Supercharge Your Learning Abilities

Educate This: A Podcast for Teachers, Trainers, Mentors, Coaches & Learners

SUPERCHARGE YOUR LEARNING ABILITY IN 3 STEPS

Okay – where were we? Where are you? Where am I? Who knows? I guess it depends on whether you’ve taken the blue or red pill today.
What I know is that there is no great secret to life despite plenty of argument and round-a-bout musing. It’s pretty obvious, I think. We are here to progress, and we do that through learning. Learning through study and experience. But what if we find learning difficult? Or what if we simply want to boost our ability to learn, especially about the things that we feel are important but have no love for?
Here are 3 steps for supercharging your learning ability.
Step 1 - Passionize

No, it’s not an accepted word according to well, Microsoft Word (I’ve got the nice wavy red underline staring at me,) and while I thought I had done a Shakespeare and created a word that generations later might be attributed to me, I see with a quick search that somebody else, a notable consultant called Armers Moncure, has also used it. I’m not sure if I got in first but someone else may have uttered it years ago. Who knows – do we care? What do I mean by it? That’s the point.
Learning is always easier when we have a passion for a subject that we are studying. So, what if we don’t have a passion for the subject but find it necessary or compulsory? How can we become willingly fervent?
Can we passionize it? Can we inject passion into it? Can we get excited by what we have little interest in? Can we inspire education? Inspire our own education that is? I believe so. How?
Here are 2 ways.
Passionizing part A - ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Yes, the brilliant Zig Ziglar paraphrased quote which is now cliché – the one found on the front page of “Memes That Inspire!” – You know it - the one about Attitude determining Altitude - is growling and trying to break the cage I’m keeping it in. It’s there because I fear sounding like a cookie cutter coach. But hard truth – tough lovin’ truth – It’s sound truth. Sometimes we need to open the toolbox, get out the mental spanner and give ourselves an attitude adjustment.
I’ll find a better quote to inspire attitude change for the end of this section. I’m sure there are plenty of others around.
Positive perspective is needed. Easier said than done? Yip. But within every broad subject there are elements that we can latch on to that are more aligned with our tastes. Start there, and often everything else will sneak its way in. It’s the old trick of hiding veges in the burger patties. Or crushing up your dog’s tablet and mixing it into her food.
Maybe you have to study biology. You have a distaste for it. But you do like working out – pumping iron – You want bigger legs - Start with checking out what makes up the hamstring group. Wait – hamstring isn’t a muscle? Nope – it’s just a term given for a group of muscles working in harmony to help you jump and sprint and stuff. There are 3 muscles in the “group”. Really? In-ter-es-ting.
So focus on what you like or are keen to know about first and let everything else pertinent attach itself to your brain organically.
Another trick to attitude adjustment is to consider ways that the subject will help contribute to your future. Career, income, date-ability (smart is attractive!)
I found a quote - The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up. – John C. Maxwell

Passionizing part B - BE CREATIVE
If book to brain is not working for you consider other ways to get excited about what you are needing to learn.

Find someone who is already passionate about the subject and have a sit down with them. Or a stand up. Or a walk together. Whatever – get with a subject specific mentor. If you can’t find one in person I guarantee you can find one presenting a Youtube channel or hosting a podcast.
Cast yourself back to kindergarten and primary school. How did you learn as a kid? Pictures, charts, songs, activity, games, mnemonic devices … Adults can use those same methods. Why do we stop using those methods? Is the periodic table song too good for us? We’ve all got smartphones with recording apps. Sing a little ditty about the order of the planets or whatever it is you’re learning and listen back to it on repeat while driving.
Creativity is not just about art. Creativity is about divergent thinking – looking for avenues, new pathways to solutions. Something that has been discovered in scientific studies is that our creativity levels and our mood are connected.
If we reflect back to Step 1 where we talked about attitude adjustment – we can see how one thing leads to another – positive energy can help boost our creative abilities and our creative thinking can help us to figure out better ways to explore subjects we may not have natural love for.

Einstein said – at least I think it was Einstein but he does get a lot of misattributions – quote “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
Step 2: Apply

Step 2 and 3 can be flipped but I’ll run with Apply first. It is said that knowledge is power but we know that it is actually the application of knowledge that is the true power. For starters, it’s a powerful way to retain learning. You can’t become a good driver by reading books on driving. Michael Jordan didn’t become the GOAT – or of you want to have that argument – one of the Greatest players of all time (basketball not baseball,) – by reading an encyclopedia entry on basketball.

Quick note – for those born after early 90s an encyclopedia was basically a hardcopy Google.
Application of knowledge brings about competency, ability, understanding. If you don’t have the opportunity to apply newfound knowledge early, imagine its application. I love going to a weekly trivia night with my wife and a couple of friends. When I hear an interesting fact I’ll often imagine being asked a question around that fact.
“One learns from books and example only that certain things can be done. Actual learning requires that you do those things.”

― Frank Herbert, Children of Dune
Step 3: Teach

We can teach to learn by learning to teach. And vice versa. I honestly believe that this is a super pill. Teach those around you. If you don’t have anyone to speak to, speak to the mirror, video yourself – if you like it use it – Youtube it for example. Start a notebook as if you’re taking notes for a future text book, start a blog or a podcast, or a blog and a podcast. I mean, I started this podcast not just to share what I have picked up over the years but what I hope to pick up in the years to come.
Of course, If the subject really starts to lock in and you find a passion for teaching it, consider getting a TAE40116 (AKA Certificate IV in Training and Assessment,) or other teaching qualification.

Teaching is not just great for enabling repetition – making rote learning more fun – but it can domino and improve the lives of others – not just your own. I love hearing stories of my students now working in the fitness industry using some of the methods that I taught them. I had one Trainer come up to me the other day, who wasn’t an ex-student of mine, telling me about ...