Applying Joyful Effort

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been outlining the characteristics of a great learner. These are also the steps that each of us can follow to become a great learner.

Even if we accomplish each of the steps we will inevitably encounter some discouragement and other obstacles. We will realize that we need to find paths through or around these obstacles. We may even find that we need to push a little – or a lot – harder than we ever thought necessary to advance our learning journey.

I was once in a study program where the class was more focused on socializing than on making progress in our learning. The teacher was very affable, and the classes were very enjoyable, but there was almost no pressure to learn or perform.

Then I had to move to another city and had to leave the study program. I looked and found something similar in my new city and signed up. I was expecting a similar, low-key, low pressure environment. As soon as I started with the new class however I realized that the expectations were much higher, and that I would need to work a lot harder to make progress.

I became discouraged. After some reflection I went back to the learning steps outlined above, right back to generating motivation, then slowly began to apply effort to the materials. In the end it became a joyful process as I realized that my grasp of the material, and ability to participate, were improving.

Another way to characterize joyful effort might be happy, deliberate practice, something that all great learners do. Quoting Dr. Leighton,

Deliberate practice is about hard work and lots of motivation to engage in hard work. There’s no escaping it. In fact, K. Anders Ericsson, a pioneer and

groundbreaking researcher in the area of expertise said the following: “A century of laboratory research has revealed that learning is most effective when it includes focused goals, such as improving a specific aspect of performance; feedback that compares the actual to the desired performance; and opportunities for repetition, so the desired level of performance can be achieved.”

Then quoting from The New Yorker magazine, Dr. Leighton continues:

What do Wayne Gretzky, Yo-Yo Ma, and renowned brain surgeon Charlie Wilson have in common? A: They all practice over and over again, until they iron out even the smallest imperfections. Perhaps you were hoping that there was something more mysterious about the way in which high-level performers achieved their excellence in learning. On the one hand, that they practice until they get it right is strangely comforting because it is so accessible to all of us. On the other hand, it’s strangely discomforting that it is in fact so accessible to all of us. We cannot make excuses.

Next I’ll look at an interesting aspect of the learning path: taking risks.

-David Luke, Senior Consultant at FocusFit (2007) Inc.

© 2011 D. G. Luke and FocusFit (2007) Inc.