If you’ve ever invested in personal development without any follow-up, you might have felt like you were lighting dollar bills on fire.
Whether it’s a lunch & learn or a book reading – whether you invest one day or two weeks into learning that new skill – if you don’t follow up with real-world application and feedback, it won’t be “sticky.” It’ll go in one ear, out the other.
This makes sense, too. Think back to a skill you learned recently. How did you learn it? Did you read about it in a book and become an expert? We doubt it.
Let’s say the skill you want to learn is negotiation. A book can teach you the fundamentals. It can give you a framework for negotiation tactics and teach you the common mistakes people make.
But before you try it out on a new car salesman, practice with a colleague. Once you practice negotiating with them and listen to their feedback, you’ll be much better prepared to try it out in the real world.
That’s why the leadership development services we offer at The Metiss Group use the 70-20-10 learning model. Here’s what those numbers mean:
This breakdown isn’t supposed to be a picture of every hour of your day – after all, you probably still have other work to do. And you need to sleep.
Instead, this is how you should spend the time you dedicate to personal development.
In this article, we will learn about the 70-20-10 learning model and how to apply the 70-20-10 model in your personal development.
Dedicate 10% of your time to structured learning methods
Yep, only 10%. Structured learning methods include attending lectures; workshops; guest speaker appearances; reading books; and taking courses online.
Not only can traditional learning methods like lectures be boring, but a study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that they’re also less effective than active learning methods.
Don’t get us wrong – we love reading books and attending workshops. This just can’t make up the entirety of your personal development.
Dedicate 70% of your time to real-world application
Time to take what you’ve learned and put it into practice.
No matter what the skill is – something in the workplace or something in your personal life – it’s going to feel unnatural the first few times before it becomes muscle memory.
Let’s use public speaking as an example. This is a skill that terrifies plenty of people in the workplace, but it’s an essential skill to have as a leader. How are you ever going to influence others to follow your ideas if you can’t present them to a room full of people?
As you practice public speaking, the first few times might feel horrible. You might get sweaty. You might develop a stutter. You might lose your train of thought or go off on a tangent.
Then after a few times forcing yourself to give presentations, you’ll start to feel more sure of yourself. Suddenly, you’re making eye contact with people in the room. Then next time, your heart isn’t beating as quickly. It’ll feel more and more natural the more you practice.
But remember – practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. If you don’t also ask for feedback from others, you could solidify the wrong habits and muscle memories.
Dedicate 20% of your time to feedback
Feedback can come from a variety of people.
Maybe you have a personal development coach who is closely observing your progress. But for other skills, perhaps you won’t have someone so official.
Let’s say you’re getting into running for the first time. You watched videos online on the perfect form, and you’ve gone out on a few runs. But something still doesn’t feel right – you run out of breath too quickly, and you have pain in your legs that goes beyond muscle soreness.
So you go to your local run club. During the run, you meet the person who always wins your community’s 5K races. They’re able to tell you in real-time how to improve your form so you won’t get tired or sore as easily.
Then you meet someone who is also new to running, and you share the pain points you’re feeling as a newbie. They’re able to say “Me too!” and share ways they’re pushing through.
Now not only have you received feedback from an “expert,” but you’ve also started building your community of like-minded individuals with whom you can track your progress.
Despite how important feedback is in your personal development, it’s a piece we often try to skip. We don’t want people to make fun of us for doing something poorly. If you’ve ever tried to learn a language but were too scared to speak to anyone who spoke that language natively, then you know exactly what I’m saying.
But without feedback, you could do something wrong and not even know it. You must allow yourself to be vulnerable and allow others to offer course corrections.
Things to keep in mind when applying the 70-20-10 learning model
First, you should keep in mind that this model is iterative. Once you get that first round of feedback, you’re not done learning.
Sometimes after you receive feedback, you realize it’s time to hit the books again. Your personal development might jump all around the 70-20-10 model over time.
Something else you should remember is that personal development is a journey, and you should always be working to better yourself. Think of your favorite athlete – do you think that person ever says, “OK, I’m the best I’ll ever be, so I’m not going to practice anymore”?
Not every skill is like riding a bike – if you stop playing guitar or speaking a foreign language for a few years, it can be difficult to pick it back up.
The final takeaway about the 70-20-10 learning model
If you’ve ever struggled with learning a new skill, you know how difficult it can be to make it “stick.” And spending money on personal development that doesn’t stick feels like lighting money on fire.
Now that you’ve learned the 70-20-10 learning model, you can see that personal development is so much more than reading books and attending lectures. By practicing new skills and asking for feedback, you’ll start actually seeing results in your personal development journey.
Are you looking to use the 70-20-10 model in your workplace development? The Metiss Group uses the 70-20-10 model in every program within its Leadership Academy — check out this resource for more information.
Ready to see the 70-20-10 model in action for your leadership development? Check out the Leadership Academy from The Metiss Group, which uses the 70-20-10 model in its leadership training.
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