The best way to learn is by learning through experience. But this is also the most frustrating way to learn.
How do you keep going when you fall down again and again over the same thing? You keep going by learning from experience.
I searched everywhere for a solution. If there was a brick wall in front of me, you could see me hitting my head against it. At least that’s what it felt like. The internet wasn’t solving my problem. The people who should know couldn’t answer it. I feel the frustration building. If these people who are “supposed to know” don’t help, then how will I ever figure it out?
This is the story of my career. Something new thrown my way, and I need to figure it out. Books help, but it is actually learning from experience that is my superpower. And being a mom that is also my superpower.
Fall down seven times, but get up eight is also the story of homeschooling. There are many times that the only way to finally land on the right way to homeschool for your family is by learning from experience. You can read all the books, but until you jump in for yourself, you will never know what it is actually like.
There are Different Types of Smart as You are Learning from Experience
My oldest brother broke these down for me one time. He said, “There is book smart. You know a lot of things from books, but you aren’t street smart. There is common sense smart. Where you’re very street smart. Then there is dumber than a fence post.”
You can learn from books. I think you can learn anything from books. But you have to take the book smart and learn how to apply it to the common sense smart. I’ve worked with several people who had high-level degrees. Unfortunately, they couldn’t translate their learning into the practical application.
We become experts at something when we are forced to strip a problem down to its bare essentials in order to find a solution.
Learning from Experience is a Hard and Frustrating Process
I get so frustrated when something doesn’t work right. I don’t have time to figure out the problem. It’s just supposed to work. But looking back, it is these moments that have taught me the most.
It forced me to look deeper into how things work. Start to understand functionality intimately. When you have to figure out a solution to a problem, that is not a quick Google search, you learn in a broader and deeper way. You come up with a 1000 solutions of how it doesn’t work. And in the process, figure out how it works.
Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up 8
This is a Japanese proverb that refers to perseverance. Whether you are starting a business or homeschooling your kids. You are going to fall down many times, and it is frustrating. Do you ever have those days when you stare at your computer screen and mumble, “I just need a win.”
There are certain times that you need to quit. I don’t think you should pursue everything that is in front of you. But I don’t think you should quit because something is hard. Or you have fallen down over it a few times. It is the hard lessons that teach us the most.
I know, when you fall down for the fifth or sixth time, you just want to stay down. Or get up and move on. It is frustrating. Why should you get back up? You are just going to fall down again. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger…right?
Actually, this is wrong. Hold on to your seats because I am about to blow your mind. One of the most freeing things I heard was this statement by Nietzsche being debunked. I was listening to Grit by Angela Duckworth. It was a bright sunny day, and I was out walking with the babies. In the book, she talked about how this idea has been scientifically proven to be wrong.
It made me realize that all the hard circumstances I went through didn’t need to make me stronger, but it was time to get up again. It gave me the push I need to stand up again.
As moms, sometimes, we just need those hard places validated.
We just need to know there is nothing wrong. Yes, this was hard. It should have knocked me down, but I don’t need to stay down. For me, that was mind blowing.
Learning from Experience: How do you do it?
Learning is all about the slow accumulation of little bits of effort over time. Here is the formula.
- Learn what you can
- Do good work
- Know it is going to stink
- Keeping going
- And Keeping going until experience has made you an expert
The most important part is to keep going. Don’t give up…unless, of course, it falls into the criteria to give up.
Being a Generalist Virtual Assistant
If you are a generalist, then you know that the best teacher is experience. As a generalist virtual assistant, I take every opportunity to strip something down to its bare essentials, so I can put it back together. This is the best way to learn.
When I first started out, I listed every task that I did in my previous jobs. I didn’t know what else to put. I could only learn through the experience of a different context that these things I listed, I didn’t want to do again.
Conclusion: Learning from Experience
How is experience a skilled teacher for you? In your years, have you learned more from books or by actually doing it?
If you are ready to start your own business, and take your learning to the next level, then download the free Mom Boss 2.0 Workbook. It is everything you need to get started.
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