Learning, but not doing

[Zulu]

This thread really hits home. Sometimes I think I actually enjoy learning about self-improvement more so than the self-improvement!

I think ideally you'd spend 50% of your time applying what you've read and 50% of your time reading new material.

[carl]

Like many of you, this thread really hits home. I've had great success in the last year turning my knowledge into action by hiring a coach. Through his advice and prompting I accomplished more in a year than I dreamed possible, and I know I'm poised to continue achieving.

Another key is to consider this one of your strengths, and structure your life accordingly. I recently took the strengthsfinder assessment that came with the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths", by Buckingham and CLifton. My top 5 strengths were:

1. Input
2. Achiever
3. Strategic
4. Intellection
5. Futuristic

where Input is effectively the accumulation of knowledge, and Intellection identifies that I like the process of thinking itself. Achiever, Strategic and Futuristic specifiy accomplishment, planning and vision. Combined, it screams "personal development junkie" to me .

Notice that Activator (the ability to turn thoughts into action) is not on this list. This is why my coach was such a benefit to me - he spurred me into action where I wasn't taking any.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by carl

Like many of you, this thread really hits home. I've had great success in the last year turning my knowledge into action by hiring a coach. Through his advice and prompting I accomplished more in a year than I dreamed possible, and I know I'm poised to continue achieving.

Another key is to consider this one of your strengths, and structure your life accordingly. I recently took the strengthsfinder assessment that came with the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths", by Buckingham and CLifton. My top 5 strengths were:

1. Input
2. Achiever
3. Strategic
4. Intellection
5. Futuristic

where Input is effectively the accumulation of knowledge, and Intellection identifies that I like the process of thinking itself. Achiever, Strategic and Futuristic specifiy accomplishment, planning and vision. Combined, it screams "personal development junkie" to me .

Notice that Activator (the ability to turn thoughts into action) is not on this list. This is why my coach was such a benefit to me - he spurred me into action where I wasn't taking any.

Carl, Can you develop this idea of a 'coach'. What, where, when, why? etc

[carl]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Carl, Can you develop this idea of a 'coach'. What, where, when, why? etc

Hi Stephen,

Quoting from Wikipedia, "Life coaching is a practice of assisting clients to determine and achieve personal goals."

I think of it as hiring a personal trainer for other aspects of your life. A good coach will provide clarity, inspiration and accountability. He or she will also be knowledgable of tools to help you get around any roadblocks.

Where and when are dependent upon the coach - I know of people meeting in person, people talking over the phone, and people communicating exclusively online. Some talk every week, some more frequently, and some less.

The why is personal. For me, when I turned 30 I had already accomplished everything in life I had set out to achieve - happily married, wonderful twin boys, an exceptional career... I felt like the dog that caught the car - "What do I do now?". I still haven't discovered my life purpose, but my coach helped me identify several facets of my life I wanted to improve, and I've made incredible strides over the last year. Even though I had already "accomplished everything I wanted", my life is now 100x better than it was thanks to the action I have taken.

Without my coach, I don't believe I would have taken the actions I took this last year. He helped me focus on what was truly important and held me accountable for taking action. I needed the focus and accountability to spur me into action, and I have benefitted tremendously because of it.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by carl

Hi Stephen,

Quoting from Wikipedia, "Life coaching is a practice of assisting clients to determine and achieve personal goals."

I think of it as hiring a personal trainer for other aspects of your life. A good coach will provide clarity, inspiration and accountability. He or she will also be knowledgable of tools to help you get around any roadblocks.

Where and when are dependent upon the coach - I know of people meeting in person, people talking over the phone, and people communicating exclusively online. Some talk every week, some more frequently, and some less.

The why is personal. For me, when I turned 30 I had already accomplished everything in life I had set out to achieve - happily married, wonderful twin boys, an exceptional career... I felt like the dog that caught the car - "What do I do now?". I still haven't discovered my life purpose, but my coach helped me identify several facets of my life I wanted to improve, and I've made incredible strides over the last year. Even though I had already "accomplished everything I wanted", my life is now 100x better than it was thanks to the action I have taken.

Without my coach, I don't believe I would have taken the actions I took this last year. He helped me focus on what was truly important and held me accountable for taking action. I needed the focus and accountability to spur me into action, and I have benefitted tremendously because of it.

Thanks for that Carl, would you mind sharing anything tangible in way of an example. I'm intrigued by this. You obviously have the innate potential but you find that a catalyst is needed to realise it?

[carl]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Thanks for that Carl, would you mind sharing anything tangible in way of an example. I'm intrigued by this. You obviously have the innate potential but you find that a catalyst is needed to realise it?

