How To Learn Faster Without the Frustration

Sometimes we charge into learning something new full of excitement. However, as the weeks go by, our passions sometimes  dissipate. What seemed exciting at first can grow tedious — even frustrating. Why? Because we are not aware of the fundamental paradoxes of learning!

Surprisingly often, the very things that we should be doing can also end up getting in our way. Here is a roadmap to help you be aware of the paradoxical pitfalls of learning, and how to avoid them.

• Persistence: We are often told that to be successful learners, we have to be persistent. That is true in the long run — but not in the short run! Here is what neuroscience is telling us: When you are learning something new, the best way to approach it is to focus and do your best to understand it. But if you are stuck, you need to stop focusing. By temporarily taking your attention off the problem, you allow other neural modes of thinking to attack the problem in the background. Later, when you try again, new understanding can suddenly appear! Good learning often means knowing how to balance your persistence — to stop when you get frustrated and return later after your other thinking modes have had a chance to work on the problem in the background.

• Success: We always want to be successful in our learning. But this means that we sometimes shy away from making mistakes. However, if you make a mistake when you’re studying — and just catch it with a tiny  “ouch” — that is one of the very best ways to learn! As you are learning, celebrate each mistake. The goal is to make those mistakes before your high stakes tests. (And also keep in mind that the ones who never make mistakes are the ones who never do anything. Go for it!)

• Concrete Learning: We often want to learn something in concrete terms. If you are learning math for a professional program, for example, you often want to be able to apply your learning directly to the type of problem you will be expected to solve on the job — calculating doses of medication, for example. But instructors often want us to first step back and learn ideas more abstractly — they want us to understand the fundamentals behind the concrete problems. It turns out that the instructors have a point. Being able to solve not only concrete problems, but also to understand the abstract ideas behind those problems, helps us to transfer our thinking to new situations. Sometimes the real world throws problems at us that we have never seen before, and it is important to be flexibly ready! Take the time to understand the abstract concepts that are being presented; ironically, this leads to solving problems in more concrete situations.

• Memorization: We have often been told that memorization is bad for us — that understanding alone is the essential key to learning. While it is true that understanding is important, it turns out that memorization can also be very helpful when you are learning something new. Experts in any domain generally have great volumes of memorized information readily available. If you try memorizing some of the key ideas you are learning about, you’ll find that the memorization process can, perhaps surprisingly, lead to deeper understanding.

Learning, as it turns out, is a paradox of contrary, often contradictory approaches. Being aware of these paradoxes can help make your path to learning much more fun and successful.

How To DO Happy

“I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.”
  -  Dan Millman

Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of the book The How of Happiness, point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. No matter what part of life’s path we are currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.

Express Gratitude – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates. Kind of cool right? So being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that’s without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We’re going to have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.

Cultivate Optimism – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the one who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

Avoid Over-Thinking and Social Comparison – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we are somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Diva comes out! If we are ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

Practice Acts of Kindness – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. (Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.) Selflessly helping someone is a powerful way to feel good inside. What is even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness. How extraordinary is that? Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on. A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin. Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.

Nurture Social Relationships – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they are lonely? WHOA! There is a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with. We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.

Develop Strategies for Coping – How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character. Sometimes crap happens – it is inevitable. Forrest Gump knows the deal. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.

Learn to Forgive – Harbouring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being. You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion. When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system. 

Increase Flow Experiences – Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still. It is when you are so focused on what you are doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged. You’re not hungry, sleepy, or emotional. You’re just completely engaged in the activity that you’re doing. Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.

Savour Life’s Joys – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy. It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences. When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic. It’s the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.

Commit to Your Goals – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere. When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.

Practice Spirituality – When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than we are. We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever. It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists. Some of the most accomplished people feel that they are here doing work they are “called to do.”

Take Care of Your Body – Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be. If you do not have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected. Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as anti-depressants? Not only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.

"Success is ..... "

“Success is the sum of small efforts,

repeated day in and day out.”

Robert Collier

I love this quote by Robert Collier and I would like to run a marathon. You don’t just wake up one morning, go out, and run a marathon. That would be foolish and potentially harmful.

The running of a marathon is the sum of a lot of small efforts.

First, you have to commit to do a marathon; mentally say you want to do one. Then you have to start on your physical training. Depending on your level of fitness that might be starting with jogging half a mile. Then slowly increasing your distance and speed.

Your training needs to be almost every day with the goal in mind to keep improving. You may run some shorter races; say 5 or 10K, to gain experience.

You will need to be determined and keep that vision of successfully running that marathon one day. All of these; the physical training, the mental preparation, the determination, the balanced diet, the self-discipline, etc. are the ingredients you will need to be successful.

Once you actually run that marathon, you will feel like you are on top of the world. You will have accomplished what so few have ever done. You will feel and be successful in your accomplishment, which was the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

Whatever your marathon in life is, know you can accomplish it with the right attitude and training. Never give up. Repeat those small efforts daily and be amazed and the total effect!

Have a great day, and hit the road of life.

Business Tips: Branding Luxury Goods

A long long time ago, luxury goods were simply better goods. They were better made, better quality, included better service etc. This was a huge insight into buying behaviours and one that generated billions in revenue over the years.

One of the triumphs of the Industrial Revolution was that others figured out how to make things just as well as the 'luxury' brands could.

Then came the shift; the label on the item, the brand, became at least as important as what was made. The brand is a signifier to those around you. A way of demonstrating good taste and a membership in the elite.

People pay extra for luxury goods partly for the privilege of paying extra. Akin to the price of admission to an exclusive club. For a very long time, a sale on luxury goods made no sense, because the fact that it was not on sale was precisely what made it a luxury good.

It is this selling of the logo, of Gucci or Chanel or Tag Heuer that made the last fifty years of luxury production such an extraordinary opportunity. Add to this a growing cadre of the newly wealthy, eager for a badge to show that they had arrived, and it is nearly perfect.

Feed the masses this aspirational brand, maintain the value of the logo and you actually get paid a premium for making the thing cost more. 

And then, the outlet stores showed up and previously exclusive designer brands such as Ralph Lauren danced the line between mass and class, selling logos big and small, at all price points.

When anyone can make a nice polo shirt, which nice polo shirt should you pay extra for? And a new generation of value-based retailers has taken this even further. There is still plenty of money being spent on the expensive, but the concentration of brand impact is diluting and quickly.

Here is what has shifted recently: In the post-industrial connection economy, we can value networks more than we value stuff. We would rather be invited to the right conferences than wear expensive shoes. Logos are becoming worth less. They are easier to copy and not as valuable a signifier as they were.

And yet...

And yet elites of all shapes and sizes still desire a way to demonstrate their inclusion in certain groups. Groups that aren't open to all. Groups that brandish their exclusivity.

And human beings still seek out the best of something, the item that carries with it the magic of a well-trained hand, of a bespoke origin and of the nostalgia for that something special we long to remember.

The luxury industry will not disappear, but without a doubt, it is changing. When you consider your luxury brand charging more is one tactic, but it might not be the only one.

Let me know what you think.........