Last week I talked about how I became a spray foam expert and discussed Step Two, Action.
This week we are going to wrap up the three-step process that I used to become a spray foam expert and show you how you can get better, improve your knowledge, or possibly become a spray foam expert yourself.
The third step to becoming an expert is Repetition.
I fielded questions, always took action and searched for the answers.
I engaged in this activity continuously, over and over again, fielding questions and providing answers. Even when I didn’t know the answers or where to find them, I took it as my responsibility to find the answer and learn.
The more open to learning that I was, the more eager I was to learn, and that meant my understanding of problems & concepts and facts & figures improved and became more clear when I heard similar questions over and over again.
When I was asked the same question a second time, I was more familiar with the topic and the resources, so my understanding and response time was faster.
As I was asked similar questions again and again, I was able to refine my own thought process around the concepts, so that I no longer had to respond to a specific question, but rather I could draw upon my knowledge base and thoughts to discuss an array of questions on the same topic.
On top of the questions, I attended dozens of training classes, tradeshows and presentations.
By seeing the same concepts from different presenters, regularly, over a period of time, I experienced a powerful learning process called spaced repetition.
Specifically approaching a training program with a planned course of action to review the data, then put that information into action, you then come back and review the same information again at a later date, maybe a day, a week or a month later, and you get more from it because you are coming at the information from a different angle, based on your new experience.
This learning methodology leverages two key forms of knowledge in the learning process: learned knowledge and activity knowledge. This continued process of learning information and using it, reviewing it again and then using it, is known as spaced repetition.
Remember, your mind is a muscle, and spaced repetition works your mind like lifting weights works your body.
Repetition is important and the theme of Step Three is:
“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.”
– Zig Ziglar
