Sean D'Souza: Listen, learning is as easy as a walk in the park

Imagine I told you I could give you 400 hours of time. Time you could spend doing nothing but learning. Learning a new skill. Or getting relevant information.

But where could you get 400 hours of undisturbed time? In your car, that's where.

Take the time to learn while you're on the road, rather than just listening to the idiotic drivel on the radio.

You don't need to hear the latest news. You don't need to hear Chopper Dave as he gives you the traffic report. You don't need to listen to the blathering of yet another politician.

What you need to do is improve your skills, while on the move.

Now, you may consider yourself a "non-audio" person. In fact, it's more than likely that some of you don't really like to listen to information on audio. You'd prefer to read a PDF, or a book, or watch a video. You like to take notes while learning. And if you're driving, you can't possibly do that, can you?

Here's my answer to your question. You don't have to write down a word. You just have to listen. And then play the audio back on the next trip. And the next trip. And, as you guessed, the next trip as well.

When I started out in business, I'd listen to the same audio as many as 50 times. Yes, that tape (we had tapes then, remember?) wouldn't even flip to side B. Side A would play on and on endlessly.

And there's a reason for this endless loop.

You used this concept when you learned a language as a child. You heard the word "carbon" for instance, and you had to hear it several times, and then with reference to several other objects and situations, before you could accurately associate the word "carbon" with its right meaning and usage.

Every time I was listening to the tape, I wasn't necessarily hearing the same information. I was creating new associations. I'd hear things I missed the first time. I'd hear things I'd misunderstood because I couldn't take in all the information all at once. The more I listened the better I got at understanding the concepts of business.

Every person who drives, or goes for a walk, or spends his/her time huffing and puffing should improve their skills by listening to audio.

But all I ever hear are excuses. People tell me why they can't do this, and can't do that.

Well, I've heard all the excuses. And if you're driven enough, you can put those excuses in the trash can, and make sure it goes out on garbage day. Because the excuses are costing a lot.

Consider that a full day live workshop is often no more than six hours long, and most people drive about two hours every day. This means they're driving about 12 hours a week. That's two workshops a week. If you were to work only 35 weeks out of 52 weeks in a year, you'd be doing the equivalent of 70 days of workshops.

You see, you do have time.

But your excuses are bigger than your time. And if you can sidestep that mountain of excuses you'll have more time than ever before, and here's why:

* You'll make use of all that time you've been wasting.

* You'll learn so much that you'll run your business using smarter techniques, thus saving even more time.

Are you ready to turn the channel to expertise?

P.S. I don't drive much any more. A tank of petrol lasts me well over a month (sometimes two). That's because my office is less than seven minutes from my home. So here's what I do. I walk.

I am now learning Spanish and French at the same time. I have no time in the day to do it because I am reasonably busy. So when do I learn the languages? Yes, when I'm off for my walk, over the hill and down to the beach.

I realise that if I miss my walk, I not only miss my exercise, but I also miss the learning.

If you're serious about becoming an expert, move to audio. And do some activity while listening to audio. And watch how you become an expert while doing something else.

You can get Psychotactics podcasts from www.psychotactics.com/blog (they're free). Or you can subscribe via iTunes (type in the keyword Psychozingers). Then subscribe, and put all the audio into a playlist and then get driving. Or walking. Or both.

Sean D'Souza is chief executive of Psychotactics and is an international author and trainer.

www.psychotactics.com