Learning? Which learning?
In a previous lifetime (before 2008, that is), I used to train English teachers. The course ran for just 4 weeks, and was the most intensive - and intense – experience most of them had been through in their lives (they said), a month long challenge, 24/7. It was also very hands-on; they had to prove day in, day out that they could actually teach (not just talk about teaching) in order to pass. As a result I was constantly forced to ask myself: what is it they really need to know in order to get the results? What works? What's essential, and what's luxury?
These questions have certainly made me opinionated about education - and unsympathetic to many public speakers who waffle on (irrelevantly and inefficiently) that what they're saying is providing “so much value”.
However, these same questions have also been a great asset in my own development, and I think also in the development of those I've coached :-)
Learning can come from many sources, but in self-development the only learnings that count are the ones that help you change your life, so our first challenge is to sift out the infotainment from the things that have the potential to help create change. Then we need to find what it is that holds the key for us (not someone else) today (not at some other point).
Obviously we need to check in that we aren't floating aimlessly in an ocean of fluff and ra-ra - feelgood and short-term motivation. But even in the world of truly valuable learning opportunities, we need to be ready to forge our own path, which means to be honest to ourselves. Is this something I can use, or is this something for someone else?
That's why I'm always a bit surprised at people who rely on generalised conveyor-belt wisdom for all their needs, whether they be Buddhists who like to read but won't go to a teacher or sit on the meditation cushion (which is the only place they'll meet their own personalised stuff), or secular self-developers who read the books and listen in at seminar after seminar but somehow 10 years on still aren't quite ready for the life they actually want.
Bridget Jones finally counted all the self-help books she had on her shelves. Realising that they hadn't made her happier (all 37 of them) she binned them, and that's a decision I applaud.
Unfortunately, though, she still didn't go out and get a life coach :-(