My First Business : The Dots and The Connections

It’s been almost 19 years and I have never written about how I landed into my first business till now. I think I should write it down while remembering some key memories of the time. I was around 19 years old then, studying B.Sc. First Year in my hometown. It would be easy for me to talk about how passionate I was about doing the business but that would be a lie. Truth is, I started it out of necessity. I could do it because some dots were present at that time and I could connect them.

At that time, I was looking for ways to support my family, my ongoing degree education, and save for my post-graduation. Mere three-digit pension my mother used to receive was hardly covering the day-to-day expenses. To overcome this, I cancelled my admission to a reputed institution and decided to cut costs by continuing my studies in hometown. But cost-cutting was not enough.

Fortunately, the campus of my degree college and that of my earlier junior college where I completed my 12th was the same. During my 11-12th, somehow I earned local fame for a different way of thinking, learning, and also for my oratory skills. My batchmates and juniors used to call me ‘scientist’ while talking to each other. All of this had happened naturally and that wave was strong for a few more years and this proved really helpful to me.

So, I was in the B.Sc. First Year. Some of the 11th class students studying in the same campus knew me personally. They started to come to my home to ask their doubts. I have this habit where I  first find out what the student knows, and then I go on building upon it in the best possible way. Genuinely saying, I had no formal training of all this, but Maybe, having read too many fiction/non-fiction books during schooldays has helped. So the word about my ability to explain concepts in a way that helps students understand better and also enjoy studies started spreading.

During the same time, the education department was vigilant and was taking strict action against salaried (government grant) teachers involved in paid coaching. So there was a chance that students would flock if a good teacher presents them with an option. This opportunity was not directly visible to me first but became clear to me as it worked in my favor. (Later when those teachers started their coaching, I could maintain the first spot till the time I was operational.)

So, I decided to start a coaching. I named it ‘Drishti Study Centre’. Drishti means Vision. My belief that the right vision will help you learn anything better was the reason behind name. I chose Chemistry as a subject. I decided to use a 150 sq ft room in our house, which was a small shed on government leased land. The area and the locality were not favorable yet within the first three days room was packed (25-30 students could seat). From the fourth day we were in a rented hall with a capacity of 80-90 students and by end of the week over 200 students had registered with advanced payment.

How could Drishti Study Centre grow so quickly? I think the answer lies in the dots I explained in the above paragraphs which somehow got connected. The support of well-wishers was obviously a very important factor too.

I remember counting the first bundle of cash, First color TV, first CD player, first Fridge, first owned plot, first Bike in our family coming with that venture. I could support my own education and some more family responsibilities. I remember eating sweets in a hotel every day for many consecutive days only because I could not when I earlier wanted to. Many foolish dreams and foolish ways of completing them!

With time, I had to get a PAN number and pay excise duty/tax. I Was not aware of any business terms and legalities. (I even don’t understand many of them till date, but I  complied with them). Then in 2005, I had to plan for my M.Sc. I gradually closed the operation by carefully completing the syllabus for the last batch. Many of the students are still in touch and I am very proud to be part of their journey (though very small).

Though, my subjects in B.Sc. were Physics, Maths, and Electronics. I.e. my formal education in chemistry was of HSC level and I was about to teach Chemistry to HSC students. My students knew it yet trusted me with their learnings. Also, I didn’t consider it as my lacunae, instead, I think that it helped me to avoid information overload and I built the concepts bottom-up than top-down. along with that, While I was teaching Chemistry, I participated in most Chemistry competitions like quizzes, seminars, etc., and secured top ranks. It was helpful for me in two ways; increasing my chemistry knowledge and also establishing my authority in a subject. 

Coming to the point, I don’t want to lie by saying I had a plan. I didn’t. Even when I went on to start multiple ventures after my M.Sc., I don’t think I had a plan. All I had was courage and the ability to adapt quickly. First I started teaching because I needed money. The next time, I left a good salaried job and started teaching for much less because students needed it. And then, I Went on to spend most of my time as an activist and social entrepreneur.

Until a few years back, the practices, the vocabulary, and the community of the entrepreneurial world were unknown to me. I have started from scratch multiple times and never thought of ROI in some of the ventures. I went on to do something because it needed to be done; sometimes for me, sometimes for friends, and sometimes for society. If there is a person with the problem and if its solution is not going to bring profits, will that never be solved? I feel we all can take up such problems. TCO has always been an important metric for me. Not ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ but ‘Total Cost of Overlooking’.

