Revision

TAKE NOTE

It's been a while since I sat exams. I've had tests since college but mostly these have all been in my 20's. Trying to learn new things this year, I've succeeded in many ways to invest time on learning these new skills but I haven't really looked at the best ways to study or revise these new concepts. 

Consequently, the information is being read and understood but the information just isn't going in to the long term memory where they can be recalled easily. 

Learning is a process. There are techniques we can use to improve the learning process like setting up a revision schedule, getting quality sleep and eating certain foods, but the simplest, most effective method that gets overlooked, is just to make lots of notes. 

Memory Retention

SHORT INTO LONG TERM 

When trying to learn a new skill, remember a name or just retain something important, we need to go through a process whereby the brain switches from short term temporary input of the new information into retained memory for recall, where it can effectively be stored as knowledge in the right parts of the brain. 

In order to improve memory storage and enhance our capacity for memory recall, we need to better understand how the brain works. Learning techniques for storing/retrieving memory will also give us a greater chance for learning.

Apparently, certain foods and supplements can also enhance brain function. Therefore, making beneficial lifestyle changes as well as creating life/mind-enhancing habits such as posting a personal mindful blog or writing a daily diary, will further improve our memory function. Having a daily recap on the day's events at the end f the day, will help to cement our memories. This daily practice of giving a 'work out' to our minds, will help us to improve the storage capacity for learning too.

Passing On The Knowledge

BECOMING A TEACHER

Passing on learned knowledge so others may benefit from our wisdom, is arguably one of the greatest gifts we have to offer. Wisdom in one of the few benefits we get from getting older, so passing it on is all the more rewarding.

For those that come to us willingly seeking knowledge, it is a joy to impart our wisdom and all the more rewarding to receive their gratitude. For those who we try and impart wisdom but who aren't receptive to learn from us, even when they could greatly benefit from having our insight and guidance, it can be frustrating. We needn't try so hard. For it takes great patience and skill dealing with these individuals and only so much we can do to help them.

I have been on a quest since the beginning of this year. A path of self analysis and discovery, which has given me some amazing and insightful information - tools on how to fix/avoid problems, grow physically, mentally & spiritually. I can already see in just a short space of time how this new knowledge is greatly improving my quality of life and in some cases already, through my teaching - other people's lives too.

Growing Pains
The path towards self mastery is laden with obstacles that can deter us from the path and trick us away from our goals. Overcoming these obstacles is very much a part of the learning process and can be both mentally and physically painful. These challenges we face along the way, which manifest in emotional and physical symptoms are called growing pains. They are a naturally occurring phenomena and if addressed correctly, will help us to strengthen. Many people hit these obstacles and either stop or turn back. This is where many will become inflexible, cease to grow or worse, ill.

It is the job of the teacher to help these individuals to take the necessary steps. It is the skilled and patient teacher who guides the fearful and weak - holding their hands through the process, assuring them they will be ok. It is this skill that we need to learn more of and only a very few are willing to put in their time and efforts, also at great pains & at times it seems, for no return. It's through perseverance and a will to help those that need the most guidance, that we continue to grow more ourselves and develop as great teachers.

Practice

PRACTICE SLOWLY - PROGRESS QUICKLY

While listening to a podcast today on music and perfect pitch, I'm fondly reminded of my piano teacher. 

It's my 10 year old niece's birthday next week and we're buying her a Casio digital keyboard. Learning to play a musical instrument is something we should all try in our lifetime. Playing a piano has been one of the greatest things I've achieved for connecting the body and mind. As well as playing jazz/blues, I've also learned classical music and this has been one of my greatest endeavours.

To learn the notes that have been produced by the musical masters like Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin, is truly to be connected with genius itself. This skill wouldn't come immediately, as there'd be a lot of work put in to accomplish this feat with much practice. It would be difficult at first. To learn how to read the musical notes, takes much patience and time, just as we would need time learning a foreign language. And to then play this music, written by these great composers, will also require lots of slow, careful practice and a highly focussed commitment to do this over a period of time. Eventually, with these very deliberate efforts, the notes will flow faster until the song could be performed well enough in front of an audience where the appreciation of the mastery can be fully appreciated.