That's a good question Stephen. Do I NEED a catalyst to realise my potential? I may have reached where I am today without the "kick in the pants" my coach provided. I don't know for sure, but I believe that I got here a lot faster with that catalyst. As I mentioned previously, I'm more of a "thinker" than a "doer".

To make a long story short, I'm now working with a game designer I idolized in high school as a lead developer of Fall of Rome. My coach helped me take the steps necessary, and I'm now doing something I only dreamed of doing when I was younger. Without his guidance and support I do not know that I would have taken the steps to make it happen.

[tc33]

Wow, this sounds familiar. Check out this link, especially the REASON #5: THEY SEEK ONLY "INFORMATIONAL SOLUTIONS" section.

Why Intelligent Men Fail - Pick Up and Seduction Database

I'm sure these fallacies aren't exclusively related to being successful with women; they're linked to all areas in our life. IMO, it all comes down to fear. Fear is what prevents us from taking action -- fear that we might actually succeed. I still can't figure out why I'm afraid of being successful in some areas of my life...but it is definitely there.

Hope that helps

Tom

[Marc Greve]

Don't make a label to put on yourself. An identity is stronger than a habit. Stop calling yourself a "knowledge junkie".
Say things as they are;

"Up until now I've not followed through on whatever projects I've started."

That's it. Nothing more in it.

--------------------------------------------------------------

What I've found that works nicely is JUST DOING THINGS. Don't tell me this is difficult - Honestly, stop making a thing out of this, it's not a thing.

People who overplan things usually have very sharp analytical minds. Work from your strengths. Once you have real world data you have more material to analyse with your theoretical knowledge. Have fun with this.

[dadeon]

It's important to realize that the real purpose of knowledge is action!

It's great to learn new/cool stuff, but why if you are not going to use and apply it. Learning is often a 'weak excuse' and it makes you feel like you are doing something. The truth is that without action you simply won't get the results that you are really after when learning it in the first place.

Information is worthless if you can't apply it and put it to use.

"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action." -Herbert Spencer

I used to struggle with this and it drove me up the wall. It's only when I started applying what I learned and what I knew that I was able to start producing some real results.

I've got a free course that I (appropriately) call A Course Of Action and it is aimed at exactly this 'knowing, but not doing' problem. You can enroll for free here:
http://www.selfimprovement-gym.com

[JJH]

... and the purpose of action is enjoyment!

[dadeon]

.
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." - Benjamin Disraeli

[Traffic]

Originally Posted by Mohit Pawar

2. Know your motivation behind learning. On a deeper level see what your motivation behind learning is; is it

• The desire to do better work
• Become a better person
• Need to project your self as a knowledgeable individual
• Fear that your actions may not result in success

Make a sincere effort to live consciously and learn for the right reasons. It is easier said than done but worth the effort.

This is a toughy for most people, but it's one that I've recently been realizing for myself.

If I'm honest, I've always had low self-esteem and I've always wanted to impress others. It's not something I do consciously, but during my early years I have learned to gather the appreciation of my peers by impressing them with some kind of knowledge or skill. Of course, it's not very effective (and often does the opposite), but when you've grown up with this idea it becommes heavilly engrained.

Recently, I've been makig an effort to think for myself. Say, stop, open your consciousness for a second and ask yourself, 'what's beneficial to me right now?'

I'm sure there's plenty of people here who dream of becoming succesful entrepreneurs, taking the world by storm with their charm, charisma and wealth of knowledge that they've attained through their personal development. Or perhaps you fancy yourself as an enlightened Zen master, offering wisdom and living in compete peace. Let's be honest though, it's not very realistic. What you really have to be thinking about, is what is going to help you, not the imaginary entrepreneur, or the enlightened being, but you.

If you can grasp that (and it's difficult, because generally, the real you is boring) I believe you will be somewhere on the right track.

[niyati]

Originally Posted by thadroe

Yep, I'm another one who has had a major problem taking action in my life. I feel it's starting to change though.

Not sure where I read this, maybe on Steve Pavlina...can't remember..but I've started to overcome this problem by thinking about a lot of things like this:

Pretend you are a lumberjack with an axe to chop down a tree. All your learning, reading, studying, etc. is like sharpening the axe...which is great...but at some point you have to start swinging the axe, even if it's just to test and see if it's sharp enough yet. You will periodically need to stop and sharpen the axe again, but you at least have to start swinging at some point to see what happens.

It was worded much better when I heard it... but I think you all get the idea.

Thad

Maybe you were thinking of Abraham Lincoln's, "If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four sharpening the axe."

Or perhaps someone who quoted him and expanded upon the idea.

[esn]

Are we inadvertently trained into Learning for Learning's Sake ?

