Learning: Persistence overcomes resistance

 

Over the the last few weeks and having been involved from everything from school leadership days, graduate development programs, small group strategy session, survey reporting, leadership and team days, presentations on energy, teams, Olympics, leadership and bouncing back from adversity, I stopped this morning to reflect on the experiences and insights. I found this little cartoon which I thought explained it well. Much of what has been happening related to learning to change, adapt, gain new skills, new knowledge, and often reshaping thinking and perceptions. So much of what we deal with is about habit changing or improving. From very young we start to become set in certain routines, mindsets and ways of doing things. Much of life is spent working towards certainty of what we do and then when we want or need something different we spend many hours, days and months trying to rewire what we do and how we do it. Its said to master a skill it takes 10000 hours. We have often thought it requires 3 – 4 weeks to of focus, energy and effort to make changes. We have now learned the brain is more plastic than we realise and so change is possible but other things are at play holding us back. Our past experiences help us as much as the hold us back. The wash up from all this is change requires persistence, and sustained persistence. Learning comes when we have those shifts in capacity, knowledge, understanding, movement and awareness. Ultimately we are measure and observed for our actions and behaviours to until we get the cut through to actions others can see or acknowledge we are merely in flux or preparations for how we my influence or have impact.