I can clearly remember the many hours of practice on our piano at home and I believe this focus has helped with my creativity, dexterity plus appreciation of music and the arts as well as boosting confidence and ability to perform well under pressure with such close scrutiny.

Remembering Youth

THE BENEFITS OF WISDOM

When we are young adults, we start to believe we know best. We've been on the planet long enough to learn what's right and wrong and needn't listen to our parents and peers to inform us otherwise - what do they know? A lot it turns out. 

We should try and remember how we were in earlier years. It helps us communicate better with the young. As much as we try, it's still difficult to convey how we know more, as they (I remember) don't want to listen. Life is a path of discovery and rediscovery. Even now, in my 40's, I'm still essentially the same person, but I have a far wider scope and perception than I had previously. My parents will have an even wider perspective and our grandparents an even greater viewpoint of the world.

In western culture, we tend to ignore the elderly and what they have to say. We certainly don't look after or up to or appreciate them as other cultures do. This is certainly something we need to start doing more of and listening to our elder's life-earned wisdom is a good start.

Doing It Yourself

UPSKILLING

One of the reasons I wish to get out of the corporate world of advertising, media & marketing is because of all the bullsh*t jargon and word twisting they use. Learning new stuff or finding out how to do something yourself is so much easier these days and if like me you're having to take a big drop in pay, doing it yourself not only means learning a new skill but importantly, not paying someone else saves you money too.

Trusting The Experts
There's a lot of information in the libraries, online ebooks and youtube videos, so why do people pay someone else? Very likely it's the time, inconvenience it takes to learn and do it yourself, possibly some fear of being a Frank Spencer type and of course the ease of passing it on to a 'pro'. Thing is, quite often the pros are trying to get a buck out of you and I, if we're gullible enough to let them. So, a quick example in point: the back break on my bike is jammed. I've spoken to mechanics in three different bike shops and enquired if they can fix it quickly. The result being, that they all said I'd need a new one (££ plus labour), yet, when I take the brake set off, clean it and simply put it back on... 20 minutes later, it's as good as new.

We're in a culture where replacing easily fixable parts for new is also something the so-called experts would rather do. So it stands to reason why we have a general laziness when it comes to fixing things if the so-called experts can't be bothered to give it a go. And why we'll have little confidence trying to fix something ourselves first.

Give It A Go
Take today as an example. I have potentially earned £20 because someone 'can't be bothered' to fit a light switch. Also, I spoke with a valet company about renovating the inside of my classic car. To clean the inside was £100 and it was suggested to replace the mats and recover the seats. So, I bought some leather food and carpet cleaner to spruce up the inside of the car myself instead. It's amazing what a bit of elbow grease can do and yet, I was very close to replacing the mats and getting the seats re-upholstered because I listened to bad advice.

All in, I've potentially saved/earned a few hundred pounds today, just by giving it a go myself. These aren't very time consuming tasks, they weren't even that highly skilled or difficult to learn - plus I've earned that cold pint of beer once again.

Reading

THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is power so they say. Taking on learned information and processing it in a way to be understood and used - ie. applied knowledge - takes time and effort. Learning is tough to do when there's so many other distractions, let alone when it's trying to read a 500+ page book on a subject that demands focussed study - so this one may take a while. Ten pages a day should see it finished in a few months though. The current book I'm looking at is on psychology called Social Cognition: Making Sense of People by Ziva Kunda.

Reading and absorbing
My teacher from primary school taught us how to read a book properly. First to read the front, taking in the title and author's name, then flicking to the back for a synopsis and reviews. Afterwards, taking in the sleeve note (hardback) and learning a little about the author. Finally looking at the contents, section headers and after, reading the preface or introduction along with any of the author's dedications to family, friends and loved ones. This should all be carefully considered before starting to read the actual book.

In the modern age, it's become increasingly difficult to stay focussed on one thing at a time and to truly immerse oneself in the task at hand, like reading a book. I usually find myself stopping to check emails, take calls, send texts, look up stuff on google and hop from one topic to the next. There never seems enough time to live in the moment with reminders, either digital or mental, taking us away from enjoying the moment. We need to isolate ourselves from these distractions if we're going to take on any new information from a book.