In our lives, how much do we learn from 'doing' versus learn from reading or studying ?


Best Wishes,
Eric

[Liara Covert]

More than enough information definitely exists "out there" to enable us to continue learning for many lifetimes, if that's what we choose to do.

I'm particularly struck by concepts in a book by John Ralston Saul called "Equilibrium." I think our life is meant to enable us to explore how we each have different qualities that contribute to our own kind of intelligence. This doesn't imply we should try to learn everything or necessarily as much as we can. Rather, it implies we should follow a path of choices that enable us to develop self-confidence and practical skills to think and act responsibly. For some people, this kind of writing is too general. If you prefer a list of ideas to choose from, work with that instead. The key is to take action, not only read.

Ultimately, it's up to each of us to figure out what it takes to achieve our own sense of balance and make related contributions to the world. What reinforces your sense of self-worth won't necessarily make your best friend feel like he's doing something useful. We all have roles we can perform to benefit other people. To what degree we confront our fears and explore our deepest interests is up to each of us as individuals. It's less important how much you do that the quality of what you do and the motivation behind it. It's also very meaningful to feel grateful for whatever contributions you make, however you enrich the lives of others, no matter how large or how small.

"Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.”- Eileen Caddy

[Marc Greve]

You've just picked up that old Tony Robbins book d you're all fired up about reading it and changing your ilfe. So you sit down and start devouring the pages voraciously.
Once you're done with the chapter on chainging state by changing physiology you get such a burst of energy from the exercises - you're immediately impressed by the results so you keep on reading. Is there more stuff this good in chapters to come?

Wrong.

You read the chapter on physiology (or just the exercises).
You do the exercises.
Then you spend the rest of your day telling others about it and making your own distinctions.

That's it. No more. Stop reading, start doing.
Apply EVERYTHING you learn immediately. Drop the book, stop reading, stop talking, hang up the phone, excuse yourself, go out on the street and try it.

Leave the room where you learned the new concept straight away and get to work.
Stop seeking completion by reading tips and chapters.

You've all heard that old idea "Read for an hour a day." Bull. Read for 10 minutes (or however long it takes for you to "get it") and spend 50 minutes applying it and playing with what you've now learned.

To get you started here's a couple of things you can read here on the forum and DO immediately.

• Lits all your to-dos of today - then spend 1 minute working on each of them like a drug-crazed ostrich.
• Find your pet and tell it about a problem. That's right - talk OUT LOUD to your pet.
• Intend to meet a new and interesting person.
• Find the last book you read but never applied. Highlight every idea in that book you could apply to your daily life.
• Make a deal with yourself; for every idea you apply you get 10$ to spend on a new gadget or that dress you've been fogging up the shop windows over.

[Marc Greve]

Additional Suggestion
Decide (cut off - you all know the etymology here, right?) to start applying what you already know now. Cut off all new streams of non-vital knowledge. If you indeed read for hours without applying it, you're not worse off not reading it in the first place.

Put down the books, close the RSS Reader, stop asking for advice.

Go over what you already KNOW (and that should be a lot by now) and start looking for places to apply this. If you MUST read something, read what you've read before.


Here's how I'll use this;

Advanced Memory Techniques; memorize the pricings of all items at Subway, phone numbers of my closets friends, learn 10 new words in esperanto each day.

The Secret; intend 100$ of unexpected income, make a visionstatement

Rubber Ducking; speak about my current challenges with this guy . Out loud.

Make a motivation anchor.


I've known about all this for nearly a year, and have never really applied any of it. What will you do?

[dadeon]

To quote Dave Matthews (From the Dave Matthes Band...)


To change the world, start with one step
However small, the first step is hardest of all
Once you get your gait, you'll be walkin' tall
You said you never did, cuz you might die tryin'
Cuz you might die tryin', cuz you...

[Marc Greve]

You are dying. Whatever you'll do, you'll die trying. What's worth dying for?

[dadeon]

Originally Posted by Marc Greve

You are dying. Whatever you'll do, you'll die trying. What's worth dying for?

Sounds like you misunderstood...

What he's talking about is the tendency not do do things because of what 'might' happen. So often we make up things in ur minds that prevents us from taking action. In the same vain then...the all imprtant quote from William Shakespeare: "Present fears are less than horrible imaginings"

When you just-do-it it's never as 'bad' as you make it in your head. To apply what you learn is never as difficuilt or impractical once you actually do it.

[chopsaw]

As a kid I was a Bruce Lee fan. Now that I've returned to self improvement I'm rediscovering his insights anew. Two of his sayings are at the head of my vision board. They are: "Success is a journey, not a destination. Have faith in your abilities." "Knowing is not enough, you must apply. Willing is not enough, you must do." While most of his philosophy can be attributed to Krishnamurti, there's no doubt Bruce Lee accomplished quite a bit during his short life.

