Learning

Learning looks like a conversation. It looks like the learner expounding upon a question or statement that the counselor just made. If the counselor is not careful, he will miss it. Learning looks like a person is expressing something that they already knew, something that they were already sure about. As the person expresses their thoughts, they are often hearing them for the first time. In formulating and hearing the thoughts, the learner is learning from themselves.

The Power of a Question

A question is a very powerful thing. It directs the conversation topic. A conversation has the potential to go in any number of directions. When a question is asked, the other potential directions are excluded. The only direction the conversation will go, is the direction that is being attended to.

The Power of an Idea

As people, we tend to learn line upon line, precept upon precept. We do not tend to jump from one basic understanding to a complicated one. We tend to grow slowly.  In a conversation, one idea often acts as a catalyst for the growth of another. As a conversation occurs in therapy, it is important to listen for the growth of an idea. When a person has an idea, it means learning is happening. An idea can be further cultivated by talking about it and asking the person to expound upon it. In this way, the idea will take form and shape into something more solid. This solid concept can then be used as a catalyst for more ideas or decision making.

The Power of Action

Learning rarely takes place without action. Action is required to test out the limits of our understanding. It reveals to us what we know and what we do not. It makes evident the flaws in our theories. Action creates the opportunity to learn from failure and success. The greater the frequency that action is attempted, the greater the frequency that learning will occur.

The Power of Cultivation

What we pay attention to, grows. When we focus on our failures, our failures will become a dominant part of the learning process. When we focus on our success, our success will dominate the learning process. Success and failures are occurring constantly. They are occurring at rates that we do not fully pay attention to. The gravity of our success or failures will become fully realized when we pay attention to them. If we wish to cultivate success, it will be important to pay attention to successes.

The Power of Perspective

Events are large or small, depending on what they are being compared to. A single failure looks large, until it is compared with the number of times success has occurred, and then it looks like a small percentage. If a perspective is small, a small action feels enormous. If a perspective if large, a small action feels insignificant. Perspective changes how we view problems and how we consider success.