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The Art of Learning and Self-Development: Your Competitive Edge

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The top achievers learn the most and apply what they learn; therefore, there is no skill, information, or lesson more vital than learning how to learn.

This book is a must-read for business executives, entrepreneurs, people interested in personal development, trainers, teachers, and students. We live in a world where, more and more, we succeed based on what we know rather than what task we perform.  Authors, Jim Stovall and Ray Hull, PhD are lifelong learners and teachers of successful best practices across a wide spectrum of topics including learning and education. Read this book to understand more about the ways people learn Universal in appeal and highly accessible, this book acts as a spotlight on the truth that there is no one seeking any goal who doesn't need to learn how to learn !

192 pages, Hardcover

Published December 12, 2017

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191 people want to read

About the author

Jim Stovall

174 books165 followers
Jim Stovall has been a national champion Olympic weightlifter, the President of the Emmy Award-winning Narrative Television Network, and a highly sought after author and platform speaker. He is the author of the best selling book, The Ultimate Gift, which is a major motion picture starring James Garner and Abigail Breslin. He is also author of The Ultimate Life and The Ultimate Journey, which have inspired another major motion picture to be released September 2013.
Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes magazine, says, “Jim Stovall is one of the most extraordinary men of our era.”    
For his work in making television accessible to our nation’s 13 million blind and visually impaired people, The President’s Committee on Equal Opportunity selected Jim Stovall as the Entrepreneur of the Year.  He was also chosen as the International Humanitarian of the Year.

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for عبدالإله العمار.
231 reviews402 followers
July 21, 2021
كتاب جميل وخفيف ومهم
يتضمن مقدمات حول التعلم وأهميته والدماغ وآلية عمله ثم يدخل في وصف ممتد حول آليات التعلم الذاتي وكيفية تحصيله ومواجهة عوائقك في سرد لطيف
تمنيت لو كان الكتاب أكثر تنظيما وقد شابه شيء من التشتت في العرض، ولكنه رائع في الجملة وأنصح به
Profile Image for Carter Hemphill.
404 reviews6 followers
September 16, 2019
This is a strange hybrid of book with chapters alternating between Jim Stovall and a neurologist. I found the sections with Jim Stovall to be shallow and often an excuse to praise his own career successes. While I admire his rise to fame and overcoming the stigma and physical challenges of being blind, he all too often mentions all the books he's published and the movies made from his books. The self-promotion is too much. As for the other author, I found his contribution to be more compelling, although it's frustrating to have the final conclusion be that there is not any particular "art" to learning -- everyone must learn how their brain prefers to learn. The takeaway is shallow, given the potential with the title. Avoid this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Dustyloup.
1,323 reviews8 followers
September 12, 2021
In some ways, just a mishmash of ideas you've heard before regurgitated by someone with an inflated ego and his neurologist buddy. And yet, these ideas seem so easy and redundant but they are not easy to apply! It's the kind of thing that you have to keep hammering into yourself, especially if life has knocked you down a time or two! I'm sure there are much better books out there on this topic. I took a MOOC called Learning how to learn, which this book has inspired me to return to for resources and meatier content. Now I'm really looking forward to finally reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success!

If you know what motivates you, you can learn anything! But sometimes the things that motivate us are buried in our subconscious or based on fears and not really on passion, so be careful with this advice.
Take advice from people who "have what we want" - I know that this author and the vision that he has and the mentors that he references (Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, etc.) does not align with my vision of the world, but because of this, the book helped me finally see why it is important to have people that you admire / know who your heros are so that you can learn from people who have what you want/have a vision of the world you respect and aligns with your values.

It was interesting to listen to the example of someone seeing fly-fishing for the first time and being motivated and rushing out to learn more. First time I'd really been able to visualize something like that and I was able to imagine myself finishing a big crochet shawl and having the level of mastery to be able to read any pattern and that felt inspiring!
"What do you understand?" is a much more powerful question than "do you understand?"
I've definitely been in a situation where someone asked me if I understood and I either *thought* I understood, but didn't really, or knew I didn't understand and could not even explain what I did not understand. Really bad question, just like "Is everything clear?"

Be sure to look at your life and ask yourself WHY / aka de-construction. (why do you have that job, live where you live, friends/spouse, etc)
This goes back to understanding. Without an understanding of why you've made the choices you've made so far in your life, you won't be able to learn and grow from them!

