“Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.” Dale Carnegie
When people are struggling in their marriages, they often go online seeking answers and endlessly searching for information. And the Internet is more than happy to accommodate their request:
Articles…Books…Webinars…Videos…Blog Posts…
Believe me, I know, because I’ve built a whole business on creating those things so that people can find me and my work.
But at some point, you’ve got to stop reading about it and you’ve got to start taking action.
Passive learning is what we do when we’re seeking information: when we’re reading books or consuming article after article. The fallacy is we think we’re doing something about the problems through all this research, but really all we’re doing is making ourselves a little more aware about what’s happening and why. Nothing’s changed, we’ve just become a little smarter and validated our feelings.
Active learning is when we take what we’ve learned and apply it in our lives and in our relationships. That’s when things begin to change. We put into practice the teachings we’ve learned and even when we aren’t skilled yet at applying the new tools, we keep practicing them.
So my challenge to you is when you find something that really resonates with you – apply it. Don’t just move onto the next article, blog post or webinar. Passive learning is great, but if you stop there you never really experience the changes in your marriage or within yourself that you really want.
Most of my clients find me through my writing. They resonate with my words and the stories I share. Those people didn’t stop at simply reading the article and moving onto the next one; they explored whether I could help them create the change they wanted to feel and experience in their lives. They were willing to do it differently than what they had always done and apply these new tools in their relationships. And every single one of their lives changed as a result.
Are you ready for that kind of change? Are you ready for active learning?