Are we really losing critical ability?
Edward Tenner, as I read from Google’s search engines, is an independent writer. While his page turns up first on Google, he complains in his book “Our Own Devices”, that students are less teachable and less critical due to search engines. Now, being an interested search engine user and teacher of optimization techniques, I looked at is with a bit of surprise. The argument was really a bit of a slippery slope to me. How can you equate the existence of search engines with unteachable students?
Ok, granted I haven’t read the whole book yet, but from what I see, it’s not really all that ‘critical’ an argument… ironic coming from someone claiming that critical thinking has been thrown out the window due to search engines among other things.
I have seen and taught unteachable students, and the problem is certainly not technology. Heck, these are the people who usually can’t even afford it. Even if they did in
I’d rather think of the search engine as a very big mind. Inside the mind, there are lots and lots of irrelevant thoughts that appear and disappear, then reappear. In the mind, we have literally trillions of bits of information being generated, and few are meaningful. Dreams, for instance, are like that. Do we always have relevant and meaningful dreams? Heck, I just woke up thinking I was drinking a glass of orange juice. Instead of arguing that my psychoanalytical mind is arranging it for some kind of desire I have of orange juice, let’s admit it – sometimes, some dreams just are not meant to be directly relevant, interpreted or not.
However, in the Googlesphere, I believe that the consciousness of searching is intertwined with the human consciousness. That is, you plough through the focal points of your search, and even if you have items that are poorly organized, the combination of our ability to see and perceive relevance is heightened. So, the machine with out the man, is useless.
Let’s go back to “unteachable” students. I suppose Tenner is referring to research students more than the students I have faced, but I do believe that there are similarities. I actually did a simple podcast of this here and unfortunately, some people believe that there are unteachable students out there. In my opinion, there are critical elements that allow someone to teach, and someone to be teachable.
- Rapport. Without a positive relationship between teacher and student, both parties will have difficulty even communicating with each other let alone find each other partners in the learning process.
- Teaching-Learning Style Compatibility . Again, teaching style is important because when you teach, you display a part of your personality. If it doesn’t fit the learning style, your lesson won’t be learnt very well.
- Classroom Dynamics. I’ve discovered that the simplest change to the environment could set off a change in the behavior of students. Experimenting with seating styles and teaching venues could be useful. There are so many reasons for this including noise and distraction, temperature, lighting, etc that affect the quality of learning.
- Engagement. Teachers need to learn to engage students better. The critical thinking abilities do not fall apart if teachers encourage thinking without the fear of making a mistake. Also, if engagement is part and parcel of the teaching process, it becomes natural for students to engage in thinking. The main reason why some teachers find that engagement (especially in Asian countries) is difficult is because the relationship is not yet set up. If I asked a question, Asian students will not be primed to answer unless there is a teaching frame that allows them to do so. Most do not have permission to speak in class, and that is the dominant frame – discipline. So teachers need more versatility to draw out the critical thinking abilities in their students.
Where the critical thinking ability of research students is concerned, the first question I would ask is, have they learnt different models for critical thinking? Since the infusion of technology in the education system, my bet is that they have never been given the skills to use and maximize the power of the internet to do their research, and to distinguish fact from fiction. To be able to do this still requires a huge amount of effort. Leveraging the internet has never been easier. In fact, it is still a great source of information, but most people only rely on major search engines rather than those that are relevant to their niche area of research. Who would have known that Amazon.com could provide relevant statistics about the books that have been written? Unless we see it as a useful statistic, it will just simply be irrelevant information floating in cyberspace.
We model the thinking processes in a linear fashion, but need to execute it in a non-linear way. Let me just suppose we were researching on the ethics of cloning. Not only is there a knowledge domain called ‘cloning’ and ‘ethics’, there are interactions between the two. Moreover, there are greater systems that are affected by those thoughts, including the political arena. There is an economic impact. There is a technological impact. There is an educational impact. There is even the impact of this form of research in understanding one’s existence. Now, from statistical evidence, we can draw out lessons and learn from our experimental tests.
However, these tests are devised on a system that is still faulty. After all, when someone says that something is not scientific, they basically shoot themselves in the foot, because there are just some things that is not in the realm of science to explain. One of it is the existence of love. Has it been scientifically proven that love exists? Well, for one I don’t think we really need to prove it to ensure it exists, right? How about this – have we got research to show that if you care for someone else, that person will be more willing to help you? Sure, you can do research on it, but it’s quite a bit of common sense that you don’t really need to prove.
Critical thinking abilities are not formed out of talent. I believe they are formed from constantly engaging the mind in learning cause-effect continuum (what causes what that causes something else), and learning the mechanisms for supporting a point that has been argued, while diffusing rebuttals of the original argument.
Bloggers have a role to play here – if we are to help to build the environment for effective thinking, then please… stop reading those blogs that do nothing but rant. I mean, there are blogs that talk about personal development, struggles and victories, technological advances… and they provide many good ideas. Let’s encourage critical thinking in our own lives and continue to build our thinking competencies in order to come up with better ideas and help to build a better future with those ideas.
