Dropping Your Resistance to Learning

One of the most effective techniques I use to learn new information/skills is to actively put down the walls I have against learning it. (From now on, "new information" will also mean "new skills.") Now, you may be presuming that just because you want to learn something that you are automatically open to it, but, unfortunately, that is far from the case. Humans, especially as we get older, put up more and more resistance to new tricks (as it were) for two primary reasons: 1) the physiological reason: our brains continually myelinate over time, which makes adding/changing ideas and information more difficult, and 2) the psychological reason: we want/need to believe that we are generally right, and any information that does not immediately fit with what we already understand is suspect. My strong belief is that the psychological reason, what one might call "pride" or "stubbornness," is the stronger wall than the physiological reason.

These walls drastically reduce the speed and quality at which you can learn new things. Children can learn with stunning speed because their brains are hardly myelinated (extreme brain elasticity), but also because they have few preconceived notions of how things should be. They have little reason or motivation to force particular ways of thinking onto new information. Children simply allow the information to come in.

This may all sound like abstract psycho-babel, but you can identify the times in which you put up walls against learning what you want to. Ask yourself this question. When I am looking at new information, do I say to myself, however quietly:

1. That doesn't make sense.
2. That's not possible.
3. Nothing I know fits with that.
4. If I consider this new information, will I look stupid?

Those thoughts are the result of internal resistance to new information. (You can, of course, ask those questions of information that you've investigated thoroughly.) Children, incidentally, rarely allow such internal questions, if they occur at all, to stop them from learning. Children do not need to all new information to immediately fit; they can just accept it. And they are not afraid of looking stupid by embracing new data. We adults, on the other hand, often are; we believe maturity comes from stability of mind.

How do you deal with these internal walls? I use a twofold approach:

• Take a cue from children and flip your resistance on its head:
1. "That doesn't make sense," to "That's interesting."
2. "That's not possible," to "That's amazing!"
3. "Nothing I know fits with that," to "Maybe I've been wrong all along..."
4. "If I consider this new information, will I look stupid?" to "Would I be stupid not to investigate this new information?"
• Convince yourself that this new information or new skill/activity is not new at all; pretend you've been doing it since you can remember.

This second technique, of convincing yourself the new is not new at all, is a bit tricky but is probably the most effective technique I have ever used to learn or do anything I want to. Why? Familiarity with anything, by definition, means you have less skepticism and reservations about it, which precludes the necessity of having internal resistance. Here's an example of how I applied this technique.

Three years ago, a friend and I decided to go sky diving for the first time. Most of the other first-timers were full of butterflies and anxiety. A few practiced their jumping motions incessantly and were probably thinking what would happen if they didn't perform the motions just right. Instead, I went through the prescribed motions just twice, and reminded myself I'd done all of this before (which was a complete fabrication). I thought about what a nice ride I was going to have because I didn't need to think about my technique. On the way up to 13,000 ft., I imagined how easy all my previous jumps had been (although I'd never jumped before). When the airplane door opened, and my tandem instructor and I approached the leap, it all seemed so natural; no butterflies, no anxiety, no problem.

This technique of self-deception to create familiarity is a bit subtle and requires some control over your fear of losing control. But the technique is astoundingly effective because: fear and anxiety makes people hesitate; hesitation is what makes learning and doing so difficult; quelling anxiety by feigning familiarity reduces hesitation and accelerates learning.

In the end, the essence of these techniques is realizing that removing internal obstacles is much easier than overcoming them (the typical technique). Don't try to break down your walls; put them on wheels and truck them out!