Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Currently, in my quest to become a better musician, I’m reading Musicality: How you too can learn music like a gifted prodigy, unlock your musical instinct, and unleash your inner natural by Christopher Sutton.
It’s a long book (1000+ pages, about the same length as The Lord of the Rings), and I’m still only on Chapter Two, which deals with mindset. But I came across a useful quick reframe about learning that I’d like to share with you.
We’re familiar with the idea of learning through ‘trial and error’ – try something out, and if it doesn’t work, learn from that and try something different – maybe fixing the errors that you’ve understood, or maybe trying out a completely different way to reach the desired result.
Sutton recounts how, when he was at school, his maths teacher told his class to think in terms of ‘trial and improvement’ instead. The emotional associations of ‘error’ are not great at keeping us in an optimal learning state, whereas everyone likes ‘improvement’. Also, the new phrase is a more accurate description of how we move closer to the right answer, or mastering a technique, by trying things out.
So, it’s ‘trial and improvement’ rather than ‘trial and error’ for me from now on.
Let us know what you think of this easy but, I think, effective reframe in the comments.
While we’re talking about learning, you may be interested in this guided visualization audio – Using Your Timeline for Learning and Review.
It’s designed to help you review and integrate everything you’ve learned on any course or training that you’re undertaking using the help of your unconscious mind.
“I have been using this tool for two weeks now, loaded on my iPhone so I have used it in many places whilst traveling and it’s been a revelation in being able to retain and review new material on the go, which is very important in my work. As a expert in performance and productivity enhancement, this tool could be the edge for any student studying for exams.” – Deepak Lodhia, International Speaker, Author and Coach
Find out more and download Using Your Timeline For Learning And Review here
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