Empower Yourself and Learn More with Less: The Exposed 3 Steps Guide, Urban Monk Style

Mar 8, 2008

This is a guest post by Amir Ahmad of Passion Based Learning.

Knowledge is such an addictive thing. I’m not sure about you but personally I can’t get enough of it. Acquiring it makes me happy and uplifts my soul. Long story short, I love learning and I heartily believe in a model that is “passion-based“. We all deserve one.

Learning is an inevitable activity that is essential for living and success. It can be formal or informal. In fact, out of the world’s top 10 richest men, four are drop outs who embraced self-education and rocketed themselves into their ambitious dreams. Having a PhD doesn’t necessarily make you a passionate learner. Likewise, having none does not mean you’re not a magnificent learner. Maybe you already are.

As a reader of this blog, you’re engaging in self-education right now. It is a liberating form of education since it gives you the freedom to learn what you want, the way you want. The question is how can you do more of it with less?

I’ll tell you how. One approach is to become smarter… emotionally, not intellectually. In other words, it’s mainly about nurturing emotional intelligence not IQ.

There are more than a thousand and one ways you can do that, so please allow me to share some of them with you.

Bridge to Knowledge

The Exposed 3 Steps Guide

Sometimes friends talk to me and excitedly say with satisfaction things such as “dude, I studies six hours last night. I’m so tired.” I’m sure you’ve heard people tell you similar stuff.

Too many are unaware that the number of hours spent studying matters very little. It’s not about the hours really. It’s about absorption rate. Remember the goal is to learn more with less. Make yourself a better sponge and rid yourself of the negative emotions that slow down your information intake and at times probably even block it.

The following are three macro-steps designed to help you become a more efficient learner.

Ego Utilization

Our ego can either be our greatest enemy or our best friend. Whether we like to admit or not, we all have egos. How big or small they are varies from one person to another.

There is good ego and bad ego. An ego is bad when it makes us too proud to realize we may have a problem that needs to be dealt with.

… the alcoholics in denial of their unfortunate predicament, the selfless mother toiling all day in the spirit of self-sacrifice, feeling a painful bliss as she showers her children with love while simultaneously being in denial of the approaching bankruptcy - all of these are typical examples of the bad ego in action.

This is precisely why ego utilization is the first step. Bad egos prevent us from making improvements and life optimizations. They fool us into believing we’re superb, that everything is okay, that we’re smart enough already and un-needy of positive tweaks. As long as we possess such bad egos, progress will be hard and painful.

Good egos are wonderful though. Utilize your ego wisely by turning it into one that is good and self-beneficial. Refusing to live in denial of one’s problems is a form of good ego. Refusing to accept defeat is another. Use the ego to your own advantage.

Emotional Mastery

We can’t eliminate negative feelings. It’s normal to feel them… momentarily. It’s not normal however to wallow in anger, guilt, sadness and other similar kinds of emotions for extended periods of time. They transform us into bad sponges by acting as mental barriers. Confidence levels go down, our ability to concentrate weakens and as a result learning ultimately becomes difficult.

Having the ability to master your emotions makes learning easier. Allow yourself to feel anger and sadness. It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just don’t allow those feelings to take control of you. Make them temporary. Through emotional mastery you can deal and have firmer control over them much more effectively.

Before you begin learning something, aim to be in a positive emotional state that will aid you to learn better. Studying for an exam while you’re angry at someone is no fun. Trust me, I know!

Meditation

Relaxation and tranquility are emotions I enjoy feeling. Amongst a number of things, meditation helps me achieve them. Never underestimate its power. It has been verified and proven scientifically by many researchers including the well-known Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School.

One of the positive effects induced by meditation is increased concentration - an essential ingredient for the recipe of “learning more with less”.

The process of meditation is not a difficult one to learn. Yes, you won’t master it in one day but all it takes is a little practice. Its immense benefits in improving your quality of life and learning efficiency are worth the small effort.

Conclusion

There is always room for improvement and for learning more with less. Don’t let your ego get in the way of making you realize that. Use it to your benefit. Once you’re in a proactive frame of mind, practice emotional mastery. Rein over your emotions and become their kings and queens. Furthermore, put time into making meditation a part of your routine. And that’s basically it.

So…

Dear monks,

Leverage This Exposed Urban Monk Style, 3 Steps Guide
Make It Passion-Based And
Have Fun Learning More With Less!

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19 Comments , Comment or Ping

Amir | Passion-Based Learning

Thank you so much for the opportunity Albert. I appreciate it dude!

To the Urban Monk community, thank you guys for taking the time to read my guest post. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing to my blog’s RSS feed.

Thank you all again. Your feedback is more than welcome.