Today, I understand the sustainability of the solution and hence, how business is important. As I am deep diving into the role of Product Owner and understanding the systematic methods of creating value, I feel confident moving forward. With the new insights, I keep on visiting my journey so far, not to regret but to analyze what knowledge at what point would have helped me make better decisions. But when I think about my first business, I wouldn’t change any bit of it.

Toast to everyone’s first business!

Finding peace this Republic Day, with Gandhi!

People of India, I don’t trust us. Or even our ability to think empathetically or to find pragmatic solutions. That is the realisation which compelled me to stop my initiative of giving better political candidature in my constituency. From then I have tried to focus on creating more job opportunities, improving access of quality education, providing farmers with alternative to loan sharks etc. But instead all my energy have been wasted by poor governance, kept so by political and bureaucratic system.

I don’t want to fight. For me, this is not about winning or losing. This is about finding peace.

May be here. Here Father of Nation is facing the Official Residences of many ministers.

I am starting my attempt to find peace at 12:00 am (midnight) on 26th January, 2022. Republic Day. The day I adore and pride more than Independence Day. Why is my peace lost? I am not worried about my future or yours. I know how to survive and my son will too. I am worried about the compromises he too will have to make to survive and grow. For many of you, this will sound absurd or weak. It doesn’t matter. I am not writing to convince anyone. I am just writing and recording it to put forth what my actions meant when you will try to interpret it as per your will.

Charkha

Happy Republic Day !

(I will be live at my YouTube Chanel https://youtube.com/c/rupeshghagiin if I feel the need.)

Update: 6:48 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): I have started my 24+ hours fast from 12:00 pm (noon) today. I am still wondering where is the source of apathy we observe in most politicians and bureaucrats. In selective scenarios, they know how to fake the empathy as rule of engagement. Where does the apathy and disregard for the constitution and deceit towards the oath come???

Update: 7:32 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Gandhiji is still here. Some cats have joined me, trying to rub their backs against my shoes and jeans. Will Google if it means something.

Update: 8:11 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Starbucks, Near Mantralaya): Need to charge the mobile. Having a cold coffee too. Gandhiji haven’t moved a bit when I left. Let’s see.

Update: 9:33 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Came back and Gandhiji is still here. Haven’t moved a bit. I have brought 2*1 litre of water, I think it will be sufficient. A lady who leaves at the corner of footpath have warned me about thieves here. I know, I said and thanked me. The traffic have decreased substantially but still more than what I am used to in my hometown.

Update: 10:05 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): The statue of Gandhi here is taller than some trees around and shorter than some. For some birds, round head is perfect spot to sit and shit. Hence the you can observe bird poop marks near his head. I think, instead of statue, if it was real Gandhi, still he wouldn’t mind the birds on the head. Brain keeps on wondering, I don’t have any plan to control it too.

Clicked on 21/01/22

Update: 10:43 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Just besides Gandhiji, there’s a statue of Jamsetji Tata. Lighting and overall maintenance is better there. But I am sure, Gandhi doesn’t care.

Statue of Jamsetji Tata near Mantralay, Mumbai

Update: 11:12 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): One of my favourite clip from any web series, I found that what the protagonist of series is talking about America there, similar are my thoughts about India. I saw it first around 3-4 of years ago and still watch it sometimes.


Clip from The Newsroom

Update: 11:50 pm, 25th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Traffic have lowered. The sound of JCB and other construction machines is stopped, temporarily, and started again as I am typing. I have doubts now, what am I going to say if at all we go live?

Update: 12:00 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Happy Republic Day. 73rd Republic Day, right? There is no change. Low but steady traffic continues. Gandhiji haven’t moved still. It’s 12 Hrs of fasting except for an espresso shot and a cold coffee.

Gandhiji on Republic Day (Night)

Update: 12:30 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): The corruption is not the problem to be solved. The Citizen Experience is. The files which should automatically move to next table are kept waiting with some expectations. We fight for why there is this expectation and real problem gets ignored. Question is how an officer or even minister seating on the pile of files without next appropriate action for months, even years? Solving this problem through acquaintance or greasing for individual files is what goes on but shouldn’t the system be free flowing by it’s intrinsic nature?

Update: 12:33 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Let’s start walking towards Hutatma Chauk (Fountain). Gandhi is universal. In addition, may be it’s time to take the advice of martyrs of Sanyukt Maharashtra Samiti.

