they often seem to be unready to learn? The chances are that you will
probably have begun to appreciate that it is nearly all to do with your
emotional or physical state. If you are tired or angry, hungry or dis-
tressed, too cold or too hot, you will not be in a state to learn. If you
are being forced to do something when you are overwhelmed by some
other issue, it can be hard to be ready to learn. If your body is out of
condition, that also may have a bearing on your performance.
Being ready to learn is the part of the process of learning to
learn that is most often overlooked. It is what Dr. Javier Bajer, chief
executive of the Talent Foundation, calls being “primed” to learn.
The analogy could not be clearer. When you are painting bare wood
you need to smooth it and prepare it—prime it—before you start
painting. If you don’t, the paint won’t stick properly. It is the same
with learning: You need to be primed to learn or the learning won’t
stick. In fact, it will roll over you like water off a duck’s back. This
is why so much conventional training is a waste of money.
Recall the day in the life of Annie’s brain and the way that
Annie settled people at the start of the meeting. She was con-
sciously trying to put them in the right emotional state from the
beginning.Checking your emotional readiness
How emotionally ready are you to learn right now? How many of the following questions can
you normally answer “no” to?1 Are you feeling distressed?
2 Are you often too worried about your family to concentrate?
3 Are you often too worried about your work to concentrate?
4 Do you often feel bad about yourself?
5Have you lost your sense of curiosity?
6 Are you normally too tired to concentrate?
7 Are you completely turned off learning and training?
If you answered “yes” to more than one of these questions, you may
well have some work to do before you are ready to learn! Or it mayGetting Ready to Learn 35