How you succeed depends on how you learn!
AUTHORS NOTE: This is the second part of how you learn. If you want part one, go to www.gitomer.com and enter the word LEARN in the GitBit box.
How do you learn? As a teacher, speaker, writer, and student myself, I am as interested in “how to learn” as anyone. I want to understand it from both perspectives. The teacher and the student.
So, a bigger question for me is not simply what I know, it’s how do I teach what I know in a way that others will want to learn and apply.
Last week I presented the first part of the learning process. But I give you fair warning, if you want to UNDERSTAND learning, I recommend you read, re-read, and study these elements to determine how YOU learn, and how to master YOUR learning process.
Here are the rest of the 12.5 elements of how to learn:
4. Talking. Sometimes just talking to others about what you know or are thinking about clarifies it in your own mind. Have you ever had an idea and shared it with somebody else just so you could hear what it sounded like, and as a result, clarified it in your own mind? Thinking about it is one thing, talking about it makes it seem more real.
5. Talking to experts. This is one of the best ways to learn — especially if you have great questions and are willing to take notes as you listen. Experts (aka mentors) have great wisdom and love to share it.
6. Speaking. A public speech of any kind will enhance your knowledge because you have to prepare for the talk. Fear of failure (in public) will make you a great student.
7. Teaching. If you have a weekly sales meeting, I would challenge you to conduct it, and offer the training. By doing this, you’ll be forced to become more of an expert and you will be forced to give a great presentation. After all, you’re in front of your peers, and you’ll be forced to come to a higher understanding of your material. The interesting thing about teaching is that it goes back to writing. You have to write your lesson or at least some notes so you are prepared before you begin. You did it as a kid, it was called homework or a book report.
8. Thinking. On the surface, thinking seems kind of dull, ordinary, and unexciting. In fact, if you peruse your day timer I guarantee the word “thinking” does not appear in there in any shape or form. That’s a big mistake. Think time creates and clarifies ideas. It gives you an opportunity to work them out in your own mind. The more you think, the more you’ll learn.
9. Paying attention to the world around you and the people around you. The best way to do this is vary your concentration. Most people focus on their own objectives — especially in sales. By shifting focus to people and surroundings once in a while, you can observe and learn new things. Antennas up!
10. Traveling. When you visit someplace new, or someplace you love, or even someplace to relax, you become more motivated, more open, more receptive, and more observant to what is around you. You’re not just “open” to learn, you’re “inspired” to learn.
11. Doing. Just living life is a learning experience, IF you take life the right way. Take action and you will learn. Take risk and you will learn more. Fail and you will learn the most. Failure is a teacher just as success is.
12. Repeating. If you hear a song once, you may like it and want to hear it again. After you hear it five times you can sing along. After you hear it ten times you can sing along. The same is true with a sales strategy or product knowledge.
12.5 Willing to learn. Many of you will CLAIM a willingness to learn — but very few of you will actually dedicate the time to do it. Dedicating time is the key to new knowledge.
THE SECRET: Your attitude must be positive in order to learn best. This way you can both accept and remember. Positive attitude will give you the mental freedom to think: I didn’t know that. I CAN DO THAT!
BEWARE OF IGNORANCE: The reasons people fail to learn is complacency, misplaced or upside-down priorities, or the misperception that they already know everything. It’s easy to spot these people. They’re always too busy to learn, or they’re watching re-runs on TV. You can also spot them in bars and at parties — they’re the loudest.
Start by taking a walk in a book store, or by going to amazon.com and clicking around. If you’re looking for the secrets of success, a book store beats a beer store every time.
If you want to build wealth, first build a wealth of knowledge.
Free GitBit: Miss part one? Want the whole piece on learning? Go to www.gitomer.com. — register if you’re a first time user — and enter the word LEARN in the GitBit box.
Jeff
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