What Is Your Learning Style? Finding Your Productive Pulse
Have you ever wondered why you do the things the way you do? Have you noticed that certain tasks are easier for you to complete than others? Do you want to better know why the people around you do the things the way they do? Do you wonder why you seem to keep failing at something you really want? Why you struggle to start something or to keep something going? Why others do things differently when your way seems so much better? Have you ever found yourself stressed out and frustrated when doing a task that really isn’t difficult? Knowing your Learning Style is the answer.
Understanding this can/will be life changing – chances are, you are not living your natural learning style and/or surrounding yourself with the right people.
One way to learn what your soul understands (or how you are wired) is to know your Conative Learning Style and that is understanding how you naturally prefer to get things done. You see, when you don’t do things in a manner that’s natural to you, you get stressed out and frustrated.
Below are 10 ways your life and the lives of those around you will be better and more productive once you learn your/their Conative Learning Style!
- The next time you are in a group project, you will know what task to grab first.
- You’ll save time because you will quickly choose to do the things that come naturally to you (and if you don’t, you are taking away from someone who might want to do it and may do it better).
- If you plan to start a business, you will know the parts of the business you will do well and the parts of the business you need to have others run.
- When working on self-improvement, you’ll know ahead where you will struggle and be able to plan out strategies ahead of time giving you a higher chance of succeeding.
- You will better understand those closest to you and why they work the way they do.
- You’ll understand why you never finish a project or why you actually never start one and you’ll know what to do so that you can finish it.
- You know that your way might be best for you but might not be for others.
- When you need to get something accomplished, you will surround yourself with people of opposites. It might drive you insane, but you will be successful.
- You’ll seek guidance from people with opposite learning styles when you are frustrated at your pace or performance.
- You will be able to teach this to others!
SO…here are the details…
Conation is Latin “Conari” and is the 3rd part of your mind after thinking and feeling
It means to attempt to strive – It is your Will/Motivation/Drive
Simply Put – It’s how you are wired to tackle tasks or get things done.
This eye-opening information is based on the Kolbe Instinct Assessment A. After you’re done and find you want to learn even more about yourself (and I bet you will) – I encourage you to take this Instinct Assessment – (you can access it here). I’m telling you, you will be telling everyone about it!
So here we go! There are 4 Conative Learning Styles. While looking this over, number them 1-4, 1 being the Learning Style you are most like and 4 being the Learning Style you are least like. Chances are, you will see yourself a little in all 4 but 2 of them will stand out more and be natural to you.
- Quick Start – You want to take direct action, making discoveries and mistakes through trial and error. You are comfortable jumping right in and don’t really worry about the directions or written warnings.
- Fact Finder – You spend time (and like it) asking questions and learning about your topic/interest before doing it. You need information before you do most things. You are a planner and part of the fun is planning.
- Follow Thru – You are a methodical thinker. You like to set up files, reports or graphs and also like to make lists and check the list off as you complete a project. You like to make sure things continue once they’ve started.
- Implementer – You focus on physical objects, figure out things by building models or grabbing tools and learning through the building process instead of written directions. You are a hands-on learner…a show me person.
So, in order, what are your preferred learning styles? My #1, by far, is a Fact Finder. I’m a Follow Thru for #2. I can do my #3 Implementer when needed and I really struggle with my #4, Quick Start. Just knowing this is a great start to understanding yourself, your soul, your you, or whatever you call it. And, when you understand that, positive change is gonna come!
And that, my friend, is the first step. Understanding, in order, what your preferred Learning Styles are.
Knowing our Conative Learning Style and those of others impact all aspects of our lives.
Take our professional/educational/business/collaborating lives. When in this type of setting, the key to success is surrounding yourself with people who have a different Learning Style than you because you can work together to complete tasks.
You need the Quick Starter to get things started and he/will work so hard, that is, until burn-out kicks in. So, before that happens, the Fact Finder will step in, will do all of the planning, but will keep planning until that Follow Thru stops that, then take it and makes sure it’s continuing to move forward, and then, that Implementer will realize it’s just time to do this and will take everything and put it in into practice.
Often times, when new businesses fail, it is because the proprietor(s) weren’t surrounded by people who had different learning styles…and usually it is the Quick Starters who fail first…if they were Fact Finders, they’d still be researching the business (this is me and a sad, but true statement) and the Implementer and Follow Thru’s can’t do anything because they’re waiting for something to follow thru and implement lol!
So, that is the second step – Learning that to be successful you need to surround yourself with people of other Learning Styles.
I have an amazing friend. She is my Quick Start girl. She has started several businesses over the years. And, she just starts them – like has the idea one day and runs with it the next day kind of starts businesses. Several have failed and a few haven’t (she finds the follow thru boring). She’s not afraid to just go for it and learns by looking back and going, well, that was a bad idea!
True story here…I hadn’t talked to her in about 2 weeks (just 2 weeks!) and I run into a mutual friend who says, so when did Julie decide to open a restaurant? And I say wait, what? She doesn’t even cook! But her husband makes killer burgers and what do you know? About 3 months later, they opened a restaurant. Instead of planning it all out before starting, they just went for it. They took a financial risk, learned and made adjustments along the way; this time they teamed up with people of other learning styles and they are now wildly successful with 4 restaurants.
I admire her for so many things, but I really admire her for being able to just go for it. My Fact Finder self gets an upset stomach just thinking about starting something without having everything in place.
