Incredible Power of Self Learning, 10 Steps to Become an Effective Self Learner

December 09, 2020

 

Powerful ideas to be an Effective Self Learner


Introduction

Change is a scary word and one loaded with surprises. We don't know about the twists and turns life can throw at us. But Change always remains our constant companion.

Recently I came across a person from a New religious movement or as some may call a 'Cult'. I was able to treat the person with respect and educate him whilst hearing him. It was a very interesting interaction.

I have been a self-learner for a very long time. It has helped me tremendously, not just professionally or with self-development but also with making good choices in Life.


What is Self Learning?

Self Learning is also called as 'Autodidactism

 

Self Learning is when a learner teaches him/her/zer self to learn a body of knowledge, without a Teacher, Master or an Institution.

It is also called as Autodidactism. Quite a heavy word to learn. I am sure most of may not realise but at some point, we all have been Autodidacts or as we may say Self Taught.

Isn't it really Awesome? To Learn by yourself, Just having your curiosity lead you and Trial & Error be a guide. Can it be heartbreaking, yes it can be.

I personally love studying world religions and different worldviews. It's just a hobby, exploring tough questions can be eye-opening and difficult but transformative at the same time. Sometimes one can misunderstand the information we are reading.

That is where online communities are kind of helpful, but not a good replacement for a Good Teacher.

Personally speaking, I love Self Learning with all the joy and pain that comes with it.


Power of the Internet (and some Consequences)

Internet is powerful for Learning


Over the years, there has been a lot of purposeful disinformation. This can be really dangerous. It can take us on a rabbit trail to a place we don't want to be.

I must say healthy scepticism and critical thinking can really be useful. So one place topic to begin learning or taking a course is on Critical thinking and logic.

Over the years, there has been a lot of purposeful disinformation.

The internet is a powerful tool, but the disinformation part of it besides the many avenues to time-wasting can be quite detrimental.

I would like to repeat the cliché, 'Don't believe everything you read on the internet'. But that is not to say that there are no good or great resources available online.

There are many. I have listed some of them on the Resources page on this website.

So what are some consequences we may face from learning the wrong information? Firstly, it will give us a wrong view on things and in some cases even lead us to bad decisions.


How to Start Self Learning?


So How does one begin teaching oneself? I would say it begins with passion. The next required is a healthy sense of enquiry.

Yes, there are many quick to learn guides and resources available online. Are they good? I would maybe or yes, it depends on the course or book and the topic.

But the way to decide could be by first doing a little bit of research into the topic you want to learn. Then maybe after reading a few articles or books getting deeper into the subject.

Note making is something that could really be useful. I have listed some keys pointers to help effectively Teach yourself.


10 Steps to Effective Learning

Create a Plan to Learn


  1. Scan the topic and related topics: Before you commit to learning something new, read a bit about it. Find related topics and get a basic understanding of the topic.
  2. Do a bit of enquiry: Enquiry is like a shorter version of research. It doesn't need to be professional, but it could be thorough. You could find material related to the subject and try to understand a bit more about it. You will be able to understand the gaps in your knowledge and skills you would need to learn the subject.
  3. Understand your motives before you commit: Remember time is a limited resource. Understand your motives behind learning the subject and how it is relevant to you.
  4. Take Action: Start learning, do what you planned. 
  5. Commit Time: It can get interesting initially and if you do not commit time, it could be a fad that fades away. Don't make it a fad, get serious, commit time to your new Learning project.
  6. Take Notes: I think this is one of the most important skills to learn as a learner. Recording and systematically learning a subject. Note making is a very important skill for any good learner.
  7. Revise your learnings: Take time to evaluate what you learned. Reflect on it and probably do a short project or maybe write an article on it. 
  8. Find a good group or online forum: It's priceless to join a community of like-minded individuals. It motivates you and gives a forum to discuss what you are learning. You could even share what you learned.
  9. Find a good mentor: Find someone who has mastered the subject you are learning. It is very helpful and it could help you get a deeper understanding of various aspects of the topic you are studying.
  10. Read articles or whitepapers published on the topic: Keep yourself updated on the latest research and case studies on the topic you are studying.

Conclusion

I would say learning is life and all of us at some point need to understand the gaps in our understanding. This is only possible if we evaluate ourselves and begin the process of learning.

Learning does not end at a course or with professional Education. It is an ongoing process, it is transformative to learn and share ideas with people

Share your ideas and this article with people if you found this post interesting.

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One cool technique to beat Stress with this Powerful habit, Find out more

November 21, 2020

 

A simple way to enjoy a stress-free weekend: Journal


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Further Reading




Christonanda's Guide to using Awareness for achieving happiness and your goals... Life skills to a Better life Now

November 18, 2020
Self Awareness is a tool for self empowerment
Self Awareness is a tool for self empowerment


If you been following my blogs for some time I have been focused primarily on sharing insights on Life and work in general. 

Life has shown me that Work and Living life should not be boxed. Yes, I would not like to acknowledge the benefits of having a Professional life separate from our personal sphere.

