Do-it-yourself exercise
Start the Cycle
20mins
How to get start?
Do you want to experience what it’s like to learn more autonomously? This is an exercise to help you get started.
All you need is a journal and a pen or digital note-taking space and follow the instructions for the following three steps.
Step 1 （10mins）
You can start this whenever you want. Why not right now?
1.1 Set a goal.
Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down all the learning goals that are important to you over the coming few weeks or months. There are no right or wrong answers: just try to get everything on paper that you can think of. Take as much space as you need.
Then, when the timer goes off (and you’re happy with your overview), choose and circle one goal that you really want to work on. Don’t worry, you can always go back to this step and change your mind. But for now, commit to the goal you feel most motivated to work on during this period.
1.2 Identify learning moment.
With your selected goal in mind, identify the next opportunity that you can work towards your goal and receive feedback on your performance. We call this a learning moment. For example, if you are a student and want to be more persuasive, learning moments could include a class discussion or an essay assignment. But you could also identify a meeting of your student association or friend group. Any moment where you can practice and get feedback, is one where you can learn.
Step 2 （5mins）
Before your learning moment
2.1 What do you want to learn?
Looking back to your learning goal, formulate a specific version of it for the learning moment you have chosen. It doesn’t have to be S.M.A.R.T. but something you can get feedback on. For example, “I want to make at least one point in the next class discussion that others feel is persuasive”.
2.2 How will you practice?
A learning moment is a moment to practice, and you need to plan how to do that most effectively. Planning practice is more an art than a science and may require getting expert advice: from a teacher, mentor, Ted Talk, or AI chatbot. For example, ChatGPT advises that to be more persuasive, it can help to genuinely acknowledge the other side’s point of view. This could be something to practice in a class discussion.
Step 3 （5mins）
After your learning moment
3.1 How did it go?
This is the moment to write down your experience and any feedback you have gathered. How do you feel it went, and why? What does other feedback tell you, for example from classmates or teachers? If you have difficulty gathering feedback from others, try to prepare for it by asking them in advance (i.e. planning your feedback).
3.2 What will you do next?
Here you note down the lessons you can draw from your learning moment and practice attempts and what you will take away for the future. Do you want to keep working on the same goal? If not, which goal do you want to turn to? And what is the next learning moment you can plan for?
And you can continue this cycle as long as you’re motivated to learn!
Congratulations!
You have successfully started using our learning method. Did you find the exercise helpful? Was the reflection process easy? Remember that you will get the most out of this if you keep doing it and develop a habit.
You can learn more about all of this from our article collection.