Zen Garden > Motivation & Personal Development - We Only Really, Truly Learn By Doing

Reading, watching and listening are key concepts but the REAL key to learning is to EXPERIENCE something. When I wrote my personal development course that is what I injected into it - the capacity to make my readers experience the concepts.

Let me give you a few examples:

• I can describe coffee to you. I can tell you how it is grown, how it is processed and what it looks like. I can even give you an appreciation of what it tastes like. However, if you have never tasted a cup of coffee would you be all that much wiser? Can you remember the aroma of coffee right now?
• Some years ago I went to the United Kingdom on a six-week vacation. Before going I read lots of books about England, Scotland and Wales. It was wonderful reading and looking at pictures of places that I intended to visit - London Bridge, Whitechapel, Madame Tusseud's, Stonehenge, Baker Street, the London Underground, Trafalgar Square, Whitby Abbey, Buckingham Castle, Edinburgh Castle and all the other wonderful historical places. However, all those words and all those beautiful glossy photographs faded to insignificance compared to the real thing.
• Think for a moment about a lemon. I want you to think of the smell, the taste, the texture. I want you to think about slicing that lemon into quarters, taking a piece and raising it to your nose. Smell it. Now think about putting that lemon to your lips. Think about biting into it. Is your mouth salivating? Why?

In the three examples above you will probably have experienced at least two of them - the smell of coffee and the taste of a lemon. Did my mention of them cause you to remember the smell and the taste of them? Of course it did. That is because vivid experiences came flooding back into your mind.

When I spoke about English and Scottish castles and other notable locations your mind probably conjured up some vision. If you have never been to those places where did that come from? It came from your recollection of books that you have read and films you have seen and maybe from what other people have told you. Could you "smell" the countryside at Whitby Abbey? No. Because if you have never been there then there is no record of such an experience.

I can still feel the breeze blowing in my face and the feel of the ground under my feet from when I went to Stonehenge. I remember the tunnel we had to go through to get there from the carpark. I could explain all those things in great detail, even the drizzle that fell upon us as we walked around this world landmark. I could explain all those things to you but it wouldn't be the same if you hadn't been there for yourself.

We only really truly learn by doing.

That is why so many people can read a personal development book or attend a motivational seminar then feel "charged" for a day or two. But it does not last. Why? Because all we did was sit and read the book or sit and watch and listen at a seminar. That is why so many people say that motivation, self esteem and personal development books "don't work." And that is correct for most people.

Reading, watching and listening are key concepts but the REAL key to learning is to EXPERIENCE something. When I wrote my personal development course that is what I injected into it - the capacity to make my readers experience the concepts. Every chapter has exercises for readers to record their feelings. And that is what makes my course so much better than reading a book, or ten books, or as many books as you care to read. My course makes people FEEL and "feeling" leads to experiencing.

Remember the smell of fresh coffee? Remember the taste of a lemon? That's experience allowing you to recall those things.

Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com