Planning, Motivation and Execution
Figuring out how you will fit learning into your life is crucial to whether you are successful or not. Most people have the capability to learn but the success or failure all lies in the planning, motivation and execution. Although I may use learning music for some of my examples, these principles apply to anything you want to learn.
You Need More Than a Pep Talk!
I want to assure you that this isn’t going to just be a pep talk. I’ll go over general ideas first but then I’ll dive into the specifics. Part One will cover the planning and motivation with some examples from my own learning. I’ll provide a calendar so you can track what actually happens in your week to prepare for fill in tasks. Part two will help you set reasonable goals and decide what’s necessary for your plan. I’ll provide worksheets and a to-do list to plug everything into. I want you to be able to take what I’ve learned over years of learning and teaching and apply it to your own goals.
I started out as a freelancer and business owner with no investors or assets, except me! The thing I invested in was learning how to learn so I could do the many things I needed in order to create the things I wanted and grow my business. I also wanted to learn better so I could do a better job teaching and be a good example for my students.
Why Should You Want This?
Oh, this is an easy one. Whether your limitation is monetary or time, we all need to keep learning to keep our lives satisfying and healthy. We all have things we either need to learn or would like to learn. It’s easy to not do it because you think you don’t have the time. It might be smart to pass on something that just sounds cool and would make you feel smart. However, there are plenty of other things that you could do that would bring you joy, allow you to do things you want or make you healthier.
Examples of Things I’ve Learned and Why
Piano– Can’t say enough about this one. I loved it so much that I became a piano teacher. Piano has been a life-long friend that is there for me no matter what and no matter how I’m feeling. That sounds sad; like I don’t have friends. I guess I didn’t describe in enough detail why piano is a really GOOD friend, but that’s a topic for another time.
Music– It feels wrong to just plunk this down here as a little thing but this whole list could just be music related if I didn’t. So here’s a quick musical recap: singing, songwriting, composing, piano (mentioned above), guitar, bass, drums, recording. The main reason? Music completes me and gives me meaning. I feel like it’s made me a more balanced person as well as been a refuge for me when I needed it. It motivates and inspires me. The euphoria I feel in the midst of a song always makes me feel thankful to be on the planet. Now you see why I want to share it with others and why I’m so motivated to teach.
Teaching-This has been something that I’ve learned organically as I’ve gone along but it’s something where I’m constantly making an effort to improve. I’ve spent time learning about memory and the brain in order to apply that to teaching and writing curriculum. I also problem solve how I can help a student or other teachers get past an obstacle. I found that it was not only good for me to grow as a learner but that it feels amazing to help others. It is the main vehicle that I get to share something that has been life-changing for me (music).
Yoga- So many reasons! Where do I start? Taking care of my body, alleviating pain and stress, getting perspective, slowing down and shaping my body. It feels good to like how my body looks and feels and know that I helped make it that way through my effort! The most important reason though is that your body is your vehicle for life. If you don’t take good care of it, you can’t go anywhere or do the things you want to do. There is no point to living to 90 if you’re stuck in an old jalopy that won’t go anywhere.
Indesign- Gave me the power to write and design my method books and integrate images, print and sheet music. It probably doesn’t sound exciting but it’s been key in being able to create quality looking content. Sometimes you have to focus on what the thing you are learning is going to do for you when it doesn’t excite you all on its own.
Quickbooks- I totally grumbled the whole way, but now I’ve got a great handle on what my finances and business are doing every day, month and year. That actually feels really good. It’s important in order to build a sustainable business model and financial stability. I feel like I owe book keeping an apology for being such a resentful learner. It’s like that moment when you figure out that your parents were totally right about something and begrudgingly admit it as you roll your eyes. It might not have had to be so torturous for me if I had focused on how much it was going to improve my financial life and give me the security of knowing that everything was planned for.
Sometimes you need to learn something because not knowing it seriously limits getting the things you want.
