Nobody arrives here knowing how to do all this.
We learn.
We try.
We stumble.
We ask HOW and WHY…
and somewhere along the way, the learning curve quietly turns us into more than we were yesterday.
Something we do not discuss enough is the START-UP of anything.
The learning of it.
The awkward beginning.
The questions.
The mistakes.
The figuring-it-out stage.
You naturally come into this world operating this way.
Nobody hands a baby an instruction manual and says:
“Good luck.”
The learning mechanism begins working almost immediately.
Children enter into the richness of it when they start asking:
HOW?
WHY?
WHAT IS THAT?
WHERE DOES IT GO?
CAN I TOUCH IT?
And then…
WHY again.
LOL.
That curiosity is not an inconvenience.
It is evidence that the learning curve is alive and doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the journey, people sometimes begin interfering with it.
“Stop asking so many questions.”
“You should already know that.”
“Don’t do it that way.”
“You’ll never be good at this.”
Careful.
You may be stepping on somebody’s learning curve.
IT’S IN EVERYONE AND TURNS ON AUTOMATICALLY
It is fitting to remind ourselves that human beings are self-contained motion machines with a built-in desire to seek, discover, test, compare, experience and learn.
The learning curve is already inside us.
It turns on naturally.
A child learns to walk.
Falls.
Gets up.
Falls again.
Nobody explains failure to the child.
The child simply continues.
That is one of the purest examples of learning you will ever see.
Imagine if a toddler fell twice and said:
“Well, apparently walking isn’t one of my skills.”
LOL.
No.
Up they go.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The mechanism knows something the adult sometimes forgets:
REPETITION IS PART OF LEARNING.
That process should never be unnecessarily discouraged in a young person.
And we should not tamper with it in ourselves as adults either.
IT’S EVERYWHERE
The learning curve is fascinating wherever you spot it.
It is easiest to see in children because almost everything is new.
But watch an adult begin something unfamiliar.
New job.
New computer.
New relationship.
New hobby.
New city.
New responsibility.
New business.
Suddenly the learning curve appears again.
At work they may call it:
TRAINING.
ORIENTATION.
PROBATION.
ONBOARDING.
But underneath all those names…
you are learning.
And there is nothing shameful about that.
The person who knows they are learning usually advances faster than the person pretending they already know.
YOU CONTROL IT
The learning curve even appears when we meet another human being.
You meet somebody.
Hello.
Nice to meet you.
Now what?
You may keep the contact pleasant but distant.
Or you may begin exploring.
Where are you from?
What do you do?
What interests you?
What have you experienced?
Conversation begins filling in the blanks.
You learn about them.
They learn about you.
A relationship is simply another learning curve involving two people.
You decide how deep to go.
How quickly.
How much to share.
How much to discover.
There is no requirement that everybody become your best friend.
But every genuine encounter contains something available to learn.
CAN YOU HELP ME?
One thing I have found extremely useful is telling people when I am on a learning curve.
“I haven’t done this before.”
“Show me.”
“How does this work?”
“What am I missing?”
Those words can save enormous amounts of time.
People usually become more patient when they know you are genuinely trying to learn.
And most people enjoy helping somebody who actually wants to know.
I ask questions.
I welcome input.
I welcome feedback.
I want to understand as much as possible as quickly as reasonably possible.
There is no prize for pretending to know what you do not know.
PAUSE FOR CAUSE.
Sometimes saying:
“I don’t know.”
is the beginning of becoming somebody who DOES.
IT’S LIKE A VACUUM CLEANER
The learning curve follows us everywhere.
Shopping.
Travel.
Technology.
Relationships.
Business.
And yes…
our least favorite classroom:
PROBLEMS.
Problems are learning curves wearing ugly clothes.
We usually do not welcome them.
But once they arrive, the mechanism begins operating.
What happened?
Why?
What can I do?
Who knows something about this?
What are my options?
What worked?
What failed?
What do I do next?
The learning curve is no respecter of persons.
Young.
Old.
Rich.
Poor.
Experienced.
Beginner.
It goes to work.
Like a vacuum cleaner…
it starts sucking up information wherever it can find it.
The wise person helps it.
The stubborn person keeps unplugging it.
HELP BUT NEVER HINDER
When you encounter somebody who is learning…
HELP.
That little contribution may matter far more than you realize.
Explain something.
Demonstrate.
Encourage.
Correct without humiliating.
Give them room to try.
Remember what YOU looked like when you first started.
We sometimes become proficient and conveniently forget the awkward beginning.
Do not make somebody climb a mountain merely because you had to.
If you know the shortcut…
show them.
If you know the danger…
warn them.
If they make a harmless mistake…
let the lesson do some teaching too.
Helping another person’s learning curve does not weaken them.
It may accelerate them.
YOUR SKILLS BANK LOVES THE LEARNING CURVE
This is where another Pearls idea enters.
Your SKILLS BANK develops through use.
You may possess natural talent…
but talent still has to meet experience.
The learning curve introduces the two.
You discover:
“I am good at this.”
“This takes more effort.”
“This feels natural.”
“This definitely does NOT.”
That information matters.
The curve does not merely teach you how to perform a task.
It also reveals YOU while you perform it.
That may be one of its greatest gifts.
IF WE DIDN’T HAVE ONE…WE WOULD BUY ONE
Think about what the learning curve gives us.
Growth.
Adaptation.
Discovery.
Competence.
Confidence.
Experience.
Opportunity.
Imagine trying to purchase a mechanism that could continuously take new circumstances and turn them into usable knowledge.
We would pay a fortune for it.
Good news.
You already have one.
And it stays with you all the way through the journey.
There is no graduation ceremony from life.
You simply move from one learning curve to another.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Here is one Richie rule:
Never be embarrassed about being a beginner.
Everybody who became good at anything once looked like they had no idea what they were doing.
Another:
“I don’t know” is not the end of intelligence.
Sometimes it is the first intelligent thing said.
And one more:
Do not rush somebody else’s learning curve merely because you have already finished that particular lesson.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
From the spirit of Pearls for the Soul:
“Growth begins wherever curiosity is still willing to ask another question.”
From the spirit of God I AM:
“What has been placed within you often reveals itself through use, discovery and experience.”
From the spirit of It Is Finished:
“A mistake that teaches you something has already begun paying you back.”
PEARLS INSIGHT
The learning curve is a natural process of gaining knowledge, skill and confidence through experience, repetition, feedback and adjustment.
Beginners often require more time and conscious effort, while continued practice gradually makes performance more familiar and efficient.
Welcoming the learning curve helps people become more adaptable, resilient and capable of discovering strengths they may not have known they possessed.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This connects directly with WANDERED INTO A ROOM FULL OF SELF-TESTING COMPUTERS.
Tests may give you clues about yourself.
The learning curve gives you EVIDENCE.
It also connects with SKILLS BANKS ARE DIFFERENT — UNIQUE FOR EVERYONE.
Your skills bank tells you what may be naturally available.
The learning curve develops it.
And I SEE SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT YOU DON’T SEE reminds us that feedback from others can shorten the curve when it is offered and received properly.
FINAL SAY
Ahhhh…
the learning curve.
Welcome it.
Let it work.
Ask HOW.
Ask WHY.
Experiment.
Make the mistake.
Correct it.
Ask somebody who knows.
Try again.
And when you see somebody else struggling through their own beginning…
remember yours.
Help.
Never hinder.
Because the learning curve never really leaves us.
It travels with us from the first curious question…
to the final days of this earthly journey.
And as long as we are still learning…
we are still growing.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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