A Prolific Learning Principle: You are Unique

You are unique. Your learning must fit that uniqueness.

The best method for learning some particular skill or subject will depend on the person learning it. You must take responsibility for your learning and make sure it is what is best for you.

You are unique both from the standpoint of nature and nurture. Your strengths, passions, interests, experience, and goals are different from other people. To become a prolific learner, you must figure out what works best for you. We can learn much from others. Some things other people do to learn will help us and some will not. We need to learn to pick and choose from methods, materials, teachers, courses, and other things to teach ourselves enjoyably and effectively.

Most of us have spent year after year in formal education trying to fit ourselves into a regimented system. The content, schedule, activities, and measurement of progress are largely predetermined. To the extent that a course is run in harmony with what works best for us, we will “succeed”. To the extent that a course is not run in a way that works well for us, we will “fail”. Often, the labels we pick up in formal education (such as smart, stupid, or slow) are due to how well the methods fit with what works for us.

What is enjoyable for you may not be for someone else, and the converse is true. What is effective for you may not be for someone else. A large part of prolific learning is figuring out what works best for us. Ultimately, this is our responsibility. We might perhaps run into some teachers or others who give us some assistance, but we ourselves are in the best position to decide if something is enjoyable and effective. Only we can really judge how familiar something is and whether or not we can take pride in what we are accomplishing.

Prolific learning is about enriching our lives by learning new things. We need to decide what new things we want to be able to do. We need to decide what level of progress we want to make. Our choice about what methods and approaches to use will determine how efficiently our time and effort are converted into consistent progress. These are things that we are responsible for. The main point of this web site and material I’m producing is to try to give you some guidance in figuring out what the right direction for you is.