Wow! An exhilarating ride – and Whoosh 18 is over. Yes, this is the 18th batch of people we’ve trained and cared for and helped to develop. As part of the training, we also know that they will continue to create wonderful changes in their life and the people around them. So here’s to Whoosh 18, wishing you a great journey ahead.
|W|P|Congrats Stuart! And all graduates of whoosh 18... :)Hope to be at the next one session coaching... oh yes, how late did it end this time? ;)
As usual, Zora whom I mentioned in my previous post (you can visit her site to get a feel for NLP in a different language… haha) and I have this weird connection. She was reading the pirated version of “Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny” that for some strange reason was translated into Czech and is being retailed in Belgrade without our permission, then she realizes I’ve sent her an email to catch up. So, I guess I’ll be heading up to the
I also caught up with a very old friend of mine, Lynn – I’ve known her for the last 10 years (gee.. it really didn’t seem that long). Strangely, I suppose I must have called her at the right time because she had been experiencing a down time.
Amidst all the struggles we have in the world today, friends who are in our lives and are there walking in the same direction as we are will be there. I’m just wondering how many people out there are taking their friends for granted, or even believe that there’s no such thing as having friends. I know someone (I’ll call this person AA) whom I’ve trained who believes strongly that other people do not have a right to be part of AA’s life. It’s strange because I observe AA and I realize that whenever AA says something to someone else (you’re not a happy person, you’re being too pushy), that AA is really revealing something about AA (heh, you can tell I’m doing my best to even keep this person’s gender off the post). But you get what I mean.
People like AA, are a dime a dozen in the world we have today, either because they are protecting themselves against something, or because they have a model of the world that isn’t quite sync’d with reality. They push people away, and they think it’s all right. I suppose there’s some logic to the fact that not everyone can be your friend or confidante, but surely if you don’t learn more about people and open up to others more, you won’t be able to even find those special confidantes that you need.
The truth is, I know I would never have gotten very far if not for the support of my friends around me. It’s not the bulk of my friends who have contributed… it’s those people who have given me a push once in a while whom I can count with my fingers who made the difference. So if you haven’t already done so, perhaps you ought to celebrate friendship in a way that helps you to remember that when you next meet your close friends, always remember to treasure their presence and their contributions, deliberate or not, to your life.
Ever lost something and found yourself aggravated? Well, that seems to be a human tendency. When we lose things, we seem to want them back. When we have them, we seem to never cherish them. What will you lose, if you don’t decide what you should cherish and value? Because if you don’t cherish it, you will lose it forever. But if you have lost it after you learnt to cherish it, then you will have it forever.
In death, we experience loss. I’m grateful that few people very close to me have passed on. I’m also sad to hear that some people just don’t value the people who are close to them. After all, whatever disagreements you have will disappear with you when to turn back to that dust you were made from. So is it better to hold on to bad feelings from the past, or to learn to let that go, and have more space for the good things you ought to cherish more of in your life?
Go ahead – write a list of thing you cherish and hold that feeling inside of you when you go out into the world, so that your life can continue to feel worth living for.
Woah… I was looking out for my blogs in the Blogosphere and realized that I had been featured on Blogsearchengine.com. It’s cool! Talk about raising the bar, huh. Now I HAVE to do more of those therapeutic metaphors…
In case you weren’t aware, there’s a competition up at www.arenawp.com. It’s one of the hottest of the season, and people are pouring in their entries because of prizes that are being sponsored. The great news is that I’ve officially been accepted as the First Prize donor. If any of you are interested to participate, you better hurry down. Wordpress is primarily a PHP content management system. If you are a php programmer, it could be quite fun! You can find out more by going to www.wordpress.org. It’s the one I prefer to use because it’s so easy to set up. However, I know this blog is still on Blogger.com. Things will change… VERY SOON… (hopefully once I get the results of the theme contest haha)
Ok – this is a tough thing to do for most people, but I’ve just come out from training the Normal Academic students at
It’s not just because they are from the Normal Academic stream that I want to write this, it just so happens that I believe every 15 year old teenager ought to learn how to master themselves and their ability to express ideas… genuinely!
So, given this new role, I suggest that to start expressing yourself, you need to be genuine.
So, instead of looking at the obvious, consider how that ‘idiot’ (a technical term in schools used to refer to someone whom you don’t like), in anything he says, could be teaching you a very important lesson. Even younger people teach me something new. In my last session, a very clear idea was reinforced in me. I finally discovered that people have an outer mask that shields and protects them, while those who are unmasked are left vulnerable. Sometimes, that vulnerability leaves them in pain, and then they shy away from being expressive once again. If you are such a person, remember that whatever pain you experience from being a genuine person is genuine pain, whatever false emotions you put up by putting up a mask will remain false. I think it is better to feel genuine pain than to have fake confidence. When you put up a false mask, you not only share experiences that are fake, you look at other people through false eyes. You don’t see another person for what they truly are worth, but rather as an impedance to your own selfish desires. Expression is not a one way thing. You can be the most charismatic speaker on the face of this planet, but if you are fake, people will realize this. You need to let down your masks first before people can reciprocate.
