Let me illustrate with an example – Suppose I am also a veteran holistic learner like you but I push myself harder to integrate new ideas into my web. Suddenly I come across a new idea that takes my ‘methods’ for holistic learning to a whole new level. I am able to learn even more in ever decreasing amounts of time and coupled with more ‘learning’ time (I won’t say ‘studying’ since it holds negative connotations for the both of us) will be able to learn a whole lot more than I would have otherwise I would have taken a more relaxed pace. This in turn can lead to ANOTHER major influx of ideas which may AGAIN take my learning to a whole new level. You will agree then, that all of this would not have been possible had I not pushed myself harder?

In my humble opinion, what matters the most is interest and motivation. When you have the interest, creativity, learning and hard work all fall into place and balance each other. It is then that the combination seems ‘just right’. I have seen countless of classmates boiling their heads off and studying fifteen hours a day to merely ‘pass’ an examination. I have also seen other people (though definitely in the minority) who have a more-than-average intelligence, yet they don’t fare well on their examinations. They are just not interested.

That having been said, nice blog! I am enjoying your ideas on productivity and holistic learning

But also i agree with, not that Creativity, Relationships and Learning replaces effort but it has ALWAYS been like that, you figured it out not cause its a new error but something that only effective know.