Last night, I attended a Christmas Carol gathering. I learnt so many things from that carol. One of the most important lessons that I’ll never forget – so help me God – is that there is no such thing as being over-prepared.
The carol went well. As the popular saying goes, however, it could have gone better; but I doubt it. In relation to the amount of time that was put into the preparation, the carol was amazing. There are few things I noticed, though. I noticed that the events that were rehearsed more, were performed better than the rest. It was as if every second of preparation made a huge difference in the presentations.
I was astounded.
Even though every act was mastered, the additional time put in a few of them made an enormous variance.
The same pattern, I’ve noticed, reoccurs in academia. Though you’ve truly understood a topic, going over it again and again makes you more efficient at tackling questions concerning that field. I also noticed that it is very easy to get bored at a repetitive activity. I can’t, for instance, keep reading that “Social studies is the study of man in his physical and social environment” over and over again without losing my mind. I mean, if I already know it, why go over it again and again?
The thing is, each time you repeat an action, your mind breaks that action down to smaller pieces. You understand it more. It becomes a part of you – second nature. For this reason, someone who has been playing a piano for three years will find transitioning from one chord to another easier than one who has played for only six months. It’s not that the latter does not know what chords he wants to play. He just hasn’t repeated that transition enough times. Interestingly, it is possible to find that the person who has played for just six months is better than the one who has played for three years; because the former has spent several more hours a day rehearsing the same things over and over again.
Have you ever remembered an answer as soon as you stepped out of the examination hall? It's not that you didn't know it. It's that you didn't repeat it enough to remember it when you needed it.
The carol went well. As the popular saying goes, however, it could have gone better; but I doubt it. In relation to the amount of time that was put into the preparation, the carol was amazing. There are few things I noticed, though. I noticed that the events that were rehearsed more, were performed better than the rest. It was as if every second of preparation made a huge difference in the presentations.
I was astounded.
Even though every act was mastered, the additional time put in a few of them made an enormous variance.
The same pattern, I’ve noticed, reoccurs in academia. Though you’ve truly understood a topic, going over it again and again makes you more efficient at tackling questions concerning that field. I also noticed that it is very easy to get bored at a repetitive activity. I can’t, for instance, keep reading that “Social studies is the study of man in his physical and social environment” over and over again without losing my mind. I mean, if I already know it, why go over it again and again?
The thing is, each time you repeat an action, your mind breaks that action down to smaller pieces. You understand it more. It becomes a part of you – second nature. For this reason, someone who has been playing a piano for three years will find transitioning from one chord to another easier than one who has played for only six months. It’s not that the latter does not know what chords he wants to play. He just hasn’t repeated that transition enough times. Interestingly, it is possible to find that the person who has played for just six months is better than the one who has played for three years; because the former has spent several more hours a day rehearsing the same things over and over again.
Have you ever remembered an answer as soon as you stepped out of the examination hall? It's not that you didn't know it. It's that you didn't repeat it enough to remember it when you needed it.
You probably already know all of this.
The problem is not that you don’t want to study for longer hours. It’s not that you don’t want to practice your favourite instrument for longer periods of time. No. The problem is you lack the motivation and self-control to do what you must.
Until you make it a point of duty to work on expressing that self-control you naturally have and disciplining yourself, there’ll always be a gap between you and your goals.
May God help us all. :D
The problem is not that you don’t want to study for longer hours. It’s not that you don’t want to practice your favourite instrument for longer periods of time. No. The problem is you lack the motivation and self-control to do what you must.
Until you make it a point of duty to work on expressing that self-control you naturally have and disciplining yourself, there’ll always be a gap between you and your goals.
May God help us all. :D