HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ABILITY TO UNLEARN

The action of discarding or putting aside existing beliefs as being false, binding or limiting, to unlearn preconceptions holding you back.

Unlearning starts with the recognition that what we’re doing isn’t working.

The core premise of Unlearn is a strong willingness to learn and to unlearn those behaviours and mindsets which once served us successfully. The first step in the process of unlearning requires courage, self-awareness, and humility to accept that your own beliefs, mindsets, or behaviours are limiting your potential and current performance and that you must consciously move away from them.

Exercise 1 – The Cycle of Unlearning

Courtesy of Unlearn.Online

Ask yourself the following questions in introspect:

• Where am I falling short of my own expectations?
• Where am I not seeing the outcomes I want?
• What am I willing to do, to affect those outcomes?
• How could I get out of my comfort zone and succeed?
• What would thinking BIG but starting small be for me?

Use the following as a workbook for your improvement.

1. Identify a challenge you wish to address

Pick a challenge you want to tackle and don’t worry about waiting for the right moment to do so. The best place to start is where you’re right now...

2. Define success as though you have dissolved or conquered the challenge

What are the behaviours you, your team, or your customers would be exhibiting to confirm that you had addressed that challenge and not only solved it, but dissolved it forever?

3. Channel courage over seeking comfort

Seeking comfort over courage often results in taking the easy option of avoiding situations where you feel you’re not in control of the outcome. Write down situations that would be outside of your comfort zone and create a plan of how to succeed in that situation...

4. Commit to, start, and scale the cycle of unlearning

Once the three previous conditions are in place, it’s important to commit to moving forward through the Cycle of Unlearning and to do so continually. Write down positive intentions of commitment linked to your previous answers...

Further Reading

Unlearn, Barry O'Reilly - also read Unlearn Summary

A transformative system that explains how to rethink your strategies, retool your capabilities, and revitalize teams for stronger, longer-lasting success.

When people begin to rely on past achievements or get stuck in old thinking and practices that no longer work, they need to take a step back—and unlearn.

This innovative and actionable framework from coach Barry O’Reilly shows people how to break the cycle and move away from once-useful mindsets and behaviors that were effective in the past but are no longer relevant in the current business climate and may now stand in the way of success.

Watch this video by Ken Spring (TEDx)

Dr. Spring, is an Associate Professor of Sociology.

Ken explains how the accumulation of everything we have ever experienced or learned, for better or worse, shapes us into the person we are. He proposes that if we were to “Unlearn” that which was destructive to our growth, we could learn to be more self-reflective and critical of our own beliefs.

Listen to this podcast (by Barry O'Reilly)

Why Unlearn with Barry O’Reilly

This unique ability, to adapt to new circumstances in the environment by unlearning what had brought it success in the past, to succeed in the future, enabled this civilization to startup, scale and sustain itself by letting go of the past to achieve extraordinary results.

Check out the AQ Masterclass - February 2021 - Barry O'Reilly, Unlearning