Marketing- I kept saying I was bad at this until I decided I needed to stop making excuses and learn! Sometimes you need to learn something because not knowing it seriously limits getting the things you want. I stumbled into a teaching business without trying but at a certain point I needed to grow. I also wanted to learn how to sell the things I create. Now I’m actually super excited about it because although creating for my dog is nice, he doesn’t really get how brilliant the thing I made is. I’m pretty sure he’d love it even if it was bad. Being able to have a job I love and get paid to teach and create? Best job ever. You really can’t create in a vacuum and feel fulfilled no matter how amazing your creations are. We all need some love.
Building a Website– I tried letting others do it for me but they didn’t really understand what I wanted to make. I always have some crazy, specific idea when I create something and often others don’t think it makes sense until poof! Sometimes that poof is because I blew something up from not knowing what I’m doing but eventually it’s a magical poof. (Think fairy godmother) Now I’ve built suzanstroud.com which has a ton of tools and resources that I can plug into lesson plans and really add to the experience of my students.
Chinese– This is an example of when I wasn’t realistic in what I expected from myself compared to the goals I actually set. I wanted to be fluent even though that wasn’t the goal I set. It wasn’t a reasonable goal that I could fit it into my life. I can have a simple conversation and read and write a little but I’m not fluent. My original reasons for learning were to help my daughter in Chinese school. I more than met the goal I set and could have felt satisfied with that if I had kept a healthier perspective. Instead, I felt disappointed in myself because I was subconsciously holding myself to a bigger goal than I set or planned for. It’s not easy to keep your perspective focused on what you logically know make sense. Sometimes that dreamy part of you takes over. It doesn’t care about the details required for the vision it’s playing through your head, it’s just focused on the romantic notion of what you could have. It’s important to give that dreamer a little reminder at times.
I want to point out that I didn’t become a master at all of these things. Some things I really went in depth to learn but other things were for a specific purpose and my learning was more shallow. We’ll talk more about that below.
The dreaded “P” word…
Practice is a regular commitment to using information or working with a skill and it’s a big part of learning. Already, some of you heard the word ‘practice’ and are ready to bolt. Wait, don’t leave yet! I promise it doesn’t need to be so difficult. The important thing about practice is making a plan that doesn’t make you unhappy and that you can actually stick to. I’m going to help you figure out how to work practicing into your life in a way that is completely reasonable.
Learning will be more effective if it’s fun.
Your brain releases chemicals to help you pay attention and help encode memory when you are interested. Your brain showing interest is nature’s way of helping you learn and remember things that will help you survive. For instance, your brain would want you to pay attention to the tiger that is eyeing you like you are dinner. That’s no longer a problem we usually have to face but our brains are still designed to work that way. It doesn’t mean you are spoiled or lazy because you want the experience to actually engage your interest. Go ahead and use the way your brain naturally works to your advantage. See? Now you don’t have to feel guilty for wanting to enjoy yourself. You’re welcome.
Customize your Plan To Your Goals
If your entire life is not going to center around the thing you are learning, stop thinking you need to master the entire subject! Determine what things within the subject are necessary and relevant to what you want to do. Learning plans should be adjusted to what you can commit to and what your specific goals are. If you don’t do this, you are not going to feel fulfilled or be motivated. You will probably feel unsatisfied because you imagined yourself doing something way different than what you actually end up doing. Yep, you can refer to my Chinese learning above for an excellent example of what happens when you try to do too much and don’t keep your plan to your goals. Try to think if you have something like this that you’ve done. Learning should make you feel proud of what you’ve accomplished, not make you feel like a failure because you didn’t do more. You can always decide to learn more in your subject later and then you will have already built a foundation making it easier.
The next step is going to be laying out what happens in your calendar every week. As we fill out the worksheets in part 2, you will be able to use it to help you figure out how learning can fit into your week. There are different things we will consider as we decide where to put learning tasks, so don’t fill in that part yet. Just track what happens in your week. You may want to also pay attention to how many unexpected things pop up in your week. If unexpected things happen regularly you need to figure out where they usually happen so they don’t derail your whole plan. Download the Calendar below and start tracking!
Stay tuned for How to Fit Learning Into Your Life Part 2 which is going to dive into the details and give you some worksheets (and examples) you can fill out to figure out how this can work for you.