How I Turn From Learn Nothing to Learn Everything

There's a Zen story in which a professor visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor's cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table.

"The cup is full!" said the professor. "No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," said the master, "You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

If you want to understand and learn, you need to empty your cup.  So how do people empty their cup when they go for training courses?  From experience in conducting in-house trainings for over 440 companies and over 81,131 people in 14 countries since 1996, there are 7 ways to empty your cup:  (click here for list of courses) (For slides, read here)

1. Learn with an Open Mind. Do not hold any fixed ideas before the course.  Like the parachute, the mind is only useful when it is open.  Opening your mind also means do not have expectations that are beyond what the course title or synopsis says.  
2. Ask Questions.  Ask questions to clarify what is being taught, but do not question the trainer, question his material instead.  You should ask questions along the way and not leave it to the end.  Also, you can ask questions with your body language too, like shrugging your shoulders or opening your eyes wide with bewilderment.  
3. Be Curious. Do not jump the gun and conclude, but be keen to find out what the trainer says
4. Be Patient.  Do not jump the slides and instead let the course materials slowly unfold. Most trainers have a flow in their content and it's best to get into their flow to have deeper understanding
5. Note Your Thoughts.  Samsung Galaxy Note 4's slogan is "Do you note?"  Do not take notes on whatever the speaker says, but take notes on whatever you think about what the speaker says.  That is ultimate learning
6. Be Humble.  Even if you are very senior and know more than the speaker, you can still learn from him.  At the minimum, you can learn what are the ways NOT to do something
7. Institutes of Higher Learning.  Most tertiary institutions are considered institutes of higher learning, but our own mind is already the institute of higher learning, as long as we know that the more we know, the less we know.   Related articles:

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