Tip of the Month: January 2007
From Mastery of Learning
Lower Your Standards
Most of learning is a set of successive approximations. You try something, you see what worked and didn't work. You adjust from there and try your next approximation. It is best approached as a game. Games are to be played. Learning at best is playing. Unfortunately, some people, in this situation, forget that learning is a game they are playing. They set standards that are not appropriate for that particular game. Then they forget who set the standards. The game becomes serious.
Learning something new can be daunting. The territory is unfamiliar and can be disorienting. In the initial phases the learning curve can be steep. The steepness of the curve can cause anxiety. That is natural and to be expected. When people set high standards, in the initial stages it leads to even more anxiety. In some cases the anxiety reaches a level where it becomes pathologic. Stress interferes with the learning process. It draws your attention and bandwidth away from learning and down some dark, unpleasant tunnel.
People tend to take themselves out of the game when the stress becomes too unpleasant. They disengage when the stress of not meeting their standards becomes too great. It can range from quitting learning to becoming physically ill.
Since we are in a time when continuous, lifelong learning is critical for survival, give yourself a break. Lower your standards. Have fun. Get back in the game.
