In the years that I have been teaching martial arts, I have noticed that less and less people are comfortable with the process of learning. Did I say process? YES! Learning is a process that occurs over time! In fact, it is a multi-faceted process that requires time, effort, data, and experience. Whether it is the age of the internet where data is always at our fingertips, or some byproduct of the public education system, people no longer understand the way learning occurs. In the next several posts, I will cover some of the aspects of the educational journey and maybe give you some hope and a better understanding of your own learning journey. The first thing we have to understand about learning something new, is that we have something to learn.
Every time I go to train in another school, I am thoroughly amazed by the creativity of the human brain. Each school owner and every instructor puts their own spin on the information and has their own ways of creating a functional training environment. We are created to be creative! However, if you were to ask most of those instructors where they got their ideas, they would likely tell you about some other instructor or a schoolteacher or maybe even their spouse. The best instructors are humble enough to accept that they don’t have all the answers and that they need help from others to improve their skill and their system. At some point, they probably realized that they were pretty good at what they do, but they didn’t let that stop them from improving!
We all have talents and many of us have skills. Maybe you have been at your job for 20 years and feel like you know all the ins and outs of what you are doing. When we have experience and knowledge about something, it is easy to discount the information others bring to the table. Our pride in our work can cause us to miss out on valuable information that could make us better.
Here is an example: When my wife and I had our first child, I was pretty confident that I knew how to handle parenting (go ahead and laugh). I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a parent. I read books on both marriage and parenting to make sure I was ready to be the right kind of husband and father. The result was that when my wife brought up an idea or had an opinion about how we should handle a situation with our oldest child, I stuck my chest out and exclaimed that “I know better!”. How do you think that worked out? Well, my wife and I would be at odds for days and my child had to deal with a lot of silly parenting plans. However, when I learned to stop and listen to my wife, and observe my children carefully, I started to notice improvement in all our home relationships. Not only that, but I was able to better sort through my parenting and communication tools and find the ones that worked best within the framework of our family.
The same thing can happen to you (or again to me) in any area of life. When we decide that we know “enough” or even just more than the next person, we actually limit the ability of our brains to learn. Not only that, but we can limit our ability to share our knowledge with others. The world is at its best when people work together, share information, and give 100% effort. You can live most effectively when you understand that there is always more to learn. No matter how experienced and knowledgeable you are, keep training, and keep growing!