Update: 01:00 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Churchgate Station): So I am taking a rhythmic walk, lisning to ‘Shrivalli’ song from Pushpa. I stopped to take few clicks of Churchgate Station. It’s shining with TriColour lighting.

Churchgate Station
Churchgate Station

Update: 01:30 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hutatma Chauk – Fountain ): The fountain is under maintenance. The statue of Hutatma (Hutatma Smarak) is not moving. The flame is continuously burning with ‘Jay Maharashtra’ written in backdrop. Will the flame ignite enough willpower? It’s 13.5 Hours of Fast along with almost 5 km of walking. May be it’s time to rest now.

Fountain
Hutatma Smarak
Flame

Update: 02:05 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): Have never taken bath at this time before. Feeling good. It’s 14 hours of fasting now. I guess this was easy part. Let’s see how it proceeds. Momentarily, had this thought that should I extend my fast to help other people like me, facing apathy from government and delay in routine work. But priorities are clear now, will not do that voluntarily. On one side the story of fast (this is practice for longer one that may be needed soon) continues, on other I need to tell the story of a file. Let’s do it slowly, after few days.

Update: 09:15 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): I just woke up a little while ago. It’s 21 hours of fast.

Update: 10:00 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): Google gave Republic Day doodle on search/home page.

It’s 22 hours of fast now. 24 seems possible. Let’s see how far can we go.

Google Doodle Today

Update: 11:30 am, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): Astonishingly, I am not feeling hungry. It’s almost 24 hours of fasting. Tried to meditate but focus lasted for very short.

I am thinking, injustice takes away your peace. When you are subjected to injustice, and you stay silent because you want to be peaceful, the peace gets lost like forever. Instead confronting it and fighting is better. This will also take away peace but won’t disintegrate your persona and you can again go back to peace. But my quest is more, ‘How can I be peaceful even when I am confronting the injustice?’

Update: 3:52 pm, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralaya): Just came here again. Spent last few hours reading and walked here. Gandhiji is still here. Almost 28 hours of fasting now. I think I can go on. Actually, I should go on.

Charkha with Gandhiji in background

Update: 4:55 pm, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Fountain): I think a walk of 3 km was bad idea. Energy needs to be conserved. It’s 29 Hours of Fasting. Yesterday, I had coffee. From 9:00 pm yesterday, it’s only water. I am feeling somewhat peaceful but I think it’s misleading. Low energy might be slowing my thoughts.

Update: 5:32 pm, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Starbucks Kalaghoda): Having iced tea. Have to take decision on the fast whether to continue and for how long. An observation, on glimpse of food item, there is automated craving 😀. System 1 thinking I guess.

Update: 5:55 pm, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): Came back to hotel. This post is getting so long that hardly any one will read. Some people might reach till here if something happens and they want to know more. (Tell me in comment if you really cared to read till here. 😀)

Update: 8:35 pm, 26th January 2022, Mumbai (Fountain Inn Restaurant): So finally out to eat. Peace? Not so sure yet. But strength is needed tomorrow. Strength is needed for WAR.

Update: 12:02 am, 27th January 2022, Mumbai (Hotel Flora Fountain): Fasting is not as difficult as ending it.

Update: 10:35 am, 27th January 2022, Mumbai (Fountain): Gandhi came to visit. Just came out of room to see this. Today is special I guess.

Book Stall

Update: 10:59 am, 27th January 2022, Mumbai (Near Mantralay): Reached. Planning to seat here for long time.

For years, I have been thinking of founding a forum for improving Citizen Experience. That will make sure that no work stays pending and report cards of departments are created based on citizen inputs. I have some idea of how to do it. I had decided against the idea when I stopped politics and activism. May be this another episode of excitement and it will pass. I will keep waiting to see if Gandhi moves.

Gandhiji, Gandhiji…
Just for record.

Update: 4:58 am, 28th January 2022, Mumbai (Airport): Just boarded the Nagpur flight. Enjoyed a great breakfast at Airport Lounge. A lot have happened yesterday. A long pending work is now done yet I am not sure if to forget all the trouble, struggle to move on or to remember and find fight so that no one else suffers the same. Peace is subjective. And it’s not constant.

