From the MWA Coach: 25 Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning

Rapid Fire Learning is always a fascinating exercise for me. I love that we have this feature for Joyful Jubilant Learning, and even if the day should come it is discontinued here, RFL-ing will remain packed in my bag.

When I first sit to write my RFLs, I truly go for the intention of the exercise: Rapid fire recall, stream of consciousness, trusting that what needs to come out and get chronicled IS in fact my learning. If I have to go back and re-read blog postings, make sense of my morning pages, and skim my weekly reviews I couldn't have learned what I thought - goodness, not if I can't even remember it!

However I freely admit to you that my rapid fire recall at that first sitting can get edited quite a bit before I do share it with the rest of you. The writer in me grabs hold of what the self-talker let spill out, and necessarily so; often my stream of consciousness sounds like pure gibberish, for after all, I know what I mean.

I also have a way of writing too much (she writes as she starts a fourth paragraph...) so while I may not have learned it yet, RFL does help me to keep learning to edit.

So why am I sharing all of this? If you are not yet participating in our Rapid Fire Learning, I urge you to do so. It is such a valuable learning exercise.

This month, I am bending the rules of the exercise a bit with my participation. As we head further down Jubilation Way, I am hoping these reasons will convince you to pack Rapid Fire Learning in your bag too. You'll be surprised how it doesn't take much space at all, yet makes such a huge difference for you.

25 Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning

1. You learn to trust in the wisdom of your recall. There is some magic that happens there, and you tap into it. It gets easier and easier with each new month. You wonder at the all of who you are - gosh, who knew?

2. You learn how much of a learner you truly are. It dawns on you that the seemingly-constant goal you have had to be a "lifelong learner" is something you have already achieved.

3. You learn how much of a learner you still can be. You learn that "already achieved" is not necessarily the same as "already over." You get much, much better at watching for whatever comes next, not having to define it, just expecting it.

4. You learn to dream bigger, and in more detail. Your learning list keeps getting shorter, and whereas you were slow to check things off before, you now find you are slow in adding them.

5. You learn to stretch, and you learn to get braver. As Greg says, you learn to "live large," for you now must make room in your life for those bigger-dream goals you now have.

6. You learn about those right brain/left brain differences Robyn talks about. I laugh at myself some months now, fully aware when one side of my brain seems to be sleeping, or just taking a break, allowing the other side to get in its turn for some needed exercise. (It laughs with me.)

7. You learn that you are never alone. Often there will be a sharing here by another JJLer that causes me to stop and relish that "wow, me too!" feeling they have given me. At that moment, the joy of a collaborative community is quite profound, and very personal.

8. You are acknowledged for your learning. JJL has arrived at that sweet spot, where it is very, very rare for a RFL posting to go without comment, and those comments are always so affirming. This community is one which understands what that learning process entailed.

9. If you get questions, they are invitations to keep exploring. People understand that learning is continuous, and that you have reached a part of a learning curve they can intercept: Your learning means they need not start at square one, but can join you where you are.

10. You learn about abundance, both your own, and that of the world we live in. Learning banishes scarcity, for there is so much possibility.

11. You learn about your varied capacity. There is a Hawaiian concept called palena 'ole that describes this revealing of self you can learn to enjoy, within the 4-fold capacities you have which are intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual. The more you practice it, rapid fire recall makes them all seem so accessible.

12. You learn more self-mastery. There will be surprises, where you had thought you reached a plateau with something, but now a new angle has been revealed for it that will give you fresh energies.

13. You learn to connect activities to your talents. The act of writing and sharing your RFLs is an act of making them tangible enough to explain to others. In essence you are coaching, and inviting, however you are also creating the likelihood of repetition that will help you with forming new habits.

14. You learn whatever you are sharing at an instantly deeper level. The adage you have likely heard before is true: If you seek to teach someone else what you have learned, even in part, you have to learn it thoroughly so it can be taught well.

15. You learn what it takes to build your "learning memory." We are all different in this regard, and I have discovered that the RFL exercise is exceptional for both my comprehension and my retention. When a learning gets in to my top 5 learnings it stays in.

16. Your "learning memory" gets more elastic, and it actually grows. I am quite sure that everyone who has adopted RFL will tell you how much they have surprised themselves, and how amazed they are that not only have they learned five things each month, they've learned way more.

17. You learn that how you learn is also what you learn. It doesn't take much reading of JJL at all to discover that "content" is a very huge word for us, one we take much delight in exploding, and taking liberties with - true learning liberation!

18. You learn how old news becomes new news all the time. RFL has taught me to shed so many old assumptions. I will look at what I've written at times and think, "If I share this, people may say, it's about time, what took you so long?" but then I realize it is new, and it is different, and I work harder at understanding (and explaining) why.

19. You learn to get better at sharing, and you want to. You learn to give, and you thrill at it. Read Joanna's sharing this month - blows me away that she designed her RFL for JJL the way that she did, eager to have us share her world, and her heart.

