Learning something new can be a waste of time if your goal is to make progress and not simply gain additional knowledge. It all comes down to the difference between learning and practicing. We all have goals that we want to achieve. These goals may include learning a new language, eating healthier and losing weight, becoming a better parent, saving more money, etc.
The Difference Between Learning and Practicing
When we practice something, we are involved in the deliberate repetition of a process with the intention of reaching a specific goal
- Passive learning creates knowledge. Active practice creates skill
- Learning something new and practicing something new may seem very similar, but these two methods have profoundly different results
Practice Focuses Your Energy on the Process
The state of your life right now is a result of the habits and beliefs that you have been practicing each day
- Continuous progress will be the logical outcome
- It is not the things we learn nor the dreams we envision that determines our results but rather the habits that we practice each day
The Bottom Line
Is passive learning useless? Of course not. In many cases, learning for the sake of learning can be a beautiful thing.
- We often hide behind information and use learning as an excuse to delay the more difficult and more important choice of actually doing something. Spend less time passively learning and more time actively practicing.
Passive Learning Can Be a Crutch That Supports Inaction
In many cases, learning is actually a way to avoid taking action on the goals and interests that we say are important to us.
- We make the mistake of being in motion rather than taking action. Learning is valuable until it becomes a form of procrastination
Practice Is Learning, But Learning Is Not Practice
Passive learning is not a form of practice because although you gain new knowledge, you are not discovering how to apply that knowledge
- Active practice, meanwhile, is one of the greatest forms of learning because the mistakes you make while practicing reveal important insights
- Practice is the only way to make a meaningful contribution with your knowledge
