The key thing to note here is to realize that a habit to learn and be productive cannot be achieved overnight. It is a habit, meaning you have to keep doing it, even when you slipped. Especially when you slipped, you come back to it. And with time it will become something of a second nature.

Review

The Learning Network was started in the 22nd February 2017. And it has been running for more than a month and I would like to do a brief summary and announce an improvement.

First of all, I believe everyone in the group said “yes” to the Learning Network because you see value in it, and there is some kind of ideas or projects which drive you. The Learning Network attempts to translate that idea into reality. The mechanics are designed with this intention in mind. The regular meeting is there because it encourages prioritization and commitment. Regularity will also make this into a habit. I am happy to report that this mechanics have produce some results: Irene has finished planning her trips and read 4 chapters of her chosen book and written a short story inspired by the book. Amanda has finished her book and gave a verbal summary of the book. Doug made some headway into learning his Chinese and wrote a nice start to his novel “Chasing the dragon”. Erin made some sketches. Quinn read one chapter and a half on her “Start with the Why”. I myself finished a translation project and wrote close to 10,000 words on my Chinese translation. Some of you would probably go like, “but that’s nothing, that’s very little, …” That’s because you actually have higher expectation that what you’ve achieved and that’s a good thing.” But if you look at it another way, you could have spent the time doing other stuff and did not get the results listed here.

The key thing to note here is to realize that a habit to learn and be productive cannot be achieved overnight. It is a habit, meaning you have to keep doing it, even when you slipped. Especially when you slipped, you come back to it. And with time it will become something of a second nature.

It also helps if you can move your personal development and learning up higher in your priority list. To borrow from “The seven habits of highly effective people” by Stephen Covey, all the things we do can be divided into four quadrant depending on “urgency” and “importance”. Urgency is whether the task requires immediate attention. Importance is whether the task produce visible results. Many people spent their time doing things which are urgent mistakenly thinking they are also important. The reality is, task which produce long term results and ultimately change our life are things which are important but not urgent. Like reading a book for personal development, and learning a skill that is not immediately required.

Which brings me to the rationale behind the mechanics of the Learning Network. The regular meeting is here to ensure you put enough priority into your own learning project.

However, the structure also seems restricting for some people who like the idea but prefer a more flexible work style. That is why I’ve implemented a more flexible mechanics for people who preferred a less structure format and are more self-motivated and self-discipline. It is call a “short sprint”.

Introducing the short sprint

Essentially, the “short sprint” allows members to declare a goal when and where they feel like working. Members can also declare to the group or declare to any one member of the group. The member who takes the declaration is responsible for keeping track of the progress and check on the results, and more importantly, celebrating the results with the person making the declaration. This mechanic supports a quick, concentrated spurts of learning activities, ranging from a few hours to over the weekends. It works best for a self contained small projects or part of a larger project which can be neatly divided into smaller goals.

The regular meeting time will continue to serve as a official “work session”, but people who choose to do other things during that time can always adjust their work time to suit their needs better.

Thank you note

Finally, I want to congratulate those who have taken action to participate and even think about participating because you have taken the first step towards self development. I want to thank those who share your thoughts on how the Learning Network works for you and how it doesn’t because your feedback is how the Learning Network becomes better.

Reading Resources

I mentioned a book titled “The seven habits of highly effective people” by Steven Covey in this update. This is the link to the ebook if anyone is interested.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Another book I highly recommend reading is
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach