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Releasing Our Potential Most of us have a capacity to learn and improve. Often, however, hope for improvement is confused with capacity to learn. It is very different - this article is about one common source of that difference. We all have inner tendencies that get in our way when we want to learn. Often we seek diversion as a priority over genuine aspiration for knowledge. This need for diversion shows up as one or more of: • "I came here for fun.", • "I know how I learn best", • "I want to learn in this sequence", • ... and it tends to get in the way of learning. As an example there is an old tale about the sequence of learning. Nasrudin wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. The fee was five silver pieces for the first lesson and three silver pieces for the second and subsequent lessons. 'Very well', said Nusrudin, 'I'll start with the second lesson.' Often, to learn, we have to: • unlearn something first, • relinquish existing beliefs, • digest the new ideas, • integrate the new ideas, • ... Many of us do not find that fun at all, having poor recollections of schooldays learning. This may be part of the reason we put up barriers to learning. So those looking for diversion find their latent capacity to learn suppressed by their own inner tendencies. Sad really, but not a hopeless situation. Sometimes just awareness of the inner tendency to seek diversion is sufficient to overcome it. Sometimes it requires more work. But perhaps everyone has a capacity to learn if freed from self-imposed barriers. A light-hearted approach to learning works well - it eases the process of give and take of ideas, makes changes in beliefs and attitudes occur more readily, opens the eyes to new vistas and perceptions. It is when a light-hearted approach is based on a need for diversion that there is usually a problem. People with a need for diversion often express this as: • complaints about style, or length, or paragraph style, • ask where is the fun or joke, • behave in a child-like manner, • execute their strong emotions, • seek crowd support, • become self-righteous when they perceive crowd support is available, • seek excuses to reject the opportunity, • see selling where there is none, • attack the individual rather than the idea, • take the impersonal personally, • ... Lessons Learnt We all suffer from this to some degree some of the time. Are you going to release your potential to learn? If so, you probably need to address your inner tendencies. |