New Year - New Learning

There are two occasions each year when our thoughts turn to learning - the first comes at New Year when we make our resolutions and start planning what we want to achieve in the next 12 months. Often our January learning is about career planning or personal growth (or personal shrinkage for those of us who want to learn how to lose weight and keep it off!)

The next comes in August / September when, whatever age we are, the back-to-school mode kicks in and our attention is drawn to college prospectuses and adult learning brochures.

Whenever we are considering learning something new it is worth asking ourselves the following questions:

1. What changes am I trying to make and what will happen if I do make these changes?
2. What do I need to learn in order to make these changes?
3. Why do I want to change this and therefore learn how to change it? (What's in it for me? What's in it for others?)
4. How much time can I afford to invest?
5. How much money can I afford to invest?
6. When the going gets tough, how will I keep myself motivated?
7. What support is available for me? Who can help me?
8. What are my short, medium and long-term plans and how does this learning fit in?
9. What sacrifices might I need to make and am I willing to make them?
10. When will I start and when do I plan to finish?
11. How will I measure my progress and reward myself for the small successes along the way?

One of the many definitions of learning says that we have only learned something when we have a sustained change in our behaviour. This definition inextricably links change and learning - maybe that's one of the reasons that change feels hard - because it's about changing what we do and how we do it - it's about learning to do things differently.

So, as we enter 2011, think about what you might want to change and think about the learning that you will need to do to help you do this. This applies equally well to life and to business, to individuals and to organisations.

Clarity Learning and Development is all about helping organisations and individuals to learn - give us a call or drop us a line - we'd be delighted to talk to you about what you hope to achieve this year and how you might do it.