“Sometimes when learning comes before experience it doesn't make sense right away.” Richard David Bach

Learning through teaching

Delegating and teaching new people - the best way to realise how much you know and to discover new and quicker ways of doing things. 

Those we instruct teach us as well. It's only when we show someone else how to do something that has become second nature that we realise how fast we do it, and realise that we aren't a beginner any more. 

Sometimes we are so focussed on catching up with the people who are ahead of us, that we don't realise how far we have come. It's only when we understand that we need to pause, and step back, to walk back and guide someone who is just starting the same journey that we can see the distance we have travelled. 

New people look at things differently; they see the same circumstances that we have become accustomed to through fresh eyes. Once we stand in their shoes, we can see the path from their point of view, and when we walk the path alongside them, we may see how we have been taking the long way round. If we are open to doing things differently, we may find that they can show us how we can do better. 

"While we teach, we learn" said the Roman philosopher, Seneca. While we teach, we realise what we need to learn through teaching. It goes both ways: the student teaches the master just as much as the master teaches the student. And everyone learns differently and at a different pace, so we can learn something new from each person we teach. This can open up a whole new perspective on our experiences. 

This is a wonderful idea and we should be open to hearing their thoughts, and listening to their ideas, because we never know what new insights we may gain. 

How can we learn if we don't open ourselves up? 

Purlgirl xx