How to use trial and success learning to our own behaviour?

What are successive approximations?

Successive approximations are a way of learning a new skill in which we build on successes towards the skill. We find out where we currently are in regards to the goal we would like to attain and we start from there. The learning process is based on successes. We build approximations from the skill we currently have. It's the opposite of the common trial and error approach. It's trial and success learning. We learn from our successes and build on them. But how to use that?

We can also use trial and success learning in training dogs. 

When applying the concept to our own behaviour, the first step is to ask where are we in relation to the goal skill and where do we go from here? We want to find the starting point and make sure we are fluent in it. Next, we think of small enough approximations that we can be successful at. Approximation towards the goal. The trick is to not stay too long in the comfort zone of the skill we already mastered. It's about building upon it and continue to make progress. If at any point we fail an attempt of the approximation - that's not a problem! It's information that we can learn from! We can use this information to improve our skill learning. What we can learn from it and what can we do?

1. Break the approximation down into smaller steps and try the first smaller attempt.

2. Go back a step into an approximation that you previously worked on and build momentum.

3. Reflect on what changed in the environment that influenced not hitting the approximation.
   If your goal was training for a marathon, maybe today you had a strain and that's why you couldn't hit the next approximation. If your goal was writing a new blog post every day, maybe something happened in your life that kept you from sitting to the next writing session. If you are worried about a big life event that happened, it's ok to next time ask for less time on writing or take a little break from it. You can always start again!

Common objections 

If we constantly make successes we won't grow - we will stagnate

Untrue! The successive approximation approach is not based on stagnation, it's based on constant flow and progress. The only difference is that the progress is attainable and feel easy or easier to achieve compared to the common trial and error approach.

What's the point of starting so small? It will take too long so I don't even bother

This is what people who don't learn new skills say. These are the people who stick to what comes naturally to them and they don't try things that are out of their comfort zone. It can be a person who always wanted to learn how to dance and will never take even one lesson. It can be a person who always wanted to play music and will never start. Don't be that person! Everyone needs to start somewhere and no one is ever perfect the first time he or she tries a new thing. It's ok to suck at the beginning and only do the easy steps.

Let's ask ourselves why so many attempts to learn a new skill fail?

When you go the usual route of learning a new skill where you go by unified standards of where the next level is (which aren't customised to you and your individual needs) you face a real threat of dropping from the learning altogether. That's why so many of New Year's resolutions fail. We take a goal that seems reasonable as a start but then we don't break it down, we just expect ourselves to hit it immediately.

It is setting yourself up for failure when you can set yourself up for success!

Making sure that you will be successful is a good thing! It doesn't matter how long it will take to get to the fluency of the new skill. You might even have a skill that you will always build on. For example, doing marketing of your own business. Your first approximation can be posting written content on social media 3 times a week. The next approximation can either be about adding more posts or making new types of post. At some point, your approximation can be about making videos. You can start from a very short video where you don't even show yourself and don't say anything. At some point, your approximation can be to try a video where you speak to the camera. You might start once a month and later build the skill towards posting once a week. There are so many variations and therefore the skill of "marketing my business" might never get a finish line but you can always keep on improving at it!

I hope you can allow yourself to try it. We often just criticise a concept and never even test if it works or not. We just assume it's not for us. Don't be that person and test if this approach is for you!

If you need any help with a specific skill you want to master, don't hesitate to send me a message or leave me a comment. I will be happy to help!

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I first heard about trial and success from dr Israel Goldiamond and his "Where do we go from here" episodes on YouTube. I highly recommend it if you want to understand the subject more.