I didn’t learn this by telling the students what to do. I learnt this by experiencing what I felt when the students started to speak to me. I observed and listened, and discovered that the deep core of them were individuals who had struggled before, but have never really reached beyond to accomplish their desirable goals because of their poor belief in themselves. When in spite of the risk of being vulnerable they continued to share, I learnt to admire them for wanting to risk that change. It is the genuineness of their communication that will help them to be far more expressive eventually.
In case some of you are wondering how come I have had little activity on some of my sites, it’s because I’ve been heavily working on my marketing strategy for the new Superkids Learning Centre that’s located along Serene Centre. It’s been a pain doing research on all the competitors because they just don’t have it right. I’ve always believed in making sure that whatever is done with children is done well and done in a way that helps them move forward in their lives. There are several things I don’t agree with:
- Being tortured with assessment books and tests.
Firstly, assessments are not learning instruments. They are assessment instruments that’s why they are called assessments. Unfortunately, many parents nowadays subscribe to the idea that you do worksheet after worksheet. The fact is, the more of this you do, the more permanent your inabilities become. So, rather than being tortured with these, it is important to have children learn the concepts first, and then assessments, when used, can be great self-esteem boosters (the “yay, I did it” phenomenon).
- Poor Lesson Planning
Here’s what I have heard from teachers from different learning centers – they don’t plan the lesson: they go with the flow. While this is great from the perspective of flexibility, there’s a serious problem here! They don’t plan, and end up being unprepared during a lesson. That’s unfair to the student for sure. I know that even as a trainer, I have to prepare myself to be ready for every lesson. And I have about 12 years of training and teaching experience. How about these people who probably barely have 4 years of experience? Lesson planning is an important activity, and allows teachers to maintain a profile of what was taught and build on it.
- Content Oriented rather than Student Oriented
I consider student-orientedness a primary requirement for any teacher or education center. With the focus on the student, teachers and supporting staff can tell how to help that individual student more effectively. For instance, it is common for teachers to give up on certain kinds of students. If they are labeled, it’s not possible to help them. However, with a proper focus on the student’s interests and needs, and a genuine concern for their future, anything they learn will be a step toward their future. Occasionally, s
- Brain Incompatible Methods
Haha… you would have heard all about the left brain, right brain stuff. Impressive research? Far from it. Dr. Roger Sperry discovered this in 1981. It’s now 2006! The neurological research that has transpired is far more advanced now than it was in 1981, and we now know that the left and right brain is more like an overgeneralization. Many new developments in brain research have now been discovered and implemented in learning institutions, but many local centres are using outdated research that is implemented ineffectively – telltale signs that they are nothing more than income-churners for their owners, with very little of the pedagogical (WHAT’S THIS?) expertise to build and test effective learning methods.
- Ineffective Matching
You might wonder what this is. Well, every student is different. With an effective approach to understanding and working with a student, they will progress much faster. But most teachers are ineffective at matching the student to the method. Just because you have one strategy does not make that strategy the only strategy to use. Some students will require other strategies and these strategies can be just as effective because they lead to the same outcome. Likewise, some students do not have problems with their studying abilities – they have issues with motivation, and therefore do not need a teacher – they need a mentor.
Well, I’m still delving deeper into this, and if you have questions regarding teaching or learning approaches for your children, I’d be quite happy to share my opinions with you. Some people who are now home schooling their children should learn a wee bit more about these techniques of learning and teaching because I know their children will benefit greatly from them. There are already some things I’ve put up at www.stuarttan.com/audio and there will be accompanying slides and other relevant information available once I’m done with my product development (there are many, many things I’m doing concurrently… so it might take a wee bit more time than expected).
I got a comment listed by Madskrews, and was just wondering how I ought to reply to the mail. Obviously, Madskrews, you say that you have an issue expressing yourself. It’s probably not about expression – it’s probably about your emotional state. For instance, you might find that your buttons get pushed when someone ‘violates’ your space, the things that are important to you.
Everyone’s buttons get pushed. The best part is that when they do, they are clear indications of what is important to you, and are ways to get to know yourself a little better. So, now you know the problem, how might you change?
I think it may be simple for me to say this, but I know it’s far from a perfect answer. All I can say is that change won’t be pleasant all the time, and we need to constantly follow our own Rules for Living.
Here are some interesting competencies to ensure we are not perceived as ‘cocky and arrogant’:
- Learn to entertain another person’s ideas.
- Learn to laugh at yourself.
- Learn to figure out those who appreciate what you do and those who don’t.
- Learn to reveal different parts of yourself to those who have a biased view of you.
- Learn to manage your emotional states.