Learning to Learn

Some days back, I saw a teacher using animation to teach how the human heart works. Now-a-days there are many new apps coming to the market, providing such animated/video content for visualization of various concepts. Majority of the teachers, students and parents are in awe of the ease of digital learning in the form of audio-visual content. But I sense few problems here and would like you to understand it so as to avoid its ill effects.

We must embrace digital technology for its many benefits such as all time availability, wider reach, compact storage etc. But if the approach is not right, students may miss some of the golden benefits of learning. I still remember how I learnt ‘working of the human heart’ during my school years. The experience is still very strongly imprinted in my memory. One of the ‘AHA’ moments of my learning I will never forget. I will use this example to make my case.

Source: Pixabay

I had this habit of trying to read things and try to understand before they are taught in school. So I was reading the sentences and then was trying to understand it using the diagram given in the same book. Slowly, I was building the whole picture. I was using my imagination to visually recreate the working of the heart in mind. I was connecting the part read and understood with new information coming in with each statement. If, at times, I struggled to understand a few lines, I would go further with the awareness of what is missing. If I could understand the next portion, I would find the context to understand earlier lines. Taking effort to read and make sense of it, build context from other parts of text, use other available tools to construct meaning… I would use it all during my studies. At the end, when I could understand the concept and see the whole picture, it was the most beautiful feeling. Maybe an AHA moment as people call it. I am aware of the use of these strategies by me from the age of 13–14 at least. Gradually, I improved in use of these strategies further.

I forgot how the human heart works in the next few years, apart from a few things. As new information and learning’s come in, our memory discards some old unused, unrevised information to make space for new. Most of us forget. Then what is the purpose of learning it in the first place? For me, I forgot the facts. But I learned how to think, how to read, how to make sense of new information, how to build complete pictures from many small connected bytes of information from the same topic and it stayed with me forever. I am happy I didn’t see any animation or gulp in the versions understood by my teacher at first. Because, not everything you learn stays with you, but your learning of how to learn will stay with you. Slowly, when you narrow down on your field or subject, many of the things you learned will fall out of relevance. But never the training of how to think.

Autobiographer of Albert Einstein, Denis Brian, tried to put Einstein’s view on education in the following words, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” I agree with Einstein with my experience. I now realize, when people defend the importance and benefits of education, I should ask what they mean by education. Mere learning of facts won’t make a good person or professional.

Education, when done right, has the potential to help us achieve much more. But isn’t it the time we revisit our beliefs about what education is and what should be our approach about it?

I should not forget to mention the role of motivation here. The AHA moments are addictive. If we know what is expected of us as learners, and we achieve it with our efforts, the sense of accomplishment activates the reward circuits in our brain. The associated interplay of chemicals and experiences in our brain imprints a memory of pleasure and we can get it. Result? We have motivation to repeat that experience. That’s the motivation to study.

In my experience, to understand the knowledge structure of any concept or subject, we should avoid trying to download someone else’s understanding as it is. The byte sized information, served gradually, allowing the learner to make sense out of it, to create meaning and build the knowledge structure by herself/himself is important.

Get Rumified

“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.”

Rumi. His every word, every thought touches something very deep inside me. Is it because it’s very real or is it because it’s surreal ? Is it because it’s very comforting or is it because it’s unsettling ? Is it because it’s very true or is it because it’s beyond the truth ?

Rumi is reminder that everyone of us is bigger than we are, yet a small part of what we can be.

Remember, you are everything you are and everything you can be. Be the universe !

Luck Surface Area

‘Luck Surface Area’ is great concept modelled by Jason Roberts.

Surface Area of Luck

The formula is Luck Surface Area = D x T, where D is doing and T is telling. We can increase our chance of serendipity by doing and telling. We are increasing the probability of good thing falling in our yard by increasing its area. It makes sense actually.

Do great things and in great way. Network and tell people about you, your vision and work you do. By doing and telling, you are preparing yourself to make most out of the next opportunity coming your way. In Oprah Winfrey words, luck is preparation meeting moments of opportunity. So all the best to you for increasing surface are of your luck.

5 LIFE LESSONS FROM MY SHORT STINT OF BIRDWATCHING

Birdwatching, a key highlight of 2021 for me. Learning and experience of it went on to help me personally as well as professionally.

By casual observation, I used to feel that there are some 15-20 bird species observable around my house (100-200 meters radius). I didn’t know names of those species or their characteristics. At the start of 2021, equipped with Canon EOS 1500D mounted with 55-200m lense and the Merlin App/Google Lense App and leveraging work from home, I started my Birding/Birdwatching journey.

