Education is Necessary But Not Sufficient
I love to learn. I think it’s important. Innate abilities certainly exist, but they are outweighed by those that are learned.
E-Impact is about being the best you can be. We want to do good in the world. What’s better than good? More good! Or, “better” good.
In order to improve at something, you have to practice. You have to put the time in or your skill will stagnate. Remember the Vince Lombardi reference in the When Opportunity Knocks entry?
It’s safe to say that hard work produces. There’s another lesson here about hard work and smart work, but that’s for a later entry. If we concentrate on putting forth effort to improve ourselves, we can understand that innate abilities or God-given gifts are but a foundation of our potential.
The Steps of Potential
Innate Abilities
These are the things that you excel at naturally. You feel comfortable executing them. You generally enjoy doing them. Most would acknowledge your proficiency. You might say you were born with them. If you want to be great in these areas you have to work to get there. But, it’s likely you could get by without extra effort.
2. Learned Abilities
These are the abilities that you have been figured out. You don’t have a natural inclination for them. You worked to get to the point where you could execute them. You couldn’t be recognized in a crowd of people who have these abilities innately. They may not have come easy, but they came. The reasons for your efforts have no effect. It’s the fact that you learned.
3. Mastered Abilities
These are things that you are among the best of the best at. They might be related to your work or anything else that you do frequently. Those who are interested know that you are one of the best. They will come to you and refer others to you for your skill. They are derived from either innate or learned abilities. The only distinguishing factor between their derivatives is time needed and spent to master. It doesn’t take as long to master something that is innate as something that is strictly learned. The common denominator is effort. But once again, the reason means nothing.
4. Intentional Abilities of Impact
These get a special title because they have a special aspect. They have a self-developed purpose and that is the only differentiating factor. They could have started as innate, or have been learned. They will most likely be mastered, but the list is not linear. They don’t come “after” mastery. In many cases the foundational skill has been mastered, but this is not a requirement.
There are many people making a huge impact in their world who have not mastered the relative skill yet. Given the proper time and situation they will, but Intentional Abilities of Impact are identified by the purpose that you have created.
Now What?
We have determined that in order to increase your proficiency at something, you have to work at it. We’ve also determined that you don’t have to be perfect (which is often impossible) at something, or even have mastered it, to make an impact. This means two things:
1. Practice and learning will always be important.
2. Perfection is not needed to be effective, but it is attractive.
With the importance of education established, we must now look at the next step. Action.
I have known for most of my life that music, notes, harmonies, melodies, singing, strings, woodwinds, and just about anything musical are not related to my innate abilities in any way.
What do you do when somethings not innate? You make it learned.
I’ve had three musical accomplishments in my life. The first was teaching myself Shout to the Lord on the piano. Thankfully, I had some help from my mom (yes the same mom from October 27th’s You are Your Motivation). I don’t deserve much credit. It was mostly memorizing movements. I didn’t actually know what I was playing.
For my second accomplishment, I taught myself how to play You Are by Hillsong Young and Free on the acoustic guitar. I had YouTube help here. Thanks Brian Wahl and worshiptutorials.com. Honestly, “fret” to me is what you do when you’re scared of something.
Drum roll please. For my final trick, I learned the drums! Hence, the drum roll.
I mentioned I have no musical talent. I lied. I have a little rhythm. Innate, maybe. But I used to bang on the desk in school with different pens and pencils and all of the other things I was supposed to be using for “learning”. I was learning all right…just not what I was supposed to be.
Have I mastered the drums? Absolutely, not. I am not sure that mastering the drums is even possible. There are so many combinations and different types that you can master certain rhythms, patterns, grooves, beats, genres, and styles, but not everything.
Even though I am nowhere near mastery, I am deep in action. I practice daily. I’ve watched videos, consulted professionals, and taken lessons. The limited proficiency that I have would not be without action.
It should be noted that not every day has the greatest drum session and I only average about forty-five minutes of playing per day. It’s not about sheer volume. Consistency comes into play again (like it did when writing about Putting Irons in the Fire), but for the purposes of this text, it’s about action. And to be clear, playing the drums is NOT an Intentional Ability of Impact of mine.
Taking Action
What good is what you learned if you don’t use it?
Before I attempt to convince you that action is more necessary than learning, I will stress that learning is much broader than the traditional education that may come to mind.
I married a teacher. I know classroom learning is important. And even if I didn’t think it was, I’d probably lie to save my marriage. But, there are numerous ways to learn and I believe it’s important to experience as many as possible.
It’s been proven that different minds learn differently. Find the ways that are best for you and don’t be afraid to try new ones as you identify them. Ask your favorite educator How to Engage the 7 Types of Learners in your Classroom.
The reason why I think there are so many ways to learn is that I believe learning is actually a part of action. This gives the journeys we take with our abilities exponential possibilities. As we do, not only do we accomplish, but we improve (through learning). The next time we do, we do better.
For certain things (like the drums), a foundational proficiency is needed to execute. Therefore, learning often comes before action. However, it does not end once action begins. Just like action, it should continue (unless you find perfection and it’s not possible to improve).
I’ve stated that learning often comes first and that it is essential. Now I will tell you that action is more essential.
I believe learning something (like the a song on the piano) is an accomplishment. But, I believe that if your objective is beyond just learning, then you can easily learn without accomplishing. On the other hand, it’s pretty hard to do without learning (outside of something you’ve perfected). Experience is valuable.
A Healthy Relationship between Learning and Doing
In the end, maybe we should not try to separate learning and doing. I remember studying the Learning Styles when I was in the classroom.
I always considered myself a kinesthetic learner. I love to touch things! Creepy, huh?
The learning styles taught me that experiential learning is effective. Whether it’s visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic, it’s all doing something. My inclination toward kinesthetic learning probably relates more to action, but the others can also be more than passive.
I never considered myself a writer, but the E-Impact Blog has been a great experience. It has given me another way to express my thoughts and helped me learn more about this method of communication. The same goes for the Speaking of Impact podcast.
I am glad that I decided to take up other forms of learning and communication because I have accomplished and improved all at the same time.
Education is great. So is action. But alone they are not sufficient. They need to work together to help use accomplish our goals.
Self-Improvement and Identifying Your Purpose
Look at inc.com's list of 20 Conferences that Should Be on your List for 2020. How many of these actually happened? This year threw us a curveball. Does that mean we stop advancing? No, it means we grow in another way.
I am all about self-improvement. I support camaraderie. I believe in the power of community. But, you don’t need an expensive conference and a week off to get better!
Intentional Abilities of Impact come about because you care. You have a purpose that drives you. No one or no teaching can identify it for you. There are many resources (like this blog) that can help, but your purpose is unique to you.
I can’t tell you to like dogs. I can suggest some things, and maybe dogs are one of them, but YOU have to like them. I could also give you places to search. I can even ask you questions about things. But, only you have the answers.
Here are some examples:
What are the things that you care about the most?
Who are the people that you care about the most?
What do you feel that you are best at?
What do you like to do?
Purpose is defined as:
the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists
Find your purpose. This is sufficient. It will drive effort and everything else will come.