Why Real Learning Requires An OPEN Mind

Nearly every day, each of us have opportunities for additional training regarding some issue that we might want, or need to address. Have you ever wondered why so many individuals take so many courses and training programs, and often seem immediately enthusiastic, yet why so few of them actually use the techniques taught on a regular basis? In the vast majority of cases, we hinder our own opportunities for true learning because we refuse to adapt or consider alternatives, or we refuse to actually discipline ourselves to follow the steps and/ or methodologies that we have been taught. It is often our refusal to proceed with an OPEN mind that becomes our greatest deterrent to our own personal growth and/ or improvement. The significance of remaining OPEN to true learning requires some commitment to what that requires. Some of these components are evident obviously from a mnemonic perspective: Do we wish to discover opportunities and to be able to be prepared for them?; Will we find additional energy which is driven by our enthusiastic approach to learning and discover?; and, Do new and different ways of doing things help us enhance our opportunities and understanding?

1. Improvement in anything we do is driven by having the willingness and ability to be driven by opportunities. This requires first realizing that we need to expose ourselves to numerous alternatives, and to develop the ability to disseminate ideas and discover and evaluate their value and usefulness. Only when we are willing to open our minds up to learning more do we gain as much as we can from any sort of training.

2. The better trained we are, and the better we understand what we are taught, the more prepared we are to take timely action and to improve our personal performance. We can only prepare when we learn how to evaluate and plan, and that requires an open - minded appetite for useful knowledge and information.

3. Far too often, individuals seem to go through even extensive training programs in a less than full - hearted, or enthusiastic manner. Training by itself rarely serves any useful purpose unless we enthusiastically approach becoming better through gaining valuable knowledge, and then transforming it to viable and useful action and purpose.

4. Life is never a static condition. Since it is constantly evolving, each of us need to commit to continuously seek new approaches to best adapt to these changes. It is our attitude and willingness to escape our comfort zone and broaden our viewpoint that often determines how much, or little, we gain from any sort of training.

When we proceed seeking more knowledge and understanding, refusing to accept or simply maintain the status quo, we enhance our potential. Only those willing to remain open to all the potential opportunities maximize their own ability to truly learn effectively and in a meaningful manner.