The other day, I was engaging with one of my friends. He was struggling in his current job, which incidentally is also his first job.
In the first quarter itself, he had made several mistakes, made his manager angry, and also shaken the client’s confidence.
He wrote in asking a tough question: “What do you think I am doing wrong?”
I don’t know! How do I know what you are doing wrong?
No, this was not what I replied. This was what I told myself :)
“What do YOU think you are doing wrong?” I asked.
He replied, “I still do not fully know how the company works. The mistakes that I made were because I did not have a full understanding of everything. And I was hesitant to ask.”
“Now, that is a good start. WHY do you think you do not fully know how the company works?”
“Because they have these manuals to read. And that is so boring. I have tried to read them so many times, but I always miss out on the details.”
“Let me ask you a different question. Did you enjoy reading the school textbooks, when you had to study or learn something new?”
“Oh, I always hated it!”
“So, how did you learn something new?”
“I always asked my best friend to explain it for me."
“Awesome! That is useful information. Also, did you excel in your practical classes more than you theory classes or vice versa?”
“I ALWAYS loved my practical classes. And did surprisingly better in them than the theory.”
“Well, here is my conclusion then. Your dominant style of learning is listening and doing. Not reading or writing. The reason you are struggling to grasp the way the company works is because you haven’t consumed that information in a manner that matches your learning style.”
It is baffling how many of us, even people deep in their careers, have never stopped to ask themselves, “How do I learn the best?”
Because in the answer lies the key to becoming a student, at will.
It is clear that the ONLY way to win in life is if you have the ability to become a student, at will. You can learn ANYTHING you want, WHENEVER you want! That is a super power.
But an important criteria to get to this, is to know how is the best way you learn.
Do you learn by writing, by reading, by watching, by listening or by doing?
Even if you try and learn something exciting but adopt a form of learning that is not your natural style, you will struggle.
It’s just the law of nature.