A little simple for the moment, but I think I’ll get around to share more details in the following posts to this.
I just got off an excruciating journey by car (it was in a proton Gen-2) and luckily, I'm still alive! I'll be leading the Malaysia iag this time and there are a number of interesting new things I am teaching this round. Anyway the bummer is internet connection Is not working and I have resorted to GPRS to blog...
|W|P|114239701192310162|W|P|Up in Seremban|W|P|stuart@imasiahub.comI just completed a series of trainings in schools and in corporations that got me thinking – in reality, we are all extremely pampered and lazy individuals, and without an external object of competition, without a group of people pushing us on, we’ll never move forward. This is the reality of goal setting. The truth is, I don’t believe anyone can do it on their own, as a single person. I’ve had people questioning me: why can’t I be alone? If that’s my style? Well, this person is most likely extremely deluded or extremely young and inexperienced. I’ll give you a few major disappointments to realize that if you had been able to find a group of people to believe in what you do and to support you for what you stand for, that would be ideal, rather than fending off people who actually do care for you. Just because you don’t like the way they care for you doesn’t make you right, and doesn’t make them wrong. Parents are the best example – they do things because of the information they have. They aren’t experts. Some people say parents really aren’t qualified to be parents simply because there is no such thing. Neither is there a qualification to be a friend!
When given a choice, human beings tend to prefer to take the lazy way out. How long motivation will last really depends on the individual with a strong discipline or an outlook of life that has been conditioned by the reality that they have to fend for themselves, that is, until they discover the power of teams.
Teams have been shot down in the past for having something known as a herd mentality. But we all know that there is something called individuality. It’s fine to be an individual. But to be individuated, now that’s a different thing. I recall a number of participants in my trainings who feel that they can stand on their own and achieve their goals and dreams. While I’m in awe at their ability, I am also appalled by the way they treat groups. Not only are they not respectful of the power of the group, they literally push their group away. Or even worse, they drag their group down. It’s not so much about having to be in a team. Obviously, those of us who run single person business operations will experience the truth – that sometimes, we have to be alone. Yet, there’s nothing like a series of interactions with people to rejuvenate and recharge. While I can have simple conversations with people whom I don’t know, I can have extended conversations with people whom I have some kind of deep philosophical connection to. More importantly, different people serve different purposes for us. Even in Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, one of the major success principles is the existence of a mastermind group. With a mastermind group, you can literally create new and interesting ideas and practice old effective ones for whatever purpose your group has been set up for.
The power teams have are as such: leveraging on strengths, diverse opinions, creative tension, division of labor, emotional support, individual watchdog… there are so many of them that can be named I guess it will take me some time to do it all. But the truth is that there is strength in a team. I’ve put together some ideas that can help teams in business (on the way) and in schools (click here) to develop their fullest potential – hope this helps you out in leveraging on teams. Those interested in
Watch our favorite action heroes at it! When they meet their foes, they literally put their skills to the test… Spidey slams Doc Ock into the wall! Neo bashes Agent Smith so hard he flies through the building! Batman lands his knee in the criminal’s gut with a thud! Smashing heroes with one exception – they are fiction and so are their enemies.
What a better way to talk a little more about facing challenges and bashing away the one thing that really stands in our way – bad habits! I’ve mentioned many times before – we have to build great habits. My teacher, Dr. Richard Bandler once said, we need to take charge of our neurology. We mould and remould it. The way we think affects the way we act. All we are doing is making sure that the process of change inside of us is filled with pleasure and constantly being established in a combination of habits that better our human standards. I know that most of the fiction behind action movies entices us. But that’s because it is more than just entertainment. We like the idea that there is an underdog fighting the odds. We enjoy the fact that our hero can get hurt but live to fight another day. We love that, sometimes, our hero faces dilemmas and is pretty much like any one of us. Yet, we seldom impose this kind of moral support for ourselves as heroes in an ordinary world. It doesn’t take very much to realize that we are all plagued by difficulties. The only question is… are you going to fight it with everything you’ve got? Even when the odds seem to be against you, you are still pitting every ounce of strength you have, every thought, every iota of motivation you might have… until the final blow is dealt. Bad habits should never be the controlling factor of your life. You have to take these habits by the collar, fling them into a wall, and literally gut them with the weapons of ardor and determination.
The reason why I decided to add this to my list of Rules for Living is that I find a lot of people timid in the face of opposition. Now, I’m not suggesting you become aggressive. I’m suggesting that you find some way to put down your opposition, especially the voice in your head. There’s little room for self-doubt on your journey toward success. It’s almost as if a host of demons are on your tail and you’re running – but if you slow down, these demons are gonna rend you limb from limb because you’ve been allowing your thoughts to be sustained negatively. These thoughts are also habits because you built them in. I was told by someone that his friend was feeling suicidal. My idea of people who are suicidal is you need to shift them out of the state that allowed them to be suicidal in the first place. If they are frustrated at something else… if they are sleepy… if they are humored… all these states change their habitual rumination. Occasionally, you will need to challenge the obvious (the obvious solution is to tell them not to do it), and innovate a strategy that works. Habits are all strategies. You needed adequate planning and practice to have gotten them in your head. So all you really need to do to stop yourself from self-sabotage is to alter the lousy habits that aren’t getting you there!
