Using Mind Maps, Learning and Going Pro

We believe in Lifelong Learning and Using Mind Maps to achieve this. Everything that we publish is to get YOU on a path of lifelong learning.

In this modern age of information overload, good learning principles are more important than ever.

We strive to give you the mindset and processes to gain a competitive advantage. I often quote Arie de Geus, who stated:

'Your ability to learn faster than your competitor may be your only sustainable competitive advantage'.

To Learn Faster and Easier, you need to stop learning like an amateur and start applying a professional mindset to your learning efforts.

To successfully be on this path, we believe that having a professional mindset can make a huge difference to your learning efforts.

This article is about 'Going Pro' with your learning.

'Going Pro' is mindset - a mindset that I think you should have at any stage of your life, whether you are at school, college, university, or in the workplace.

Our popular Learning Management Program was developed after our encounters with hundreds of frustrated learners to give you the correct mindset and processes to ensure that you learn faster and easier with as little effort as possible.

• We found that most learners simply did not have a system - or a process - to learn effectively.
• We also found that most learners still use boring linear methods to learn.
• Most students don't approach learning holistically.
• Learning simply isn't fun.

This article was inspired by two excellent sources that spoke about Going Pro:

1. Ed Dale - An Internet Marketer and Head Guy of The Challenge
2. Steven Pressfield - Author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

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When going through their material, I realised that these principles were covered in our Learning Management Program. This article uses these principles to show how you can 'Go Pro' with whatever you are trying to learn or achieve.

Top students approach their studies just like a professional would.

• They show up for practice (study sessions).
• They plan what must be done during each session (study timetables).
• They have a process (good study methods).
• They measure their progress (test themselves regularly).

Stephen Pressfield describes resistance as being the force that anybody doing a creative venture, whether it be starting a business, writing, or creating a work of art, faces. It is not a constructive force, but a force that needs to be overcome to get the job done.

Whenever you decided to do something - and didn't - you can blame it on resistance.

Using a system, like our Learning Management Program, can help you overcome this resistance and also Awaken the Genius in you.

Lets have a look at how these principles apply to a learner and how you can solve it.

1. Focus

The professional shows up every day, whether she likes it or not and goes to work. So does the 'professional' student. They know that there is a certain amount of work to be done. They put together a study timetable and simply get to work - minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, until they go through the work as many times as is necessary to master the material.

Besides showing up, the professional knows that focusing on what needs to be done is of the utmost importance. Your learning session should focus on one thing only - learning!

Time management is about managing yourself, as much as it is about managing the work load. Having a timer and working to it, will greatly enhance your ability to focus.

Our system devotes a whole module to time management and using Mind Maps to manage your time better.

2. Process

The successful student has a good learning system or process. Good learning methods ensure that the learner covers the material in the correct way so that it is learned in the shortest, most effective and fun way.

A good process should use both the left, structured, analytical brain and the right, artistic, creative brain to get a whole-brain learning experience.

The process should be easy to apply and easy to repeat. By having a repeatable process, you don't have to think about the process everytime you have something new to learn.

You simply follow the process.

3. Measurement

Most learners practice exercising their 'in-muscle' and very little time practising their 'out-muscle'. They spend hours and hours taking information in, but very little time testing themselves.

There is a good reason for this - fear of what the answer may be.

You may discover that you don't really know the subject as well as you should, so you rather ignore the testing phase.

By testing yourself, you actually measure how well you have mastered the material. The only way to manage what you are learning is to put measurements in place. What you can't measure, you can't manage.

By testing yourself regularly, you will ensure that you improve your recall. The more you practice recall, the better your recall will become.

If you want to be a better writer, you must practice your writing. If you want to run better, you need to run. Simply reading about running won't get you there.

The same goes for recall. To get better at recall, you have to practice recall.

Measuring your performance should be part and parcel of the process and not an afterthought. This will ensure that you are able to manage your learning efforts most effectively.

4. Conclusion

So, if you want to 'Go Pro' with your studies, have a look at the principles in our Learning Management Program. All the principles are freely available for you to use and develop your own process. It could take you days and even years to develop your own process, or you could simply get instant access to ours and start applying it immediately.

Whether you buy our program, or develop your own, decide whether you want to 'Go Pro' and get the results of a professional, or remain an amateur.

The choice is yours, but the results are vastly different.

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