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One problem that I have encountered in my various adventures and misadventures is the problem of not knowing what to do with what I’ve learned.
For those of you that have read the e-book, you’ll remember that one of the earliest “formal” techniques I learned was self-hypnosis. What I didn’t really mention in the book was that not long after I learned it, it was largely discarded. Why? I didn’t know a use for it.
Later on, I picked up a book on various meditation techniques, and I was impressed with the techniques. Yet, I still didn’t have a real “use” for them (from my perspective at the time), so again they were shelved in the back of my mind.
How it’s operated vs. how it’s used.
Think of your car for a moment. It’s used to take you to work, the grocery store, and anywhere else you need to go locally. That’s not how it’s operated. Operating a car is a complex business of wheels, levers and pedals, used in careful coordination. Such complexity might even cause one to think that maybe cars aren’t worth it.
Cars are extremely useful. If they weren’t so useful we wouldn’t bother with them. The same with computers, or procedures for handling our emotions, or (for that matter) basic agriculture. It is the usefulness of a technology that makes it worthwhile. If it turns out not to be useful, then it is tossed aside, the way self-hypnosis and meditation were tossed to the back of my mind years ago. I didn’t see a use for them, so out they went. Looking back, I had uses for them, I just couldn’t see it.
The other side of the problem.
I can be something of a “Tim Taylor” when it comes to tweaking and making the most of things. I am naturally inclined to seek newer and hopefully better working techniques. I also tend to push the envelope a bit with what I do have, be it memorization techniques, metitative practice or anything else. But this is just another extreme in the same area.
Imagine that you get the gift of a specialized tool that looks vaguely like a wrench but still doesn’t match up entirely. You may try to use it as a wrench, and you may even see some success at it. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a wrench. Eventually you ask the giver what it is and they tell you that its a bottle opener for those classic soda bottles you drink.
A simple example, but the point is that unless you know your desired end result, you can use all the techniques in the world, and you’ll just be spinning your wheels.
Work backwards.
I’m still all about learning new things and finding improved ways of doing things, but I find that keeping your eyes on a solid (and hopefully, semi-distant) goal offers a lot of input on what to learn. Sometimes it’ll be fairly obvious, sometimes it’ll just hit you out of the blue. It may take some time and preparation or it may be a flash of intuition and a momentary action to follow it.
Always remember, a tool is just a means to an end. Focus on what you want, and pick up the tools to make it happen.
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