I started to realize the value to taking stock. It’s like how a department store sometimes closes for a stock take in order to ensure that everything is up to speed. You find out what’s missing, and strange additions in the back of the closet… I know that everyone needs some kind of feedback, but I believe the best kind of feedback you can have is the kind you give yourself. So, sometimes, just stopping and observing the things you have done and the deviations you have made, and possibly certain extra bonuses in your life that have occurred, can be a very fulfilling thing.
I think we thrive on certainty. The average human being requires a direction, and the direction itself needs some certainty. Without that certainty, there’s no real direction. There’s distraction. I remember times when I was just paying attention to things in my life rather than my life itself, and while I got into that automatic behavior, it was difficult to continue after some time because somewhere along the way, I had to stop and ask myself the question: why in the world am I doing this for?
I look back and discover that if I had started to do this right from the start, I would have accomplished two things at least. First, I would have more illumination. Second, I would have spent less time going around in circles and really heading toward the direction I should have been going instead.
Life’s lessons are a really interesting thing. Because, if you are deliberately looking, you won’t find it. But when you least expect it, BANG, it slaps you in the face (occasionally, forehead), and you really wake up… only if you are aware of what needs to be done. This is what some people call experience. Which means… you can be 20 years old with 15 years of experience, and you could be 55 years old with only 2. It really depends on when you started to take stock of what you had been doing and where you ought to be going.
Every ship that sets sail requires a rudder. Setting sail toward that direction requires a skipper, and if the skipper doesn’t know how to handle the ship, no matter what direction is set, no matter the fact that there is a rudder, the ship will never sail to the harbor of choice. Even if the skipper sets sail in the wrong direction, at least with a good level of awareness, he can correct his direction for a proper voyage.
|W|P|114213431537516733|W|P|Temasek Secondary Part 2|W|P|stuart@imasiahub.com
I encountered challenge of a slightly different kind in Temasek Secondary School, but it was with great teamwork with fellow trainer Ramesh Muthusamy. I suppose having to take all the technical segments was really quite a drain.. :p thankfully, the students had learnt to have a mind of their own and eventually propelled themselves forward. Here are the photos... HEY TEMASEK SEC 4N, 4U, 4I of 2006 - let them remember forever the day you graduated from the I am Gifted So Are You program with your results... if not, I will personally make sure you have a puddle for yourself!!
|W|P|114209418804762096|W|P|Temasek Secondary School|W|P|stuart@imasiahub.com
Here's an interesting shot I got as I was heading up to a school training. I guess it almost signifies the start of a new journey! Everyone is on a journey of significance. And a significant journey it will be, as long as our direction is set properly.
Always be mindful of your purpose and direction.|W|P|114209371748884673|W|P|The Journey Forward|W|P|stuart@imasiahub.comToday marks the start of an extremely pressuring period for me. I start off today at Temasek Secondary School, followed by the kids camps for the next few days, then I go back to Macpherson Secondary the following week, and then I get hit by POE module 2. Immediately after that, I’m on to in-camp training… talk about serious damage, man!
Anyhow, I hope to be able to do something with Stephen Pierce who will be in town toward the last week of March. It’s been some time, and many things have changed… hopefully there’s a time for us to collaborate for real!
|W|P|I heard the in-camp training should be quite slack... haha you can get your rest in there.In the meantime... plod on soldier! The people need you. Hahaha...
Oh yeah..are we still getting that 201 seminar done?
Giving up is really a sign of weakness, or is it? I’ve seen situations where people bow under pressure to do the things that they normally wouldn’t do. This is about being cornered and having nowhere left to go. It’s a tremendous force that even Sun Tzu, the great general, talked about in the Art of War. By destroying all options, you end up forcing people to think you will win, rally morale and leave there no choice but to achieve victory. So if you need to bow under pressure, bow to win!
I read a newspaper article today that really freaked me. It was the guy who was torturing cats, and there was this grisly photo of a kitten with a protruding eyeball! What kind of sick, deranged person does this, I’m not sure. But it certainly tells me that it is not acceptable. I think hundreds of people will agree with me that you treat all living things with kindness and respect. After all, what did that kitten do? Kill his family with a meow? In a world with people who have this kind of mental model – that it’s ok to hurt something or someone else – we have to pay even closer attention to this rule of living.
A quote that has stuck with me for a long time is this:
“Be careful how you treat people on your way up, because you’ll never know whom you’ll meet on your way down.”
It appears to be a basic courtesy to be kind and respectful, but I think it is much more than just that. If you are in a workplace that espouses kindness and respectfulness, it will help you to grow. If you are in a workplace that thinks that cruelty and fear are the best ways to work with people, then my recommendation is to rethink your life!
