia, Striving, Coping and Mastery.
As may be very clear to everyone, whenever we come across a particular situation for the first time, it is cause for Panic. We don't know how to face it. Dyer gives the example of punctured tyre of vehicle while you're on a long trip, with no assistance seen nearby. First few moments, you're totally immobilized. This is true of any situation or new learning.
Next few moments are those of Inertia. You are just not able to go forward. You know, that you're facing a problem and you have to solve it. But you just cannot. Sometimes I am astonished at the number of people who "quit" at this point of time. You tend to rationalize that such-and-such is very difficult or "it is just not for me" etc. But as they say, the tough people go beyond this stage quite quickly.
At least, they reach the next stage -- Striving. When you reach this stage, you're trying hard to achieve, what you want. Yes there could initial hiccups. But you work towards overcoming all these, and want to succeed in your learning.
Depending on the effort you put in and how fast a learner you are, you will soon reach a point where we could say you are Coping well. Here you feel comfortable. You know that you can do it, and the worst is behind you.
But, it is rather unfortunate that many people leave it at that. They feel quite complacent, or think that it is good enough. But the most important stage in this 5 stages of learning, is the last one -- Mastery. This is beyond Coping. You have to do deep into it. If you're sure that you have learned a particular task because you feel it is important, it is just not sufficient that you know it -- you have to be a master at it.
Reaching the last stage -- that was most important message I have learned from Dr. Dyer's stages of learning. This has also influenced me a lot whether it is related to career or associated with hobby. Yes, I have read some variants of the same theme depicted by other authors also. May be different words, but quite often I have seen this repeated by many successful people. They just do not rest when everyone does. They go beyond -- and achieve Mastery.
Bye for now.
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