Experience is the best teacher.

There are many ways to learn but the most important and best method of learning can be none other than learning on the job.

I have been into cosmetics sales (Holiday Magic osmetics), florist work, English Language teaching, gymnasitic coaching, fish and canary bird breeding and massage. I have learned from the experts in all the above fields, going through courses and acquiring whatever knowledge and practical training I could from them. However, nothing beats working as a professional. As a professional, I learn that mistakes could be made despite the knowledge attain from the experts. I learn that our brains work best when we know we cannot fall back on somebody else expertise to come up with the right results. Our ego and pride plays a most important role to have us look into various aspects as we perform professionally. Yes, ego and pride are the most important factors in determining the type of professional we turn out to be. It is nothing but pride and ego which require us to work better to be the best possible professional in the field. And should we find that what we have learned through whatever courses are insufficient, it is the same pride and ego that make us read up or learn more from other experts. We are willing to be humble to achieve satisfaction of pride and ego.

Just as I had my friends and teachers to develop myself mentally, I found that the best teachers were only available through the thoughts from books written by Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. Then, when I realised there was still something more I needed I paid more than a thousand ringgit, a huge sum of money for a young man then with a salary of only four hundred ringgit a month, a sum of money that was all I had in my bank account at that time, a big step I took to improve my mind further and I have had no regrets to this day, for the motivator at that course in Kuala Lumpur in 1972 was none other than Lawrence Chan. (Perhaps the reader have not heard of him as his time is past, most probably retired but he was the best then.)Even then, I found that it is when we are faced with real problems that we learn even more. Of course, without those early important teachers, most of the problems could not have been overcome so easily.

As a gymnastics coach, for example, I discovered that it was not so much the stages of development in flexibility, strength and movement that had been taught at all those courses that counts so much as the confidence and belief of the gymnast in me. Believing that I could bring them to perform well was most important in removing any doubt of their ability to do any agility movements, springs or vaults. Then my one hundred percent attention on the learning and practising gymnast to ensure that at any moment a slip would be attended to correctly to have the gymnast land safely is of utmost attention. Though I learned massage and first aid to ensure that injuries would be attended to immediately, I have never had to use them as no injury ever occurred. (For me, an injury during training would have whatever confidence built up diminished if not lost forever. Thus I gave the gymnasts the confidence to do what most people thought was most difficult.

As a teacher of English, I seek and plan ways to make learning easier and so more enjoyable. Knowing the grammar, understanding the words and sentence structures are only part of the tools of a teacher. It is understanding the usage of grammatical items and sentence structures, being able to use them correctly in everyday life that make English Language learning difficult. It is not merely giving them exercises unless those exercises can improve their understanding of its usage and put it into practical use.

And all the ways to get things done well cannot be taught merely through theory. We need to work and face the problems as they arise daily. Problems are handled in two ways. There are those who say nothing much can be done and just try to avoid them, allowing things to be imperfect. Then there are those who have sufficient pride and ego to want nothing but the best in everything they do and these are the people who think of the problems, search for the answers by asking other experts perhaps or reading up on better ways to overcome them and end up becoming better in their professions.

Similarly, we have come across mechanics who cannot detect problems with our cars easily. They change this, they change that and they change almost everything until the problem is solved and the poor motorist has to pay for his daily experiments. And some never think or find out how to get straight to the problem or detect the problem except through trial and error. We have many of these. They do not read up on what they do not know or approach for help from someone who does. Perhaps that is easier said than done as which good mechanic would help a competitor to catch up on him. However, there are ways to learn. A mechanic could go for another course to improve himself. Of course he might have to forgo some earnings or pay for such courses but then for a better future it ought to be worth it. Or he should learn from his mistakes, putting some thought into his experiences.

Thus, practical experience is important especially when we are willing to learn from our mistakes or wrongs, each mistake bringing a better understanding that that is not the way and a new way has to be found or discovered. Well, if we make only new mistakes and not repeat the same mistake, we are learning to minus the wrongs and go towards the right.

Nothing beats working experience for improvement, if there is a desire for it.