This is what I observed and what I learned from it:

(1) Observation: Though being very casual, I captured (in camera) 47 species of birds by July 2021. I observed but could not capture Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Common Crow and couple more whose names are unknown to me.

Learning: Gut feel do not give you actual picture. In business and othe critical scenarios, we should not conclude based on gut feel but should analyse based on data.

(2) Observation: I used to capture photo, then use AI in above mentioned app to approximate species and identify by comparing features from trusted resources. Still, for some of the species I took a week for confirmation.

Learning: Technology have come a long way. We need to appreciate the super-capabilities we have today. I tried to imagine a time where Ornithologists had to rely on very big hard bound encyclopaedia and telescope only. (I can’t express the profoundnesses in words. Hope you will imagine and understand.)

(3) Observation: With time, I wanted to get better in names of the species, their characteristics, what are different features of bird called etc. Vocabulary (a bit of it) of the domain helped me interact with content and experts in systematic way. This helped me with the next bird I observed.

Learning: Every domain have its own vocabulary, rules and structure. Getting familiar with it helps us learn better and faster. Otherwise context and coordination takes more time of consumption of content than actually understanding it.(even in meetings 🙂 )

(4) Observation: As I started and continued Birdwatching, slowly my family members too started taking interest. They would ask me to to share my learnings. They would spot birds for me and bring to my attention. Even my 2 year old would spot birds while playing outside or while watching outside window and call me to click photos.

Learning: Our enthusiasm positively affects people around us and they try to participate. When peers actively participate, imparting learnings to each other becomes easy. Learning together is more effective than teaching and our unpretentious demeanour with inquisitive mind can help form community at work.

(5) Observation: Birdwatching became hobby and I started to take out some time for it deliberately. Even when there was a stressful phase and some lingering problems, I could find some time for birdwatching. I would forget the problem for some time and it had rejuvenating effect. That helped me to understand actual priority of problem by having high level view and solve problems efficiently with fresh creative thinking.

Learning: We get fixated on challenges and problems. But defocus and distraction are important to be able to focus with fresh perspective and tackle the problem from new angle. Problems (and even solutions) are a very very small part of our life. Life is beautiful and being aware of it makes us be good and do better at work too.

Many of the very difficult problems have simple solutions and they exist right under our nose. Defocusing the mind once in a while and giving time to ‘unimportant’ things helps.

(You can see all the birds I could capture at https://rupeshghagi.in/category/birds-in-the-neighborhood/)

5 insights for learners: Things which help me with frequent domain/career change

2021 was another eventful year for me, highlight being my midlife career change.

After founding MAXIMESS (IT Services/ Digital Product Engineering Company) in 2009, I went on to found educational institute and worked in education domain for over 10 years. Meanwhile I co-founded a school and a co-operative credit society too. I was also active in social activism and experienced grassroots of our democracy by contesting state assembly election twice. So along with my primary work of teaching students and mentoring my colleagues in all my ventures, I have been doing many things here and there. At the start of 2021, considering the opportunities in front of MAXIMESS and my hunger for adventure, I decided to start actively working in IT as my primary work.

Couple of days back MAXIMESS turned 13. Now its around 10 months from when I actively started working in IT and started exploring the domain. Here, I am sharing my learnings in hope that it will help someone like me into similar transitions into any domain. ‘Self Regulated Learning’/‘Independent Learning’ is a skill which will help you in every industry, every demography and every era. To do that, I have learnt that when you start exploring a territory unknown to you, letting your curiosity be stronger than the doubt and using common sense to avoid critical mistakes puts you at advantage. Moreover, your ‘enthusiasm and motivation’ helps you make up for ‘lack of knowledge and expertise’.

I have always used following strategies to learn and to do better (it is not by design for this assignment, but crux of my lifelong learning across various domains and ventures):

1. Zoom In – Zoom Out: Attention to details at every level is important. Understanding the parts and how they connect to make the whole is right way to learn and think. I use this to understand verticals and horizontals of our organisation, skillsets and mindsets individuals, tools and processes used to deliver value etc and how it forms the organisational structure and culture.

Think it like zooming in and out on google map. When you zoom in you study a small area in very much detail and then you zoom out to see how it fits into bigger one. Do that systematically and you understand the whole.