In my reflecting about the rules of living, I think kindness and respect is one of the most indispensable. How do you treat people? Do you exude warmth in your heart, or do you exude coldness? Are you striving to be a good host on this planet to other humans, or are you pushing them away just because you think they aren’t worth the effort?
Be mindful – a good deal of kindness can only come when you have realized who you are and to recognize that different people have different ways of thinking. So you have to be clear that just because they disagree with you doesn’t mean they dislike you or hate you. Respect is an indication of the level of trust you have in yourself rather than something you give others. If you basically respect everyone, your own personal ego is held in check. You know there will be people better and richer and more intelligent than you, and that you are just one of billions of beings on this planet. You’ll treat people with a sense of respect without having to degrade yourself.
It’s an interesting insight I gained recently about the way I have focused on going “out there” to accomplish many things. Many of the things that I do, I take it upon myself to look back and ask – did I accomplish what I set out to do. But most of the time, I realize it isn’t in the doing itself that makes me feel good – it’s in the realizing that what I did was congruent with who I am, and that I am becoming more of who I am with time. Sometimes, this feeling dies away when I have to do things that are not in tune with my core. But this is also useful because I know have a greater understanding of who I am and what I can do and not do. Being a person of success also means that you know things about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses.
When I talk about coming back to yourself, ask yourself “Do I really know me?” There is a strange connection that gets you to really look and peer inside. This will get you to think about what you are about and your purpose on this dingy little planet we call Earth. There are many people who will remind you of things you have to do, expectations you must serve and the like. These small things you might actually forget, but are meaningful reminders of who you should be. Every day should be a treat – to develop yourself by not just looking on the outside, but also looking on the inside. Don’t live a life as if you are someone else, unless who you are at the moment has not been fuelled by purpose. Some people ask themselves “if only I had put in more in my life…” others ask “if only I had slowed down a bit in my life…” I’d like you to ask yourself if you think you are doing something every day to help you and someone else to grow and be better than before – that you have to look at yourself and ask if you are better than you were yesterday and how much better you will be tomorrow!
Never thought this would be a Rule for Living, huh! But Learning Rapidly is one of the most important skills required of you as a human being. Imagine we forgot everything we learnt. We’d be worst than in the Stone Ages! No fire, no inventions, etc.
I think my greatest advantage is my ability to learn rapidly. I can literally dive into a field of expertise and start gaining the necessary skill and competence within a fraction of the time that others do. This is because I understand the issues surrounding learning and it has been my biggest forte thus far. This is the main reason why I can speak (fairly) well, develop websites, consult, counsel, build business plans, etc.
It’s important that you are constantly learning and developing your capabilities in learning. The faster you learn, the further ahead you will be. Digesting information will be simple for you. Here are some of the things you will need to look into:
- Command of language. With a good command of the language, you should be better able to learn. Most people are hindered by poor vocabulary or understanding of the English language. Learn to develop this further.
- Speed of reading. If you are speed reading, you should learn how to read not just pages or lines at a time, but books at a time. To do this, you need to understand how to eliminate bad reading habits and increase reading comprehension. You can learn a bit more at www.stuarttan.com/audio/rapid-learning.mp3.
- Problem-solving. This is a crucial skill because when you learn, you are often also seeking solutions for problems. By understanding the structure of problem solving, you will become a far better innovator and help to add value to the people around you.
- Speaking. Speaking and teaching people really is about integrating your skills. As a good learner, you should be able to teach others in order to get yourself going and getting them to understand how to learn or master something. This is a great way of exemplifying “See and you know. Hear and you understand. Teach, and you remember.” Or something like that. ;)
That’s it! Start developing these skills and building your abilities so that the next time a book dropped on your lap, it would be devoured in an instant…
|W|P|This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. |W|P|Hey Stuart speaking of speedreading, do u have any good books to recommend other than Buzan's speedreading book?
Stuart's Philosophies|W|P|Haha... you will have to wait for mine to come out... |W|P|Stuart, as always..devouring entire books in a day sounds pretty impossible (well at least for me). Grrr..Sounds like this will be a major goal for this year. Speed on!
DanieL|W|P|hi Stuart, can you give me a suggestion other than listening to loud music during speed reading so tht i wont lose focus?..because i have this very bad habit of losing my focus if i read non fiction like history text... Stuart's Philosophies|W|P|I usually do active note-taking and set myself a time limit. Most of the time, as I read through, I am picking up important points. How do I know they are important? Because they help me to solve a problem! |W|P|Hi Daniel,You need to learn to manage your state before you read
Secondly, you may want to skim through the entire text first and then next, pick up pace and push yourself a little faster since you're already familiar with the text...and so on...
