298 Part V: Integrating Your Learning
Keep this information in mind as you choose your subjects for your personal
modelling activity. Ideally you should choose three different exemplars so
that you develop a robust model.
Modelling reminds you of the power of having a range of exemplars in your life
to show you the way in all kinds of activities. Kate had been attending yoga
classes for many years, studying with many teachers, and just assumed that
she was unable to stand on her head and achieve other more advanced postures,
because she lacked the natural flexibility of her more bendy teachers. When
she positioned her mat alongside Yvonne, a lady of similar age, Kate found a
better exemplar. By watching how Yvonne moved slowly and gracefully into
the more difficult postures, Kate tuned into Yvonne’s approach to health
(both in and beyond the classes), noticed her belief that it was fine to take
years if necessary to perfect her skill, watched the tiny postural adjustments,
and realised that she too could master the headstand and feel relaxed in the
posture.
This small success changed Kate’s belief about what her body was able to
learn. She paid more attention to the fine detail of other moves, relaxed into
developing her own practice, and let go of the belief that she had to compete
with other people in the class.
If you want to become competent at a relatively simple behavioural skill, such
as a dance move, find someone who’s recently learnt to do what you want
to do as one of your exemplars. Such a person offers a good starting point
because they’re consciously competent: that is, still aware of the learning
process they’ve been through and able to give you practical tips.
Modelling is a natural human talent
Modelling doesn’t have to be complicated. As a human, you’re a natural
modeller from the time you first look into your mother’s eyes as a baby and
recognise the power of a smile or gentle word, to when you follow in the
footsteps of teenage friends by wearing similar clothes or work colleagues
hooked on the latest technical gadget.
In meta-program terms (turn to Chapter 8 for more details), you’re continually
sorting for similarities and differences among the people you mix with,
moving towards some behaviours and away from others, testing out options
and looking for procedures to follow. You have extraordinary talents; walking
on two legs, eating, speaking, and reading this book, and all these everyday
behaviours require a multitude of unconscious microprocessing elements.
When you come to model an exemplar, you unpack, recognise, and model the
minute details of such processes in human behaviour, thought, and feeling.