2. Listen Actively – Ask Right Questions: There a lot you can learn from your peers. I took time top attend meetings of different groups/teams and also had one-on-one meetings with different stakeholders. Actively listening helps you understand things deeply, go beyond what is verbally said, ask short right questions to know more and thereby helping everyone (including yourself) with new insights.

Compulsive behaviour of speaking too much to impress or being absent minded in discussion, are roadblocks in learning and also toxic for team imany ways. Deliberate efforts towards active listening and developing habit of asking right questions minimally for eliciting more relevant information helps everyone.

3. Observe Parallels – Embrace New: Core domain ‘Knowledge’ varies from industry to industry but the ‘Wisdom’ is mostly permeating across all domains. From subject to subject or from industry to industry, I always find that some things are same and for some there are parallels. So you never start from scratch when you venture into new role or domain. This ready structure then helps you absorb the new knowledge.

Your ability to observe carefully and subtly validate your understanding is going to definitely help. That gives you the much needed confidence while walking into the unknown and embracing new knowledge, skills to make it your own.

4. Read – Learn: Continuous learning is important to reach the desired expertise and to excel. Apart from the sources mentioned above, reading blogs/books and going for some relevant courses will complement your journey. This should become a habit. If it’s not yet, start small but start now.

Newton used to say, ‘I could see farther by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ Staying updated of the existing knowledge will help you understand what new can be built and how existing can be made better. Reading and learning are the ways of standing on shoulders of giants.

5. Fast and Slow Thinking – Metacognition: Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman talks about two systems of thinking, system 1 is fast and automatic whereas system 2 is slow and deliberate. I have observed that when we do some thought-based work for first time, we use system 2. But when we do same work over and over, with awareness, it slowly becomes a system 1 work for us. Example, I learned driving using system 2 but now, for most of the time it’s being done by system 1. My mind know the situations where system 2 have to kick in. System 2 needs more energy and have to be wisely used.

Awareness about these two ways of thinking and ability to use it wisely is helpful. To be able to think about your thinking or know about the knowledge is metacognitive ability. Metacognition is learners one of the superpowers.

I am sure you this insights and skills will help you as they have helped me.

5 things to do to become an independent learner!

Become An Independent Learner !

As a learner gradually proceeds towards higher education, one factor that greatly impacts her(/his) academic success is the self-regulation acquired and practiced. You might not be familiar with the terminologies used by the experts, but we all have experienced the power of simple acts of taking active control of our studies. The dream of ‘affordable quality education for all’ seen by founding fathers of our republic and reiterated by policymakers can definitely be realised when every ‘student’ becomes ‘an independent learner’.

Obviously, independent learning is a superpower to be earned by systematic practice and persistence. (No, there is no genetically modified super-spider which can make you a super with a bite.). Subsequently, I will write about how to address this magical transformation subtly yet efficiently. Till then,

5 things to do to become independent learner

5 things to do to become an Independent Learner!

  1. Change of Perspective: Your learning takes place in your mind and no-one else has better access to your mind than ‘You’. So it is ‘you’-’the learner’ who is incharge of your own learning and academic progress. So take the initiative. Obviously, you can seek help from teachers, mentors, peers etc as per your discretion.
  2. Thinking about thinking: All of us talk about thinking of something or understanding a concept. We rarely try to understand ‘understanding’ or think about ‘thinking’. This higher order thinking skill is called metacognition i.e. awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes. It helps learners to see the bigger picture.  
  3. Learner’s ToolKit: There are various methods of reading, note-taking, studying, scheduling and every other aspect of learning. Good amount of research is available to tell you what are the benefits associated with each, but your own experience will tell you better. Remember, best methods vary with subject, standard etc.
  4. Marshall the resources: Plenty of resources are available for studying, from free to premium. Even the books you have, notes you prepare, questions you solve etc are part of it. Proper indexing with useful summaries of where to find what will be useful. Otherwise the more you study, the greater is the danger of getting lost in chaos.
  5. Channelizing emotions: Inability to handle own emotions is one of the major causes of below par performance for professionals, sportsmen and also learners. Puberty is the most challenging time of once life in this sense. Learning to channelize the emotional energy in order to continue studying under any circumstances is must. 

Mastering self-regulation to become an independent learner is the most important thing you should do. Step out of your comfort zone, keep learning and keep learning about learning.

All the best !

(Note: This is my old blog post, published on one of the websites I am associated with.)