Mar 8th, 2008
estrella

About meditation.
Just recently, I wrote down in a concise manner the VERY first steps of meditation for a friend who just began to practice meditation.

My concept of meditation is a view of turning to God, so, those who do not believe in any, you may skip my comment.

0) : choosing the kind of way to concentrate. For instance, choosing to concentrate on something meanful, a word, a phrase, or a concept, or an object, or a person even.
Others choose to concentrate on their hands, feeling the warmth in their hands… etc etc.

1) so: begin to “look at” (see/hear/feel…) your “object”; try to think and see only this.

2) Take your “object” as a platform, or rock, or a cliff: from there you can watch: your thoughts, feelings, emotions: passing by. Let them pass by, only watch, do not involve! (they are trying to get you involved, they speak to you! Be alert!) Hold on to your “object”.

3) And then, let all this go: imagine you let yourself fall into God’s “arms”. Just where you are, where your feelings/thoughts are, all of what there is, falls down, in His arms. And you surrender all, to His will: just as it comes.

- in a kind of continuum, you may turn again to 2), and 3), and so on.

- if there is interruption: patiently begin again with 1).

Mar 10th, 2008
Amir | Passion-Based Learning

Estrella, thanks for your comment, interesting perspective I must say.

In my post, I mentioned the well-known Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School. He has researched the benefits of meditation and lately has committed himself to a controversial study about beliefs, religious convictions and the benefits of praying.

Check out this article of his. I predict you’ll find it thought provoking and enjoyable.

http://www.vhl.org/newsletter/vhl1997/97dafait.htm

Mar 10th, 2008
Liara Covert

I agree with you Amir, that its not how much you study that determines your success. I would go further than your view ‘absorption rate matters.’ I would say it is actually how you understand and re-apply what you learn that really counts. This approach reminds us that our self-view and view of success are always changing, based on our beliefs, based on our self-view and based on how influenced we are by forces outside the soul. Thanks for your reflections. They ignite sparks that generate fire!

Mar 10th, 2008
Amir | Passion-Based Learning

“I would say it is actually how you understand and re-apply what you learn that really counts.”

I agree Liara. How we understand what we learn is a very complex process, highly influenced by the lens we view the world through. However, before understanding (or to be accurate, digesting) and re-applying what we learn, one needs to be efficient in carrying out the first step which is absorbing content easily and quickly.

Thanks for commenting.

Mar 10th, 2008
Buck

That reminds me of my girlfriend in college. She studied for hours for a psychology final. I didn’t even open my book. She told me I was crazy,so we made a bet. Guess who had to buy me dinner? I told her that studying at the last minute the night before the test wasn’t going to help me and if I didn’t know the material already I was toast.

Mar 14th, 2008
Alex

Good tips, monk. Just one thing.
I think our ego is our enemy anytime. We can only forgot about it or don’t pay attention to do something good for us or others. It’s a great wall between you and world and there is only one way to grow up spiritual and moral - to shut it up.
But with other things I agree fully.

Mar 14th, 2008
Sean

Estrella- MEDITATION- I never ever ever imagined I could get into that or it was something that I could slow down for- this post made me think twice about it and I’ve really turned a corner in the past week or so with stress- thanks!

Mar 14th, 2008
Albert

Thank you for your comments guys, I’ll pass them on to Amir

Mar 14th, 2008
Amir | Passion-Based Learning

Thanks everyone. And yes here they are being “passed” to me Albert.

Mar 14th, 2008
Albert

Hah, I was gonna send you an email later tonight, but guess there’s no need then.

Mar 14th, 2008
bari.psycho

hi,,i comes from indonesia

thanks for your post because rather useful to anothers,,
oops, i need your backlink bro to develop my blog,,thanks before

Mar 17th, 2008
Mr Positioning (Stanley Bronstein)

It’s interesting that you talk about passion.

I recently completed a natinowide tour where I interviewed 80 highly successful people in connection with a book I have just completed.

ALL OF THEM, EVERY SINGLE ONE was passionate about what they were doing.

If you are passionate about something, odds are you are on the right path (as long as it’s a GOOD thing that you’re passionate about).

Take care

Mr Positioning (Stanley F. Bronstein, Atty, CPA, Author and Professional Speaker)

Mar 22nd, 2008
Albert

@ Mr. Positioning: Definitely, passion is amazing - I feel that everything else, such as persistence and faith and confidence comes as a result of a burning passion, as Napoleon Hill said. Thank you again

Mar 22nd, 2008
payday loans guy - Mark

Indeed, passion is always amazing.
It’s what gets me trough the day.

That was a great quote, Albert. I had no idea Napoleon Hill said that.

Mar 26th, 2008
Albert

Thanks Mark (although it wasn’t me who wrote the post, hehe)

Mar 26th, 2008