Five Steps Of Learning And Retention... How To More Effectively Grow Your Business With New Ideas


by TopLine - Date: 2007-04-18 - Word Count: 845 Share This!

Learning - the acquisition of new information or knowledge,
and Retention - the ability to capture that information and
recall it when wanted or needed, is actually a process that
involves five steps:

First, is Impact. That is, actually receiving the idea in your
mind. Impact can be in the form of a word, a visual
observation or a concept. It makes no difference. Your mind
isn't capable of making a distinction between a visual or an
actual experience. Nor is it capable of determining the
difference between a conscious or an unconscious impact
an idea may have on you. As far as your mind is concerned,
those experiences are all the same and your mind will
accept them, regardless.

If information or an experience appears real to your mind,
your emotions and nervous system will react as though it
were actually real. To illustrate this point, try this simple
experiment:

* Seat yourself in a comfortable chair, feet flat on the
floor and your hands resting comfortably in your lap.
* Close your eyes, take a deep breath, let it out
slowly and relax. Take another one. Let it out slowly. Relax
even more.
* Picture in your mind, a lemon resting on a table in
front of you. Visualize it. See it clearly. Look at it's shape -
it's color - it's texture.
* Now, mentally reach out with your hand and pick up
the lemon. Bring it up to your face. Look at it closely.
Squeeze it. Do you notice how firm it feels? Feel the texture
of the lemon's dimply and waxy skin. Notice the lemon's
yellow color and round shape, with its pointy ends.
* Now, hold it up to your nose. Smell it. Do you notice
the lemon's citrusy smell?
* Place the lemon on the table and mentally pick up a
knife that's laying nearby. Cut the lemon in two.
* Pick up one half of the lemon and see the juice
dripping from it. Bring the lemon up to your nose. Smell it
again. Now bite into the lemon.

What's happening to you right now? Is saliva flooding your
mouth, both in your mind, as well as physically?

Consider what just happened. In actuality, there was no
lemon. You just pictured one in your mind. While this was
just a mental exercise, and the lemon was just imagined,
chances are, if you are like most people the mental image
you were playing on the screen of your mind triggered
certain responses which manifested themselves physically.
This simple demonstration demonstrates that Impact is a
critical step involved in the process of learning and
retention.

The second step is Repetition. One university study
revealed that an idea that was read or heard only one time
was 66% forgotten within 24 hours. But if that same idea
was read or heard repeatedly for 8 days, up to 90% of it
could be retained at the end of the eight days.

One of the most effective ways to learn from a book or an
article, is to read through it, and then go back and read it
again. But the second time you read it, be sure you have a
highlighter, a pen and notepad handy. Mark up the book or
the article. Write down the ideas that you feel fit your
personal business situation. This repetition will help you
retain more of the information than if you had read it only
once.

The third step in the learning and retention process is
Utilization. This is the "doing" step. It is here that
neuromuscular pathways are actually developed, creating a
"mind muscle memory." And according to the study quoted
earlier, once you physically experience an action, it becomes
twice as easy to recall as if you had heard it only.

Fourth, is Internalization... actually making the idea an
integral part of you. That may involve some customizing or
tailoring of the idea to fit your situation or style, but it is
vitally important for you to personalize the idea and make it
"yours."

The fifth step is Reinforcement. In order to maximize the
effectiveness of an idea you should continually be looking
for ways to support and strengthen it. The more you can
support the idea, the more you will believe it, the longer
you will retain it, and the more effective it will become in
helping you serve your customers' needs.

Now, what does all this have to do with your business?
Simply this. In your daily business and personal activities,
as well as throughout your experience with the information
you come across, that you hear, see or read, you are going
to be exposed to a great number of ideas. Some will be
brand new... that is, you've never heard them before. Some
will be ideas you have heard in the past, but have
forgotten. And others will be ideas you come up with on
your own as a result of something that was triggered in
your mind as you read. Understanding and applying these
five steps in the learning and retention process can help
you retain more of what you read and experience.

Related Tags: retention, marketing consultant, martin-howey, topline-business-solutions, consultant training, reinforcement

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