But we must all acknowledge the fact that Professional Life is a huge chunk of our time we spend here on earth.

I sincerely believe that a lot of the problems we face as a world can be solved by becoming more mature spiritually and together 💓.

I would like to explore with you Self Awareness, This is one tool that can help us bring those changes in our personal spheres.

So let us dive into understanding Self Awareness...


What is Self Awareness 🙏


via GIPHY

We are not what we do, what we say or what we think.

Experience of our life does not determine who we are.


"Mindfulness is about finding some space in the mind, less judgement, a greater sense of perspective, in which we see this fundamental truth for ourselves in a very direct and personal way."
- Andy Puddicombe at Psychology Today

When we take our thoughts too seriously, life becomes heavy. When we identify with our emotions too strongly, we begin to get lost in them.

We assume our words define us.

Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection.

Self-Awareness Theory is based on the idea that you are not your thoughts, but the entity observing your thoughts; you are the thinker, separate and apart from your thoughts (Duval & Wicklund, 1972)

Some Benefits

  • Positive Self Development
  • Empathy with others
  • Evaluate our decisions and build self-control
  • Build Self-confidence

For Example 👍

Example: Stuck in Traffic

This is something most of us can relate to and may feel gosh it's so boring. Just as an experiment if we could just use this time to understand our reaction.

Some of us could be bored, while may enjoy being stuck or some just plain normal use to the situation. We can use the moment to understand ourselves and why we feel the way we feel.

Or may just observe others without building an opinion about them. Just being present in the moment.

Next, while Looking at our reactions and then choosing a better thought or story to understand the situation.


How to Practice Self Awareness 👷

Check this post


Yes, we can see it is a valuable idea. But how do we use this idea to improve the quality of ourselves?

I have just collated some pointers to get started with building Self Awareness.

Key Steps to Living Consciously: 💪

Step 1: Create Space & Time

- Keep some time for refection

- Shut your phone and Tv off for a while

- Create a space for reflection

Step 2: Practise Mindfulness

- Observe your inner life

- Be more intentional in simple activities

- Meditate

Step 3: Use Journaling

- Record your thoughts and actions

- Review it and journal some more

Step 4: Practise Listening

- Pay attention to the speaker

- Observe emotions and body language

- Don't judge or evaluate

- Improve your listening skills by reading or hearing your favourite podcasts

Step 4: Gain a different perspective

- Ask for feedback


Having Clear perception🔎

"We are Creators and tools as well. "

Just having clarity in situations can be a positive start. I think we are Creators and tools as well. 

We have the ability to create and do impressive things. We creativity can be a blessing and a curse as well.

Self-awareness is the first step to achieving clarity.


Wrapping it up ☕

I believe as human beings situations and sometimes even our own reactions and responses can be surprising.

Stopping and reflecting on the journey we enjoy (called Life) can be transformative. It can help strategize effectively and also create happiness for ourselves and others.

These ideas have been quite empowering to me at a personal level. I hope it helps you too.

Please share what you think in the Comments Section.



References

 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/get-some-headspace/201309/what-is-awareness

https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/

https://www.trackinghappiness.com/why-self-awareness-important/

https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/

https://nickwignall.com/self-awareness/


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5 Interesting ways to motivate yourself, Amazing benefits that get you hooked on Life

November 10, 2020
Time to motivate yourself



Let me start this post with a story. I always wanted to act. I love movies and really amazing stories.

One of my favourite pastimes as a kid would be to listen to amazing stories. Stories can be captivating and boring sometimes if it's a drag. But overall it really impresses powerful ideas, thoughts and reflections.

Life can sometimes be like a story and we want a happy ending (pun intended). Lol, But seriously, it can be a real pain.

It can be exhilarating and painful too. I once had a near-death experience of sorts, I missed to drown. That incident pushed me out of my Nihilistic phase.

I began to see life as something amazing. Haha, Life can be amazing. I came across this idea about stories while speaking with a friend.

He is an entrepreneur and blogger too. He was speaking about the importance of stories and fiction books. I must confess I don't read much fiction.

But that conversation made me think that I must begin to read some fiction. It made me think about one more thing. We tell ourselves stories.

Some of us may feel like we are in one. 

Reasons to cheer up

So here is the first reason to feel great about this 'Self-talk'. You are the narrator. Yes, of course, all the incident and events are not completely in your hands. But you get to choose the way you perceive it.

We can practise a kind of Self-awareness. Understanding and living with ourselves. I think this a benefit because we are somewhat in control with the way we behave and act. So we need to take responsibility for our actions and that is empowering.

Another Powerful thought is the idea that we are not our thoughts or actions. We don't need to identify with it. Yes, we are accountable for what we do. This idea can be a starting point to self-development and enhancing our lives.

There could be many more benefits to being in control of our Self-talk, It is we have the ability to cheer ourselves. We can be our own cheerleader. It may seem cheesy, but Nah, it thinks it's awesome. Accepting yourself and working on improving yourself is not cheesy it's transformative.

Benefits

As Humans, we are like onions, multilayered and multifaceted. I am speaking from my experience with life. 

