I know it can be confusing. You’d like to learn to improve your communication and decision-making. But it’s possible you’ve never had a learning experience you are confident did either of those things successfully. Sure, you were taught to write and give presentations. But when did a course change the way you think at a level that made a difference every day?
So you look at the internet, and see that there are many inexpensive courses that promise you can make progress at your own speed. And that seems like a good idea.
Here’s why it’s not a good idea. You cannot learn skills the same way you learn information and even most information needs to be used to be remembered. The short units and quick quizzes make you feel like you’re making progress. But how much will you still be using in 3 months or 3 years?
Almost all of your thinking and communication is done by habit, not by deliberate choice. The best way to change those habits is with live practice with other human beings (in sports they say you need to practice under the conditions in which you will play). When you do, you activate more of your brain, you pick up more of the micro signals that set up most of our choices and most of our communication, and you get the emotional hit that only comes from connecting with other living beings.
You can do this over the internet, just as you can have a deep and important conversation by phone. But you need to do it real time with other people, not sitting alone by the flickering light of your screen.
