Understanding personal development by involving yourself
June 5, 2008 by sparkvictory · Leave a Comment
“Tell me, and I will forget…
Show me, and I might remember…
Involve me, and I will understand.”
This is an old Chinese proverb that you might also have heard of before.
Obviously, it’s a very straight forward translation and the meaning is really apparent. The quote essentially says that the best way for someone to make you truly understand what they mean is to make you a part of it.
The other day I saw this quote again and it got me thinking. This quote is great to make someone else understand, but how can we apply it to make ourselves understand? How can I apply this approach to increase my learning and growth in personal development?
I would like to analyze the quote to show the different levels of learning in personal development and how WE should involve ourselves to gain the most effective understanding on change.
Tell me and I will forget …
This is the discovering stage, where we read personal development books (and blogs!) about how we should change. It’s a very significant part because it enlightens us to new ideas. However, most people will take in these ideas and never implement them. It may be that these personal development ideas are the best and have proven to be successful for many people. But if it only goes as far as listening and reading about it, then there is no real change. The ideas will fade and be forgotten if they are never used.
Show me, and I might remember.. .
This is the knowledge stage, where you actually see how personal development ideas are applied. There are countless illustrations, plans, manuals, outlines, and charts that visualizes how someone has done something… effectively. These give you a clear picture of how an idea CAN work. You now have the steps and guidelines for change. However, the keyword in the quote is “might remember”, meaning that you still depend on the illustrated document to better understand the concept or idea. You know the concept but it has not become a part of you, it’s still on paper.
Involve me and I will understand…
This is the experience stage, the most important part of personal development. Change is really just a learning experience. And for this experience to happen… you need to take action. Plain and simple! Engaging yourself to implement the personal development ideas will force you to understand. You will make mistakes and you will learn. You will make the right decisions and you will learn. The point is that there is no substitute for experience, it’s the best way to learn, change and understand.