20. You learn to state your intentions, and harness the incredible power of intention. Intention is that jewel I call Ho‘ohana. Another example this month illustrates this best: Is there any doubt that Ariane will achieve the goals she has set?

21. You learn about others you can learn from, and can collect new resources. When you share your RFLs you can get some really terrific suggestions from readers who comment for you: Within the comment conversation of RFL postings you can find the most link-rich pointers.

22. You add only the best to your collections, with tested recommendations. These are so bountiful in RFL! Books are a great example here, for so many of us love them, and devour them voraciously. Look no further than our JJL Store for a terrific shopping list if a bookstore gift card was in your Christmas stocking and is still waiting to be spent.

23. You learn to adjust your learning pace. When you are learning something new, it can be tricky to know when you should slow down and allow things to sink in and get applied, and when you should forge ahead faster. The sharing of resources I spoke of in the last 2 points has really helped me with this, for people often point me to their experiences.

24. You make a stronger commitment to your own learning. Once you share a learning for the community to know, inviting them to join you, or just support you, you commit to follow-up and continuity. And as W. H. Murray had famously said, “…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”

25. You learn of the amazing aloha in this community. Click on that RFL index, and read any posting; yes any one. You will see, hear, and feel what I mean.

If you are shy, do the exercise for yourself - you will still reap big benefits from doing so. Take the plunge and share your RFLs (in the host or hostess's comments, or email us for a Guest Author invite) and those benefits get exponentially bigger.

So try it: RFL with us! Rapid fire recall, stream of consciousness, trusting that what needs to come out and get chronicled IS in fact your learning. What did you learn this shiny new January month in 2008?

~ Rosa Say
Managing with Aloha Coach

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An addendum to #24: W.H. Murray (18 March 1913–19 March 1996) was one of a group of active Scottish mountain climbers. According to Wikipedia:

A quotation by Murray is widely misattributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The following passage occurs near the beginning of Murray's The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951):

... but when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money— booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

The "Goethe couplet" referred to here is from an extremely loose translation of Goethe's Faust lines 214-30 made by John Anster in 1835.

Comments

[Joanna Young]

Rosa, I loved the way you broke your own rules here! But it was 5 * 5 of course...:-)

The point that struck me most was this one - it's what we learn from our own internal editor.

"When a learning gets in to my top 5 learnings it stays in."

And you're right, it does.

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

Thank you Joanna, this was fun to do! And I did edit for the 5 * 5... you know me so well :)

[Ariane Benefit]

Wow Rosa! You are amazing!!! : ) What wonderful insights. I love rule breakers. heheheh

[Avrum Nadigel]

I want to love your site, I really, really do. So much so, I used your site as an accompany piece while reading Markus Buckingham's Put Your Strengths to Work. So I stumble upon your site today, determined to get involved, but find myself overwhelmed with the options, content (IMHO...way, way too much info for an on-line medium), etc. Exhausted, I leave JJL seeking something cleaner, calmer...more Zen'ish.

A potential JJL fan,

- Avrum Nadigel
Toronto, Ont

[Rosa Say]

Aloha Avrum, and thank you. You give me pause, and I do appreciate the comment - greatly. I shall contact you via email to see if perhaps we can have a deeper conversation about this if you are willing, for I would be very thankful for any help you can give me in understanding how we can serve you better.

[Robyn]

Aloha Rosa, Rapid Fire Learning or writing sounds like a great way to challenge both the right [creative, intuitive and emotive] and left [logical, objective and judgmental] sides of your brain working in sync.

You have really convinced me with these 25 reasons that Rapid Fire Learning deserves a try!

Besides the more new things I learn, the younger and more vibrant I keep my brain, Rosa. Thanks for a very thoughtful, challenging post.

[Rosa Say]

Fantastic Robyn! Being able to share in your RFLs would really be a treat for all of us in our learning community: We'll look forward to it :)

[Rosa Say]

Ariane, about rule breaking, and connecting the other comments we shared (in your RFL posting this month) on A Perfect Mess, the book I am reading:

Chapter Eight is called "Messy Leadership." I couldn't wait, and jumped to that chapter first, reading the book in my own messy, disorganized way. The authors share a quote by Elbert "Burt" Rutan, who founded and now is the very successful CEO of an aircraft design and prototyping company called Scaled Composites. Interviewing Rutan, they asked him about his management rules for keeping the firm on track. He insists that he doesn't have any, saying,

"I don't like rules. Things are so easy to change if you don't write them down." He says it is very useful to have everyone questioning everything the company does all the time, and especially to have people questioning their own work. His job, he says, is to make sure that when people point out their mistakes, they're applauded rather than reprimanded.

Gotta love a boss like that.
[And I should add "You learn how cool your mistakes can be." as #26!]