I now have a 'do not disturb' digital rule in place while doing a focussed task like reading. All phones, online access and emails etc. are off limits. Consequently, this is the first time in a long while that I can remember in recent memory that I've dedicated my full attention to fully absorb a book - carefully taking the time to look at the book in it's entirety and appreciating it in the quality old-world form of the printed page. 

Long live the book with the knowledge and detachment from the digital realms that it gives us!

Teaching

LEARNING TO ENJOY LEARNING

When I think back to my early school days (many moons ago now), I can remember enjoying the act of learning new things. I liked going to school and being taught new things. As a consequence, I excelled at art, was good at maths, ahead in reading and imaginative with writing stories. My pictures were on display, I read out my stories in front of class and often helped others with their sums/spelling. There were rewards for learning. Gold stars and ticks along the way. The teachers would smile and say how clever or creative I'd been. And, whether what I'd created was any good or not, I still have the memory of being acknowledged as someone who was capable or greatness. 

As the years roll by, I'm still left holding fond memories of my teachers and my time at junior school. I have a sense of confidence instilled in me. And, even though I was a bit of a handful at times, being given a lot of positive encouragement to learn more, has helped motivate me in life. 

Encouraging greatness

While I can't pertain to be a head of state, a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci or even a self made man in business - I feel lucky to have had such great teachers. I have confidence to learn, apply what I've learned and the right mindset to get on in life. Yet, I could have so easily become a different person. I put a lot of this fact down to being shown the right way to act from a young age and encouragement from great teachers. Thankfully, there's people out there that understand the importance of good teachers and are willing to take on this role. A lot of people aren't as fortunate to have had such great influences in their lives and without such an encouraging start - particularly from that very young and impressionable age, they struggle to get on.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart - Ms Grealy and Mrs Sellick.

Tornado

POWRFUL METAPHORS

So many strong symbolic messages being projected my way at the moment! Last night, I had a dream about a tornado. This is the second dream I can recall having this year and again it's about a powerful and potentially destructive natural force. The last dream was about a tidal wave - which was symbolic of great change. I was safe in that dream - and safe in this one too. So it's pretty clear to me what this second dream is about - as there are life-changing events going on in my life right now. It's really interesting how your brain puts these emotions, concerns and reasonings into visual metaphors - and so vividly too!

Whipping boy

I'm taking some time this week to think through a situation where I'm at a crossroads. One part of me wants to take an easy route but the other part wants to go the hard way around - as it may be more rewarding. The easy route will be pretty quick, uneventful and I'll be able to reach my next destination. BUT - I know I'll be thinking about the decision not to take the other route and 'what I should have done' the whole way. The harder route may take me a lot longer - it'll be a tough test of mental/physical strength - it'll take courage - and it feels like the right route to take. I may have an arduous journey which could take a lot out of me but the result might mean I'll arrive at a different and altogether better destination in the end.

The reason I'm at this conjuncture - again to use a metaphor - is because, like a whipped donkey, I stubbornly refuse to budge any further. I've been repeatedly beaten down over a period of time and it's now time to drop the pack loads and go on my own path. 

Positive steps

I've taken some more positive steps in my new direction for change. My fitness levels are improving, my body shape is changing (down to 12st 4lb!!!) and there's hardly any fat on me now. My 30 day Paleo ended yesterday and I ate my first bread, pasta and rice - yesterday's PT session was much better as a result, as I had more energy in my muscles. I'm ready to start my PT level 3 course from 1st March. I saw my doctor re. nerve damage in my neck. She was genuinely surprised at how my recovery has gone. Considering the symptoms I had in 2012, the movement in my neck and shoulders is better than it's ever been. I'll post my results on the blog after my scan next week. Regarding improvement to money status quo - my HMRC appeal is now underway and all being well, my financial situation could improve dramatically over the coming months...

Bull

TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS

I am going to see a play today called Bull, which is on at the Young Vic in London. I live in London and I love the theatre - but don't go nearly as much as I'd like. So, I'm going to make a much greater effort to see more plays over the coming months. I didn't get to a gallery or play yesterday - I was waiting for a call regarding something that is weighing heavily on my mind at the moment. I needn't have worried, the call was this morning instead. I really feel like I'm in a world of metaphors at the moment and how apt for me to be seeing this play today because I am currently facing down a bull. 

