Learn How to Learn Best

The best way to learn how to learn best is to understand your own psychometric profile.

Get to know your own human operating system and find out how you are hardwired by taking the Core Values Index psychometric assessment, then use this guide to pinpoint your optimal learning style.

For those new to the Core Values Index, it assesses and represents your personality through different ratios of four key core value 'energies.' Everyone has a specific ratio of these characteristics within them. By taking the CVI and reading your full report, you get scores that represent the relative weight of these core value energies within you.

• Builder — power and action
• Merchant — intuition and human connections
• Innovator — wisdom and problem solving
• Banker — knowledge and justice

Builders

Builders learn by doing.

Since Builders are all about power and energy, they love getting things done. They prefer to focus on the destination rather than the journey, and this greatly affects their learning style.

Builders learn through a hands-on and action-oriented process, unafraid of trial and error. Reading manuals or sitting through long-winded lectures is tedious and tiring to them. Give them something they can get their hands on right away and they'll enthusiastically dive right in. Despite their relative lack of patience, they can enjoy the process as long as it is engaging and filled with challenges.

Merchants

Merchants learn by talking and listening.

The interaction between people is the mechanism by which Merchants learn most effectively. They thrive on personal connections and this feeds their optimal learning style. Reading manuals, especially in isolation, will try a Merchant's patience almost as fast as it will that of a Builder. Instead, they do best with lots of activity, especially with others.

Merchants form and expand their learning by expressing their thoughts and ideas with other people.

Innovators

Innovators learn by observing, making assessments, and solving problems.

Because the lifeblood of an Innovator's existence is to solve problems, this heavily influences their optimal learning style. Innovators are somewhat methodical in their learning approach, preferring to sit quietly and study a problem. An Innovator's biggest fear is being foolish, so they strive to understand a problem thoroughly.

The second aspect of an Innovator's learning style is to brainstorm with others to interactively and thoroughly understand the topic. Like Merchants, they gain value by teaching others, and by doing so they further refine their thinking.

Bankers

Bankers are the most studious of the four core value energies, learning by reading and analyzing.

What makes Bankers thrive is the gathering and sharing of knowledge. This is reflected in their optimal learning style: they gather and analyze facts. Another driver for the Banker is to ensure any actions they take are appropriate, precise, and correct the first time. Trial and error, like a Builder might prefer, is a counterproductive approach for the Banker.

Because Bankers crave accuracy, their biggest fear is appearing ignorant. They take this thirst for knowledge into their learning style with calm yet methodical tenacity.

Advantages and Weaknesses

We all have different ratios of each core value energy within us. Even those with profound core value profiles (a single score above 25 on a 0-36 scale) are hybrids, their secondary or even tertiary energies influencing and shaping their optimal learning style.

If you focus solely on one learning style, you gain that advantage but lose the opportunity to benefit from the learning styles of the other energies within you. Builders can benefit from the patience of Bankers and interactive style of Merchants. Innovators can learn from Builders by tapping into a more action-oriented approach.

Understand your complete profile and don't be afraid to harness the learning styles of other energies so that you learn how to learn best.