Learn New Material More Easily With This One Tip

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Proof that the more you are self motivated to learn something the more you will remember it:

 

 

A new study, published October 2, 2014 in Neuron, found that having INTRINSIC MOTIVATION in the form of curiosity, not only allows you to enhance your learning of key information but also of non-crucial, incidental information presented at the same time.

In other words, being curious about learning something enhances your absorption and ability to master the information you were curious to learn AND even non-related information alongside it.

 

Curiosity about life in general enhances your experience of life itself, opening you up to new things and enhancing your ability to absorb it.

Study details:

 

  • Participants ranked how curious they were to specific subject topics, and then were given a series of questions in a quiz format, along with random images of faces that were displayed in between the trivia question and the being given the correct answer.
  • Participants were then given a surprise assessment test at the end, in recalling faces… the recall of these randomly assigned faces was much higher when correlated with waiting for the correct answer to a question that the participant had previously ranked as a topic they were highly curious about.
  • Participants recalled significantly more answers to questions that they were highly curious about than answers to questions they ranked as having low curiosity to.
  • Participants recognized the faces better when they were encoded during states of high curiosity than when the faces were encoded during low- curiosity states.
  • Participants also underwent MRI imaging of the brain to identify areas of the brain that are activated during their states of heightened curiosity.
  • The results of the trivia and facial recall tests mirror the physical changes in the brain during this activity: researchers found that when participants were engaging their curiosity, there was increased activity in the hippocampus (which is a part of the brain that formulates new memories) along with greater interaction between the hippocampus and the dopaminergic circuit.
  • This shows that the physiological function of the brain changes when the material a person is focusing on is one that they are curious about learning, as opposed to material they have low curiosity about.
  • Not only does the brain allow for learning of self motivated material better, but it even allows better recall of ancillary information presented while in that engaged, curious state.

 

 

Back-to-school time is the perfect time to highlight this, because this study shows:

it’s not about rote memorization or getting a specific test score that allows you to truly learn.

It’s about following your inner guidance system, engaging in your own innate curiosity, and allowing that to guide you in making educational and career choices that align your soul gifts with your occupation…

…so that what you are offering to this world is something that is perfect suit to you because you are self motivated to learn about it, master the material related and ancillary to it, and offering this unique vantage point that only you can offer back to the world.

 

In short, learning and processing and giving your thoughts back to the world becomes

MEANINGFUL instead of simply memorized.

 

This study shows that you are naturally suited to learn, retain and remember information that you are self selecting, motivated, and curious about.

So what to do next?

 

Follow your curiosity.

You might not know exactly where your curiosity will lead you in your career and in your life, but it will never steer you wrong.

If you can’t figure out the end point to your destination, you don’t know exactly what your soul strengths are and what your soul career is… simply follow your curiosity.

Your open ended wondering and interest in that particular topic will lead you naturally to discover, learn and uncover your unique soul strengths and turn them into an offering you can use to enhance this world.

 

I can say for certain, after 22 years of formal education and 15 additional years of practicing medicine, the things I remember most and the things that make the biggest impact on my patients are not the lists of facts I memorized in medical school or the lab values that I dryly take note of in the medical literature…

…it’s the meaningful information I personally uncovered on a quest to help a specific patient, to support a specific health care goal of a loved one, or to advocate for a particular outcome to help empower a person I care about.

It’s not the facts about the illness, it’s the motivation — the caring state of advocating for a patient I adore — that helps me find, learn, retain, and use the information I glean in the best possible way…

…and to remember and use this information to support and enhance infinite patient encounters in the future.

 

In this way… combining meaning and motivation with information…

we can deliver the most soul value and align our physical journey with a rich and meaningful spiritual purpose.

 

 

Intuition Live Class

Want more help opening up to your own internal guidance system?

That’s why I developed my Expand Your Intuition online class.

Take 4 weeks to assess, access, understand and expand your ability to align your soul’s natural curiosity and soul strengths with your unique physical body and career opportunities.

I will work privately with you all month long to get your soul energy enhancing your soul career, working with your natural energy flow instead of against it.

Find out more about the course and reserve your spot here.

 

To your unique gifts!

xoxox, Laura