No. 405 - THE POWER OF PSYCHO LEARNING
No. 405
Jim Davidson - NEWSPAPER COLUMN
THE POWER OF PSYCHO LEARNING
The American journalist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) once said that ãLearning is dust shaken out of a book and into an empty skull." That statement certainly has merit, but if Mr. Bierce were around today he would have to amend it considerably. In our modern high-tech world, we learn with the aid of a multitude of resources. To tighten the vice a little tighter, we also learn something anytime one or more of our five senses comes into contact with new information, either seen or unseen. When we smell a skunk or see a tragic accident, it is indelibly recorded in that great and marvelous tool that we call the human mind.
For me, learning is an exciting subject and I made a discovery quite by chance, that has transformed my life. Back in 1970, soon after the cassette player was invented and produced in mass volume, (no pun intended) a former Dale Carnegie instructor invited me to join him in marketing motivational programs that featured the dual sensory input of reading and listening. At this time in my life reading was not a passion for me, but I could listen, and since I spent untold hours in my car, thatâs when it became a regular practice that has given me knowledge and insights that I could never have gotten any other way.
Since those early days I also discovered that the three keys to learning are repetition, repetition and repetition. Little did I realize it at the time, but when I listened to the same motivational message dozens of times I was driving it deeper and deeper into my subconscious mind. Eureka!! Those thoughts are still down there somewhere and every once in a while I open the lid and pull one out. What I have just presented for your consideration is the power of psycho learning, psycho meaning the mind.
In a nutshell, you learn just by listening, no studying or memorizing. In fact, the less effort you use and the more you relax and repeatedly listen, the more you learn and remember. You can relax and listen at home, in your car, as I have done, or listen anywhere and at anytime. You can listen alone or with your family, friends or business associates. This is the easiest and best way to learn. As I said, you donât have to memorize success methods and ideas or any other information that will help you reach your goals. Your subconscious mind will do that for you, permanently.
To be a little more specific, I would like to share a concept with you that may open up a whole new world in your thinking. First, itâs important to understand that the early years of our life are the most productive, in terms of the mass of learning that takes place. This is the time when we start to school and learn the fundamentals, how to read and write, to think, to learn how to solve problems and make value judgments. When we get older we donât learn as much or as fast in terms of volume, but we learn, because of the added dimension of experience, things that are more useful in terms of our jobs, careers and achieving some measure of financial success. Other than learning just the essential information to earn a living, most people do not learn enough beyond meeting their basic needs, to become an expert or an authority in any given field of endeavor. In our nationâs social and financial pyramid, itâs the people who are the most educated who are the most successful.
The more we know about a particular subject, the easier it is to learn. Itâs just common sense. Itâs easier for an expert to learn more about what he or she does best than someone else who does not anything about it at all. The key is to discover or decide what job, career, trade or profession we want to spend our time doing and then learn everything we can about it. It can be said that what we know is our BASE OF KNOWLEDGE and this is true in a general sense and also in a specific sense.
Itâs true! The more we know the easier it is to learn. This is because our base of knowledge is the repository where we attach all new information. In your mind if you will see a pebble, a stone, a boulder and finally a mountain as the size of your knowledge base, and it gets progressively larger the more you learn, you will have the mental picture that I am desperately trying to get across. When it comes to having the time to learn new and exciting things and to stay motivated in a negative world, donât overlook the power of psycho learning. If you donât already do this, why not invest in some good motivational and inspirational material on cassette (the Bible is the best), along with other information that will teach and inspire you to do your job better. It will be an investment that, over the long haul, will pay you tremendous dividends, in relation to the small cost. (Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)