I really, really admire her for not stopping when her Quick Start self was over it, for stretching her limits, for working through that uncomfortable part of the implementing when she has to and for knowing when to get help and passing things on to other people. What’s clicked with her is that once one business gets going and running and she’s about to get bored, she has others help her run it and lets her quick start mind start planning the next one! Ahhh. The smell of success and being able to do what you love is sweet.
And there’s the third step – knowing that, at times, you will have to work out of your comfortable Learning Style zone.
Do you see how important knowing about yourself is? It’s so much more than Personal Development. It can mean living your true self and it can mean success.
I’d been planning on starting a blog for several years. Let me back it up for a minute…I’m a high school teacher and that’s my desire. However, I wasn’t living my passion and I’d been searching for it. I started to notice that people would often tell me I needed to start a blog…that I should be a life coach, that I have good ideas and I need to share them, that I need to sell my custom memory jewelry online and that I need to teach my mad DIY skills ;). That sounded so cool to me.
I love writing and I could help others through my trials and a gazillion (yes a gazillion) errors. I’d love to help others with Personal Development and share how life-changing it is when someone gets what their soul understands. It would be so fun to spark creativity in others or give plans for those who struggle with theirs. I could help others through grief and show them how to honor the people they have lost. I can share my eating healthy struggles (it’s REAL)- so many exciting things to teach and share!
BBBBuuuuuuttttttt, and that’s a big BUT…Did you notice that third word in the last paragraph…planning?
My friends wondered why I hadn’t started – they’d ask questions like, are you afraid of failure or, does it stem from your childhood? Nope, it’s not that deep. It’s me and my Fact Finder self. It’s what I do and what I do well. I’d been planning and planning and planning. Since my 4th Conative Learning Style is Quick Start – ugh…bottom of the list ugh, I just couldn’t seem to start.
I just can’t start something until I feel like everything is in place. And, it never is, so I just keep planning. Last year, I met with Julie in her office at her new restaurant…it’s already too small because they are still growing so fast, it’s somewhat chaotic and she has things on her desk she doesn’t even know what to do with…but you know what? She’s doing it. And, with a little bit of tough Quick Start love, she basically told me that I needed to start now. LIKE NOW. That no one is going to start it for me. That I can get help but that it is up to me to do that too.
Well, poop! She was right and I knew it. Time was flying by and I wasn’t. So, I started. And, I wake up every day, petrified of the unknown, of starting something new, of pressing a button before things are perfect.
I HATE learning through trial and error. But, I’m doing it. And, every time I start something new and conquer it, I realize I can do this. And, the times that I just can’t, I get help from the people who can get me past that quick start moment and into the Fact-Finding moment where I totally kick butt :), and then I fly!
So the 4th step – knowing when you need to seek guidance (or a kick in the butt) from someone close to you who has a different Learning Style.
Now, let’s move on to how our Conative Learning Styles impact our personal lives…
A LOT – especially with your family member/spouse/significant other who share your home with you. And, it might explain some things that are happening (or not happening) around your house. If you have the same learning styles, you’ll probably agree more on how to tackle tasks and that part is great!
But don’t get too excited yet. If you are all only Quick Start learners, you might struggle to finish a task or have a few unfinished projects around the house. Or, if you are only Fact Finders, you might not ever start those projects because you just keep planning/talking about them and how amazing they will be.
If working together is challenging, then you might have the opposite learning styles – it’s my life, so I’m an expert here. My husband and I don’t quite agree when to start projects or how to get things done and have had many lively discussions about this process. He is a Quick Start first (my 4) and I’m a Fact Finder (his 4). I need time to research everything, make lists and Pin a lot of ideas. He wants to see 1 pic and is ready to go.
Over the years I’ve learned some things about how to make it work…I now research before he even knows I’m thinking about it. I bring it up when I’m ready to go with my final decision, lists in hand and pic. Then, he just goes for it. When we have to modify (and we always do), it’s usually his Quick-Startness we need to fix it faster. Once the hard part (as he puts it) is done, then I step in and do the details and finish it up. So for us, using our different learning styles together on a project works…we work together, but on our own parts and help each other when needed.
As far as your friends go, having friends of all styles is good.
Having that friend who tackles life in the same way you do is that girl who, when you get together, you want to do the same things, in the same way, not much preparation needed with this GF and your friendship is so comfortable and easy. Having that friend who tackles life a little differently than you is that girl who can help you to get out of a funk, look at things differently and encourage you to do something that you might not normally do but might end up being good at or loving. She will also step in and help when you are struggling. She’s the one you have ROFL moments because you surprise each other and crack each other up.
And that’s a wrap with the 5th and last step – the more you understand your peeps learning style, the better relationships you will have.
Now that you know how you are wired to tackle tasks or get things done, remember, when doing something that takes a group, surround yourself with people who have a different learning style than you. And, when tackling tasks on your own, acknowledge, before you get started, where you know you will struggle and come up with a strategy to get you through.
You will learn so much more about yourself and those around you by taking the Kolbe Instinct Assessment A. I’m telling you – This. Changed. My. Life. I understand myself so much better, I am more successful and more content. AND, I understand the people around me so much more…from my peeps to my colleagues. You can access the assessment here!
Here’s to less stress and more success!
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For more tips on learning more about yourself, what you are meant to do, how you work, how to surround yourself with what you love and what is most important, check out some of my other posts below:
