“Nothing is more expensive than missing an opportunity.” ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Have you ever retaken a class and been amazed by all of the new things you learn the 2nd time? I am not talking about taking the class again because you failed it. That answer seems obvious. I am talking about redoing something you feel confident you learned well the first time. If you have not, I highly recommend it and here is why.
The brain can only take in and understand so much information at one time. On average they say that we retain and apply 37% or less of what we learn. What happens to the other 63%? It is still sitting in the books, lectures and notes from where it once came. There is another percentage that they don’t count in this statistic. The amount of information you take in and then twist it to fit your names and wants, thereby creating false information, which you believe to be true. I can give you more examples of this than you would believe from all of my years of coaching and my own life. I know you are thinking I am lying right about now, but I am not. I promise if I had you read a ten-page article and then quizzed you a month later, most of you would adjust the details to fit what you want to believe or implement. It is funnier than heck.
I don’t see enough people talking about this little neurological snafu and yet it is one of the many ways our brains can be our worst enemies. The way to fight back from this problem is to learn things from multiple angles. Reading, audio, video, taking notes, and teaching others are ways that you not only keep 37%, but you also increase this number to above 50%. One of the ways I do this is to retake classes or do something again. This month it is my nutrition. Each day I am amazed by the new things I am learning that were already given to me before, but not retained or implemented, because it was all too much at once for me to comprehend or implement.
I was recently at a board meeting, and someone was talking about this great course they took years ago and that they just can’t find anything like that these days and they wish they could take it again. They wanted to get back into that mindset. I challenged them to pull out the books and DVD’s and start over. They laughed and then I challenged them to just try it for a couple of days, to see if it still might have what they were looking for. They emailed me later in the week to say they pressed play on the DVD just to prove me wrong and sat and did all of the first two lessons and didn’t want to stop. They were amazed at all of the stuff they hadn’t remembered and all the good stuff they just needed to hear again.
I encourage you to continue learning new things and I am also encouraging you to review the learning you have done that has had the greatest impact on your life, there may still be more in there for you to gain.
Keep on dancing,
JoyGenea Schumer
Business Owner, International Neurodiversity Coach, and Speaker