“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching!”
Teach & mentor others so you can learn better!
The world is in motion; so are you. Make adjustments & corrections to your course because the “road” isn’t always smooth. That's why continuous learning is so important, so that you can adapt to bumps in road. Too many people let failure determine the outcomes in their life - Remember: postponing, stepping back and failing are not bad!!
We can learn things even from movies or romance novels, dinner table conversations - just need to appropriate balance.

“Yes you can” / “No I can’t” – story of Christopher who couldn’t tie his shoes or walk up stairs – His story is a reminder that limitations set by others and self are just excuses. Your dreams are in your reach:
1- There is no such thing as an insignificant person
*Tying shoes & climbing stairs seem like nothing, but it’s courageous!
2- There is no such thing as an insignificant relationship
*Each relationship is important!
3- There is no such thing as an insignificant day
*Live in the present moment so you can be open to learn

Even if you don’t have money to attend classes/go to college, you can still observe and learn, you just need to be open to lessons because teachers are everywhere: “School is always in session, be sure you’re paying attention”
Example of a child going to the grocery store with a parent (learning about money, available foods, etc). Same is true for you going about your day. Remember, many avenues lead to learning!

Using what we learn = cognition! / applying it to enhance our life or others’.
Positive feelings enhance creativity, helps solve problems, be creative. Happiness allows you to access information (xref The Tao of PoohTao of Pooh)

End Goal of learning: Capacity to purposely generate new solutions / apply meaning
Developing adaptive expertise depends on:
1- A Well organized knowledge base
2- Strategies for problem analysis and transformation
3- Meta-knowledge : underlying factors about ones own thinking & emotions
4- Self regulatory skills: Controlling our own emotions and ability to stick to tasks and complete them
5- Positive beliefs about oneself, the subject, and the context
The goal of learning is not only to develop knowledge, but also the thinking strategies and the emotional understanding & skills to use them in routine or novel contexts.

Other tips, etc:
Write down goals you want to achieve/aka plans that you have. Having Learning Goals help us continue the adventure of learning
Apply what you learn! Learning without an outlet is a dead end.
Hey, did you know that the author is blind and has read a book a day via high speed audio? Not sure if you got that ha ha!
Profile Image for Jerome Shaw.
70 reviews3 followers
March 23, 2023
Timeless lessons on learning and why it is a lifelong endeavor. Class is always in session in a world where anything and anyone can be your teacher. Loved the breakdown of the internal process of learning, as well as the stories from the Author. Who, despite his blindness, has been able to accomplish wonders through faith and never ending self-education. Recommend for wisdom seekers and students of life. 👍🏾
Profile Image for Melody L.
180 reviews
May 7, 2022
I was hoping this would offer some insights about best practices in learning and retaining information.

While it touched on those things, it mostly focused on the value of learning.

Anecdotes about being a lifelong learner. Stories about continuing education as a direct correlation to future success.

Preaching to the choir my friend.
Profile Image for مجاهد الغيث.
1 review
July 4, 2022
كتاب لطيف، عبارة عن معلومات اثرائية جميلة وقصص رائعة وقليل من المعلومات

ركز كثيرا على التحفيزا ويبدو انه يريد حقاً غرس اهمية التعلم لدى القارئ، كما يعاب على الكتاب عدم ترتيب المعلومات، حاسني يروح ويرجع

بالنسبة لي تمنيت لو احتوى معلومات عملية اكثر تسهل عملية المتعلم في التعلم

يستحق القراءة لمن يرغب في زيادة اهمية التعلم ،
Profile Image for Missy Davis.
115 reviews3 followers
October 26, 2022
I’d give this book a 3.5 actually. There were a few quotable nuggets, but overall it felt disorganized and/or unclear who the intended audience is. It generally was common sense kind of things, with very little about the actual nature and practice of learning. I always enjoy an inspiring story and one of the authors is blind but a successful entrepreneur, so I did enjoy hearing his story.
Profile Image for Santosh Durgavajjala.
61 reviews1 follower
January 30, 2021
Found interesting, quick read. Has lot of facts to digest, some technical information w.r.t. neuro science. But loved the personal testimonies of the author that there are no limits to learning and it can change the fate of self and others around us
Profile Image for Fahad AlQareaa.
2 reviews1 follower
January 1, 2021
كتاب رائع وانصح كل شخص ينوي القراءة عن التطوير و التعليم الذاتي يبدء بهذا الكتاب الذي سيمهد لك الطريق.
Profile Image for Natalie.
19 reviews2 followers
May 1, 2021
If you want to win, you have to lose first. Great Book 👍
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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