Last week we talked about motivation, and how to inspire people to do the work needed to learn. But we need to be realistic about it too.
Learning is hard.
Especially learning that leads to REAL transformation.
The thing is, it must be so. Want to know why?
You know that feeling where you hit a wall and it doesn't feel like you're learning anything?
Then something clicks, you get a breakthrough in understanding, and you keep going.
๐๐ผ That's the Dip.
I'm talking about the evolutionary realization that to transform, a part of you must be left behind.
Why is this so hard to do?
We're attached to our identity, thanks to our ego. We are comfortable with who we are. Satisfied. We resist change. And that's exactly what learning is.
So we tell ourselves that it's too hard, or too complicated.
โI donโt understand this new sales framework, so Iโm not going to waste my time, Iโm just going to do whatโs been working for me.โ
What we're really doing is resisting leaving an old part of ourselves behind (the part that isn't familiar with the new framework) and embracing a new identity (salesperson of the month?).
My friend recently shared with me a great Paulo Coelho parable, The Lesson of the Butterfly, which reminds us:
"Sometimes, a little extra effort is precisely what prepares us for the next obstacle to be faced."
This is a good reminder for all of us: learners need to struggle, and we should resist the urge to give them the answer. ๐ฏ