Erik’s Blog: Board Shorts and Business Suits

Teaching to learn

I am a strong believer in the thought that if you teach something to someone you yourself will learn it better. This isn’t to say that you should go around teaching everything you think you know. This will only annoy people when they figure out you read the back of a cereal box to get your knowledge.

No, when you teach something you should want to relay information that you have tried out, researched, or discovered is the truth. Or maybe it is just something that works well for you. Teaching those things to someone else makes you accountable for part of their knowledge. It is that accountability I talked about in the first chapter which makes you better. Most people will not want to let down their peers. Therefore you will in turn learn more to teach better, more people will come to you to so you will teach more, learn more, teach more…. It will compound and grow from there.

Teach your new swing techniques, or running workouts. Teach what you learned programming html. Teach what you just learned about making a million dollars. Just get out there and show someone else how to better accomplish their tasks. Do this and you will become better at the things you try to do.

Here are two key points that will expand on the above and help you start becoming a better teacher.

Know What You Teach

I am not advocating teaching everything you have ever tried to learn just to get better at it. It won’t work. You should want to help others by sharing your knowledge. Having this passion will allow you to enjoy teaching others. Once you enjoy it, it becomes easier and you actually get more out of the teaching.

You should have a strong grasp on the subject no matter what it is. You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to have enough knowledge to thoughtfully approach the questions your student will come at you with. You may not know the answer to his/her questions but now there are two minds to think the problem through. Two minds that will be able to feed off each other allowing you both to learn and grow.

Teach What You Know

Don’t read an article and claim to be an expert. Too many people I run into, and I am guilty of this myself sometimes, read something and feel they are experts. You find this a lot in the political arena. Too many opinions seek in and become fact. I try to stay away from these conversations but often get myself into heated arguments. Over time I have learned how to avoid them, mostly through cracking a joke. I realize I need to find out more about world happenings to have any meaningful input. Sure I can blab my opinions but who needs another opinion? That’s what we have news for these days.

Now it may seem odd to “say teach what you know” and also “teach to get better.” But you must remember the correlation that I have been trying to get across. It is the feeling of accountability that will come with teaching which will then make you better. The more you learn the better you will be able to teach it to someone else, the better you will become, and so on and so forth. This compounding of knowledge will only allow you to grow as a person and become better at the things you do.

If you liked this article and want to learn more try these:

Becoming Accountable
An Introduction at Becoming a Millionaire
Taking on a Business Partner