Using Time Effectively

I woke early again this morning and used the quiet time to listen to one of Michel Thomas' Spanish language lessons. I've tried these audio lessons before - but I've not used the first clear moments of the day to try learning languages before - and I'm finding it really sinking in when my mind and the world around me is quiet. However, as the morning has gone on, there's other duties and jobs taking over and distractions are kicking in. My mind is now also taken up with the metaphorical 'Bull'. So, I'm going to book the play, take in a yoga class to calm my mind again, then take my audio lessons on the tube, collect my bike and listen/learn Spanish while I travel around. Any other calls, emails and potentially - more to add on this blog post, will be made on the go....

Inspiration Overload

AN APPETITE FOR LEARNING

It's getting a little bit crazy in the mornings. Whereas I started the year with a blank mind and let the thoughts manifest on to the virtual page. I'm now having internal conflicts about what to write, when to write, how much to write and I've created a log-jam of new material to read, absorb and use - which I have to do before I can honestly write about the benefits. I need to de-clutter and get some order back!

I'm hungry for learning but I don't have enough time or the right head space to properly absorb all of it in a day. Every time I find another teacher or subject that interests me, I'll stumble upon another and another. There's just so much great stuff to learn.

So, starting from today, I'm going to set aside 2 hours to read, listen and watch my new material. I've added a reminder in my diary and a list of the things I'll be learning. I've allowed a bit of time to take notes after each one - as a way to help absorb the learnings and provide some reference for the content of my next post on them.

Quiet time

It's so easy to get overloaded and stressed by running a business, looking after a family or trying to fit relationship, work, friends, exercise and quality me-time all into one day. You don't need the extra stress from having inspiration overload.

I've started the day with just my blog window open and ended up with 17 tabs of inspiration. I've got over 70 podcasts lined up and 4 new books to read. Consequently, I'm behind on my blog. Today's topic was a subject about something completely different - but I've taken inspiration from what's right in front of my nose instead - having too much information to digest. Reading Paul Brunsun's piece about overload, I've remembered to 'stack' my reference pages out of sight - ready for a later read. A great tool for doing this is Pocket. It bookmarks all your pages into one place. You can add Pocket to Chrome as an extension and assign a keyboard command for even more efficiency.

{pause.}

I've just done something I should be doing more of - ie. taking time to look up. Quiet time and inspiration taken by lifting my gaze away from my laptop and peering straight ahead at the blue sky and view over London today. it's a beautiful crisp day - I'll have to get outside for a walk today too.

Looking out of the window in front of me, reminded me again of Leo Babauta's page from the other day. A reminder to be in the moment, to be present in the here and now, to breathe and be still. It also reminded me of Geoff Thompson's 'Everything is Scripture' podcast - everything I'm now looking at out of my window, is scripture and an inspiration. 

I will go back to these teaching again in the future....but for now, back to a bit of quiet reflection and on to my learning for the day

Listen And Learn

LEARNING ON THE GO

I try and actively learn something new every day as part of my 2015 mantra. I love reading, but rarely get the time to sit down and properly read - to be in a place to really take on board the story or information from the pages...there's too much work to be done! That's the beauty of pod-casts and audiobooks. The great thing is, you can leave your hands free for doing other autonomous things. I often listen to podcasts and audiobooks when I'm travelling on public transport or driving in the car. Yesterday, while washing the car, I listened to an informative book on understanding sleep, entitled 'Night School'. You can download this audio book from Audible. The great thing for me, was that it was also free as part of my Times+ subscription - another great perk of my job. 

Tech Time

In line with my new thinking/approach for shorter blogs - allowing more time for other research, I'll be continuing to set up my online & social preferences today. There's some handy little apps and extensions out there for making things that bit easier. I'll also be adding a page at some point in the not too distant future, with some of my tech time-saving and useful apps & tweaks. For now, check out Pocket - it's a great way to save stuff for future reading/viewing/research.