Learning Stuff About ‘learning from experience’


Laws of Lifetime Growth -Always Make Your Learning Greater Than Your Experience

This is Sullivan’s law #2. This essentially means learning from experiences. It is possible to have many experiences yet learn very little. If we do not consciously think about what worked and what didn’t in the given situation or event, then we run a very big risk of losing out on the great opportunity for growth, and of course quite likely repeating the same mistakes multiple times.

Sometimes we have experiences that are embarrassing, or leave us with a very bad taste. You know those experiences where you would rather forget they happened, and wish everyone else would too. But while they might be painful in a certain kind of way to even think about, it is far more profitable to constructively analyse the particular experience, and extract lessons that can help you avoid making the same mistake, and/or effect a more satisfying outcome when

similar situations arise. When you consider what worked, you can build on that to improve your effectiveness. And when you consider what did not work, you can avoid repeating that.

I recently gave a presentation where for the most part I thought I did okay. But when it was over, I realised I forgot to mention a few important things I had in my notes. I also realised that I did not end in the way that I really wanted to. When I think about these mistakes, it is somewhat painful, and I wonder if my ineffective ending was very noticeable. But if I were to simply just try to blot it out of my mind, I would be missing out on an opportunity to be more effective. When I think about why I made these mistakes, I can try to put measures in place next time to help prevent them from recurring. When I focus on the parts that were particularly well received, I can consider what it was about them that made them so effective, and try to repeat this, and even do it better the next time, which will produce greater success in the future. And that reminds us of law #1, Always make your future bigger than your past.

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Importance of Context: A lesson from buying furniture

Often times people make statements which when quoted elsewhere, sounds like something different from what was originally said or meant. This happens when words are taken out of context. We’re all familiar with this, and probably even had it happen to us.

But it is well worth noting that context doesn’t only relate to words, and it must never be ignored.

I went to the store to buy furniture the other day. I had someone pick out a set for me beforehand, one that was comfortable to sit in, and was of a colour that matched the destination room. So context as far as colour was concerned, was taken into consideration.

When I went I sat in it to make sure it was comfy, and I verified that the colour was appropriate, and then I paid for it. But when it was delivered later that day, it was immediately apparent that the sofa set was too bulky for the room. It took up too much space, and it just didn’t belong.

My failure was to ignore the spatial context. In the store, everything looked fine. Of course, the item was set out in a spacious area, making it difficult to realise that the furniture set would have a proportion issue in the target area.

Eventually I had to return the sofa set and take a more expensive one. A lot of trouble and disappointment could have been avoided by simply paying attention to the context in which the furniture was displayed and compare it to the context that it would be taken to.

Context really does matter, regardless of whether we’re dealing with words or a physical setting or something else. So remember to consider the context!

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