[Narz]

I think the key is to get others to do for you.

[bossb]

Originally Posted by dadeon

Sounds like you misunderstood...

What he's talking about is the tendency not do do things because of what 'might' happen. So often we make up things in ur minds that prevents us from taking action. In the same vain then...the all imprtant quote from William Shakespeare: "Present fears are less than horrible imaginings"

When you just-do-it it's never as 'bad' as you make it in your head. To apply what you learn is never as difficuilt or impractical once you actually do it.

Maybe I'm adding to the problem by adding more material to read lol but it does sum up what I wanted to add because I also have the problem of inaction.

Analysis paralysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[dadeon]

Originally Posted by bossb

Maybe I'm adding to the problem by adding more material to read lol but it does sum up what I wanted to add because I also have the problem of inaction.

Analysis paralysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hi bossb

if inaction is your problem the A Course Of Action is your solution. This might sound like I'm punting my own course, but it can assure you it will help you a great deal. You can get it for free - just follow the link in my signature

[skydust]

i used to have problems putting theory into practice as well, and sometimes i still get out of it and have to get back into the flow of things. i dont feel good when this happens though so i always go back to practicing.

one way to do it is to pick one of the things youve learnt which you feel applies to what you are working on in your life right now, and practice that. forget about everything else for now, and just take a day to consciously practice that thing, for example, paying attention to how you feel. it takes a surprising amount of presence to always hold it in the back of your mind throughout even just one day. but when you do, interesting things happen. when you feel that this one thing has become part of your being you can add a new thing to practice, and so on until youve encorporated everything youve learnt. the next step will come naturally.

as PD-ers, at some point you will get to where action will be the next logical step in order to keep developing. once you get there, you might procrastinate for a while and illude yourself, but eventually you will realise that action IS personal development at its best. and since this is what you want, you will want to do it. i guess everyone just has to get there at their own pace.

[Liara Covert]

I've found that taking action is the best way to set an example.
Talk less and do more.
This inspires people who otherwise dwell on books or on what they might do.

If you do talk, dwell on what you're in the process of doing, then do it.
Don' make excuses for what you hadn't done or exert effort to explain why. That takes energy away from what you could be doing to move forward.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by carl

My top 5 strengths were:

1. Input
2. Achiever
3. Strategic
4. Intellection
5. Futuristic

where Input is effectively the accumulation of knowledge, and Intellection identifies that I like the process of thinking itself. Achiever, Strategic and Futuristic specifiy accomplishment, planning and vision. Combined, it screams "personal development junkie" to me .

It screams "INTJ" to me. Have you checked your Myer-Briggs type yet?

[Alvin]

Gee, I haven't been here a while and things have sure picked up!

Call it coincidence, synchronicity or intention - I wrote a post nearly 10 days ago on this very thing: the difference between learning and doing.

I was a certified NLP practitioner at the age of 16 and devoured personal development books for 10 years on...until I realized The Real Secret Behind Secrets.

[Mike Estep]

I've been a private music instructor for 21 years and a performing musician for 38 years. One of the best ways I've found of putting knowledge into action is teaching. When teaching others, I'm repetitiously studying materials, practicing the materials myself, imagining from different perspectives, contemplating the best ways to describe to students, demonstrating to students, writing materials down, and speaking the materials aloud. I've also developed traits of passion and philosophical thinking which not only fuels my own action, but inspires my students as well. I've become an expert at doing over the last 21 years in ways that never could have transpired if I hadn't taught.

Thanks,

Mike Estep
_____________________________________________

Mike Estep.com - Common Sense Outside the Box

[Isabelle]

When I need or want to act, I set my timer for 15 minutes and focus on my task, whatever it is.

Clean the kitchen, practice piano, make phone calls, pamper myself, read, dance, take a walk, pet my dog, set a nice table for dinner, errands...

I can do anything for 15 minutes. I don't get sidetracked because I concentrate. Working with a timer is a good way to start something. When it beeps, I just stop.

Like right now, I know I have laundry to do but it is easier to stay at the computer and read interesting posts ! So, I will set my timer for 15 minutes and do some housework. If you think 15 minutes is too long, begin with just one minute, or 5 or 10. The important is to get started !

Workout, meditation, planning your menus, study, visualization, budget, pay your bills, start a new project, walk with your kids, write a book, declutter your pantry, or do something "special" with the one you love !

There is nothing you can't do 15 minutes at the time....

Well, I'll be back in 15 minutes... Set my timer, ready ? Go !