Training
Do you have the discipline to train? That’s a question I’ve asked and answered for myself over the last few days.
I watched a TED video featuring writer, Josh Foer who gave a talk about training your memory. He got me curious enough to attempt to train my memory to remember some fun things – The names of the plays of Shakespeare (whom I’ve never read), the chronology of the written works of Charles Dickens and the sequential list of all the Presidents of the United States.
I was able to do those three things in less than a day. Doing so got me thinking more broadly about training.
There is so much lying dormant in each of us that is begging for training. For example, there’s a healthier body in there, a sharper mind, a better (pick your hobby). You can train on new software or hardware or anything under the sun for that matter.
Back to memory for a moment. Over the years, some people have told me I have a good memory and it’s usually followed up by them saying, “I have such a bad memory.” What I’ve come to find out in the last couple of days is that there aren’t good or bad memories, just untrained ones.
The same goes for your golf game or your quilting expertise.
My brother-in-law had a great illustration of those who take to training and those who don’t. He said, “There are people who spend 25 years in the insurance industry and repeat their first year over and over again.” I’m sure that applies to all occupations.
I’m not revealing any new secret here that training makes you better at something, even using your own brain. What I ask you to get curious about is to notice that you are not locked in to your current lack of expertise in anything. You are trainable. You just have to be willing to train.
“Oh, I’m all thumbs” becomes thumbing your nose at your self imposed limitations when you decide to train.
I’m not sure that knowing Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States is going to win me any rewards, but it’s rewarding to know the learning train has not yet left the station.
All the best,
John
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