1. Act as though you are certain to learn. Nothing so disturbs the beginning adult student as the nagging fear that he will not be able to learn what he would like to learn. Nothing is more reassuring that the discovery through experience that he can succeed . Adults can learn most things better than children, though it may take them longer to do so.
2. Set realistic goals and measure their accomplishment. One frequent obstacle to adult learning is that men and women, realizing that they have the full power of their strength and vigor, think that they ought to be able to learn without any effort or strain whatever. In any learning program, therefore, you must first of all be realistic about what you can achieve.
3. Remember the strength of your own point of view. Your learning is strongly influenced by the point of view you bring to it. Most important of all, do not let your established values harden into such fixed beliefs that you cannot tolerate new ideas. When this happens, the process of education ceases.
4. Actively fit new ideas and new facts into context. Your greatest asset as an adult learner is the fact that your experience enables you to see relationships. When a new idea or fact is presented, you can understand it because you have background and perspective. And you can remember it because you can associate it with what you already know and therefore give it meaning.
5. Seek help and support when you need it. Sometimes an adult will choose to learn by himself, and sometimes he will choose to learn with others. A Balanced learning program combines many elements, though not all at the same time. But while adults often teach themselves what they want to know, they may run into real dangers if they rely on this method too consistently. One time when it is well to seek out a teacher is when you are beginning the study of a new subject. A second time when you need help is when you bog down in your studies. A third time when it is wise to seek help is when you feel the need of the social stimulation of a class or a group
6. Learn beyond the point necessary for immediate recall. We all learn many things we do not really wish to remember and which we promptly forget. If you want to remember something permanently, however, you must do what the fact or perform the skill perfectly, you should keep on reviewing it.
7. Use psychological as well as logical practices. You have already had an illustration of this rule. In Chapter 1 you were urged first to skim this book, then to read it, and then to examine it closely. Now it seems illogical to many people not to go through a book thoroughly, digesting a paragraph at a time. Yet research has shown that the way here recommended is better.