Let's analyse how Self-motivation can be a benefit. I think we all have dreams and aspirations, we work hard to achieve them. We may not able to share what we hope and want with everybody or maybe we can.

But there may be times when we are the only ones who believe in our dreams. So what do we do? We motivate ourselves.

We remind ourselves that we are unique and worth it. We stand up for what we believe, I am not saying you are right or wrong. Everyone has the right to be wrong and the choice to correct themselves. It's God-given.

How this all benefits us? Imagine when you are exercising and you need to complete that extra rep. You motivate and push yourself.

Imagine when you scoreless in a test, and no one thinks you can score better. You motivate yourself. You remind yourself of your dreams and goals. 

You work on the skills you don't have. Because you believe you deserve to achieve your goal. Who is to tell you otherwise?

I believe it can benefit us at different levels.

Motivating ourselves to exercise better, become a better version of ourselves Physically, Spiritually or Emotionally. I think it starts with accepting the way we are. 

Respecting ourselves and staying healthy. Personally, it was very difficult for me, I had gained a lot of weight after going through some health issues. 

It greatly affected me and the way I saw myself. I exercised, but it still didn't help. So I chose to accept myself and love myself by motivating me.

Some Tips I Recommend

Positive Self-talk

You can motivate yourself



Please don't skip over this section and assume you know about it. Hear me out for a bit. Yes, it is about speaking kind things to your self.

But it's more than that, Positive Self-talk can help you understand your thought patterns and the way you understand yourself.

It helps you see yourself and your interior life more critically.  So how do you go about it?

I would say do a self-analysis. Take your list of strengths and goals. Remind yourself about it.

Reminders 

We all need to Remind ourselves. But verbalising it to ourselves is only one way.

How about getting creative about motivating yourself! You could start out by creating a Vision board.

Get pictures of you and the things you want to achieve. You could also include reminders of the things you have already achieved.

Sometimes we tend to forget that we are good and skilled at things we do. This will also help you remind you of the reasons for the things you do. Sometimes Routine can be a dream killer. A good vision board will be a good icon to remind you about the 'Why' behind what you do.

Starting a New Habit

Small Steps to Powerful Habits



Yes, this is a powerful thing. We can change things by starting out small. We do not need to make it grand.

We can sometimes have a huge build-up and expectations around a pet project and it fails. One way to deal with it is to start out small.

You could break a huge task or habit into small mini tasks. For example, you want to exercise. You could start by going for a brisk walk and slowly graduating yourself into more complex exercises later on.

Just working on a new habit and doing it well can be a nice buildup to doing something bigger and better.

Future Truth


Check this video by Patrick Bet-David on Affirmations

I heard this idea from a Youtuber and successful entrepreneur, Patrick Bet-David. He calls it future truth.

Sometimes the affirmation and reminders with all the self-talk can seem like a huge lie. Lol, But believe me it's not. It is simply a future truth.

Journaling

Daily Journal



This is the kind of self-talk where you write as well. You start by writing out what you want to achieve. Then you could also add reasons to it. 

You could describe the motivation behind you achieving your goals. This will add clarity to what you are doing. You will start to express yourself more clearly. I think one major benefit is clarity and the motivation to understand our goals and the motivation behind achieving it.

You could read this article on Journaling and Motivation, Click here.

Conclusion

Sometimes when we think we are stuck and believe that life sucks. Maybe it's different, I am not saying that everyone's situation is awesome or just think positive.

I believe that Life is a journey and being motivated is also our own responsibility. Motivation can build hope and help us enjoy life.  

Small wins could be a build-up to something great. Be motivated and Don't give up.

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4 Blogging sites that inspire me

November 10, 2020

 

Resources that have helped on my Blogging journey

Hi,

As a Blogger there are blogs that have been quite an inspiration to me. I love topics related to Self-help, Web technologies and blogging. 

I would say learning and sharing what you learn teaches you more than you can imagine. It helps us assimilate what we have learnt and it brings out some useful insights whilst we sharing what we learn.

People react to our sharing, they add more information and we grow together. Sometimes it may also help learn new perspectives about what we learnt.

These blogs that I am sharing have helped me Tremendously to be a better Blogger and Educator.

4 Blogging sites that inspire me:

1. Zen Habits

Zen Habits is started by Leo Babauta. He shares free content around improving Life and also has a couple of courses. I like the commitment to sharing ideas and insights regularly and completely 'Free'.

2. Tiny Buddha

Tiny Buddha is another great blog for Life Hacks. It was one of the first blogs that inspired to write on Life and what I love Marketing.

3. Shoutmeloud

This blog is phenomenal for New Bloggers. Harsh can help you with the entire business of blogging. He has great resources and I highly recommend this group.

4. Seth Godin

He is one of my favourite Marketeers. I share the same view of Marketing. He has great resources and a wonderful Podcast Akimbo.

I hope these Blogs inspire you too.

See you in the Next Post

CIAO! 

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Republished from gumroad.com/chriseducator, Oct 7,2020

How does one deal with uncertainty?

November 10, 2020
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