Take my 2 cents advice: Instead of relying on External source (loud music) to push you, create a kind of 'blasting' sensation Internally to push yourself! Coz' the music may be blasting your ears off externally, but if internally, you're not 'blasting'... then the music is ofno use
I can’t really emphasize this enough. Appreciation gives the recipient energy, but more importantly, when you give appreciation, that gives you energy. It gives you a moment to think about how much you really know the other person in the first place. For instance, I often write notes to my employees. And if I haven’t, it’s because I know I haven’t had the chance to interact with them enough. But when I do write a meaningful message, I know it affects them positively. Perhaps it is time for you to consider writing notes of appreciation to people you care about or who have an impact on you.
Here are some ideas about how you can begin to express your appreciation to someone else whom you work with or are close to:
- Think of the things that this person did for you and how it impacted you.
- Think of the things that this person did for someone else and how it impacted you.
- Think of what interesting and positive thing that reminds you of this person.
Write honestly and directly about the positive impact this had on you! In fact, as a real exercise, why don’t you start thinking about the first 10 people you want to appreciate and begin to write them notes. Go ahead! You can do it now.
Who doesn’t have emotional baggage?
I think everyone has their own set of problems, and to you, your problems are always going to be the biggest. The most important thing is to start to consider what to do instead of what not to do. I’m not sure how close any of you have been to severe depression, when you felt like giving things up all together. I’ve been there, and sometimes, negative thoughts still penetrate my mind. If you think I don’t understand depression or sadness, let me describe it to you. It’s like a cave that’s closing in. Your mental images are small and dull. It basically looks like Armageddon happened, and you were the only person left in the world. The feeling that closes in leaves you cornered, alone, trapped and stuck. There’s nowhere to go.
Those images are going to do nothing but leave you disempowered. The decisions you make if you are in that state are going to force you to collapse into your own hole. The only way you can break free from this is to stop. You need to detoxify your mind. Mental detoxification is not difficult, but very few people choose to do it. They are on a path to self-destruction, and they are making things bad for themselves.
If you find negative thoughts penetrating your mind, and it feels like you can’t get out of the feeling, there are a few things you need to do to recognize this. Write it. Work it. Draw it. When you see the aftermath of your writing, drawing or working out, you’ll realize how much it has drained you. There have been times where I have written note after note of painful experiences. Many of them gave me indications that I was blaming and not taking responsibility. I know when I felt immense hatred, I felt drained and in pain. I know for some people, this pain drives them to take revenge. But revenge is based on a decision made with a perspective that there is no other choice in this dismal mental world. The message in my written notes gave me enough food for thought and I made more effective decisions. When you see physical evidence of the negativity, it allows you to make a decision. Even paying attention to physical pain like a headache, pain the neck and shoulders and the like can act as feedback for you to start playing different images in your mind.
Detoxification is a simple process – whatever that is shitty in your mind should come out. If not, you could face some serious mental constipation. Negativity and ruminating in it can be painful, and dangerous. You need to get it out, then flush it away. The best way to do this of course would be to focus on building multiple solutions. Don’t just be hopeful – create solutions that have a high probability of success. If you are in debt, in a relationship crisis, bankrupt, whatever, find a means to reduce the negative emotions by intoxicating yourself with positive solutions. Your only chance of successfully becoming a person of worth would be to create solutions that not only help you to look forward, but address the reality of the problem at the moment. Drain the negative energy by giving it no more reason to exist. With the implementation of your solution, you can then detoxify and constantly find resourceful ways to handle your problem, and allow this to be your emotional management strategy to ease your burdens and give you a way out. After all, no matter what your problems are, it’s really not that bad! The funny thing is – it all depends on the way you look at things!
kloudiia|W|P|Absolutely right. I briefly touched on Emotional Baggage too in my recent post, but it's more related to dating and relationships.Many times people don't realise they are carrying their baggage from their failed relationships into their potential ones, and this is where the problem comes in. Cos they don't realise it, and pressure inevitably starts to mount as the relationship progresses.
Choosing to deal with the baggage is very hard, but choosing to ignore it could be the worst thing to do.
Commitment? Sounds like a bad word to many people, but it is one of those things that stops you in your tracks if someone asks you “are you committed to this”. Why? Because it is a very tall order, and people are expecting something from you if you make a commitment. I’ve known commitment to be a powerful resource as well as a theme of success. In life, we also expect people to commit to doing certain things for us, or else our lives could become very unpredictable. If your employer didn’t pay you on time… if your spouse dated other people behind your back… if the public transportation system kept stalling on a regular basis… all these things won’t happen because there is a guarantee of service, obligation and duty.
In my opinion, commitment has been poorly defined. In dictionary.com, we have this definition:
“The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons”
This is a little profound, I think. You are bound emotionally or intellectually! It basically means that you agreed to or felt obligated to carry out that course of action. Think about it – why do people become successful? Because, they committed to ensure the success of other people around them. They helped others gain value. They fulfilled obligations that they were tied to. Why is it that people whom are traitors or have betrayed us are held in such low regard? They broke a commitment. In the legal sense of the word there is a fiduciary duty. That means people hold in trust an unwritten rule that we should fulfill an obligation to each other.
