#1418 - learning
"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." ― John Dewey
Life is full of experiences. Most are small, and some are significant. Yet, no amount of experience will make us wise unless we take the time to reflect on them.
Reflection, then, is a vital part of the learning process. It's how we transform pieces of information into insights.
But that's not enough.
"To learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know." ― Stephen R. Covey
We must act on our new insights if we are serious about learning. Learning is real only when it is acted upon. Only through deliberate practice does what we learn become part of who we are. First, we learn by reflecting on the experience, then practice what we have learned until we become a new version of ourselves.
Wisdom is more a process, a journey, a cycle of learning, doing and becoming than a destination.
And yes, this is nothing new. People way better than me, like Kolb, described how we learned. His our-stage learning cycle is a must-know if you're interested in how we learn. But, since I was a kid, I always loved to break things down and then put them back together in my own way to understand. Most of the time, it didn't work, but it was fun, except when my modified moped broke down 5 km from home.
"Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience" — David Kolb