I remember that there have been many times I had to seriously make commitments to help other people. One of my very, very dear coaches had undergone an operation a couple of years ago, which was not affordable to this coach. So I felt the obligation and duty to help this coach out and wrote a check for an amount I shall not disclose. I don’t expect any return, you see. It’s just that I feel that in my time of need I required help and this person was there. Now, the tables are turned and I feel that it is right to extend the commitment to this level.
Now, the real question is the idea of commitment to self. I’m sure you have never thought about this in your life, but do you commit to be punctual for work? Not just for your employer, but because it’s good for you? Do you commit to improve yourself and weed out negative things in your head? Because, if you don’t, you’re really selling yourself short. If you expand your ability to grow and learn and become more than you thought you could be, the people around you will be glad, possibly proud. The idea is this, our commitment to our own long term development doesn’t just involve us. It involves the choices we make that leads to a ripple effect in the people whom we are surrounded by.
On a daily basis, ask yourself this question: What do I commit to do today, and have I fulfilled my commitments for the previous days? If I haven’t, what plans should I make now to make it happen?
Go ahead – make a commitment and you’ll find your ability to be disciplined and focused will lead you to far greater heights in your career, business, family or studies.
If you truly want to be successful in life, put in 100% in everything you do. When you set out to accomplish something, make sure you constantly reflect on what else needs to be done so that you can improve in your participation. In the area of building great relationships, did you participate fully in discussions? No, I don’t mean be intrusive, but really pay attention to the people who matter to you most? Or did you ignore them? When you are at the workplace, do you put in your best effort to get your work done on time? How about lending a helping hand to your colleagues, no matter how unappreciative they may or may not be? Did you reflect on your current level of participation and decide to improve? If you haven’t you ought to.
Most of my life I’ve been putting in about 60-70% in the things I did and I realized that that got me quite far. The rest of the time I really rested on my laurels. It was not a good thing to do. While I had the ability to do so much more, I really didn’t put in the effort and spend the time building the discipline to do so. As a result, my ability to generate wealth for myself, to have great health, to have great friends… and the fact is I do have a bit of them now, but I can only sit and regret what would have happened if I really did my best to focus on the areas that would matter to me and put in 100% for those things, I wonder how much further in life I would be now!
So, start applying this Rule of Living Life straight away. Simplistic, but effective!
|W|P|Great post. Climbing the right ladder in our lives using our effort and not being sidelined by the numbers in our bank is a challenge too. ;)Can't wait to see #2 of rules of living.
Why bother. That’s the attitude I have met up with on occasion. In fact, I know many people who wake up to the world of “why bother”. They describe their lives as “ok”, “fine”, “all right”, but never really have the pizzazz for life, the enthusiasm.
I suspect a number of things. First of all, these people may actually be hurt. The disappointment in life has led them to lead a life that is like a stone wall. Talk to them, and rather than receiving you, they turn their back on you. This kind of person is asking for something, but may not know how to ask it. As a result, the problem spirals into a vortex of problems. Second, these people may be fearful. They aimed to achieve something before, but failed. As a result of poor personal programming, they lapsed into stonewalling so that they won’t have to face the reality of the possibility of success. After all, success seems so difficult, why should they do it? I figured that many people who are in this mode are afraid and therefore put up a front.
So how do we turn things around? Well, we don’t. People who are not bothered won’t be bothered by listening to you. Sometimes, you need to allow life to run its course, and let them realize that in spite of their skepticism, there are people getting hurt and succeeding in life anyway. That people in reality are facing up to fears and going out to achieve their dreams. No matter what, we all experience failure, we all make mistakes. I know I do. But the sad thing about “why bother” people is that they are going to hole themselves in and not wake up to the reality that they claim is so painful, without really experiencing its joys by truly participating in Life.
Let’s live Life to 100%, and play to win!
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Everybody just knows that there are problems everywhere in the world, right? I mean, I probably have as many problems as you have, it’s just that they are different. Here’s what most people do when they have problems, and I think they are wrong.
- Take it out on someone else.
- Muck around in the problem.
- Get Walled-In on the problem.
- Prevent Solutions from unfolding.
- Negative talk and thought.
I think most of you are educated enough to know that whatever you focus on, you create. If you focus on the negative, the problems and the like, you’ll end up affecting your state and it won’t help you to focus on what you need to do. Once you know it is there, then take note of it and build a solution.
Now, I’m not saying you should avoid the issue. You MUST take note of the issue. It’s important. You have to ensure that whatever it is that you do, you have to be a lot more versatile than the problem. If there’s a sharp nail on the road, you don’t just step on it or ignore it. You find a way to not step on it by focusing on where you need to go instead.
To focus on solutions, you need to be aware of what the problem is in the first place. So make sure that you constantly do trouble-shooting rather than just engaging in the trouble!