"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
-- Henry Ford, Industrialist
Do you ever think how you learn?
So - how do you learn? What's your answer?
Wonder what would it be.
That was one of the questions I was asked in my interview to Mindvalley.
Got me thinking, because the question was bizarre. You don't really think about it, you just assume that you learn. You know - when you're reading a book, talking to people, participating a training. You learn, right?
So thinking about HOW is not too much of a question.
Is it not really?
I'm working now in one of the most striving companies in the world. Innovation here is huge, expectations massive, field just full of amazing opportunities. It's a very new playground, I feel a little bit as a child again, who is just about to discover what the world is like.
Except - according to my age I'm an adult. And adults know how to learn, right? So you kind of assume there is no problem in picking up the knowledge and master in your skill, because you KNOW how it works.
WRONG! Dead wrong!
I think that one of the most crucial skills that people lose while growing up is their natural, unforced, speedy way to learn. The very same assumption - I'm already learning - very often slows down the learning process so that you become a snail-like learner.
Adults tend to see many things as a bit overwhelming, impossible - or they just don't see their learning edge at all. Blind. They don't even try. They give up before they even get a taste of the real knowledge.
I find my ability to learn one of the most crucial things to foster. I need to be CONSCIOUS about HOW I LEARN. Seriously - I need to maintain my curiosity, need to remind that learning happens step by step - and before I master anything I need to go through the painful process of failures and trying again.
I have to, no other chance! If - just IF I want to make sure I truly achieve my goals....versus getting stuck in the point where I had developed by the time I turned 20.
You can't give up of your learning just because it's hard -- nor can you assume it happens by itself. You must have a ROCK-SOLID belief that you too can master any skill you desire. And an internal flame that keeps you excited about the vision that YOU'RE ALREADY DOING IT.
Whatever that would be. For me becoming fluent in English, mastering my communication skills, learning how mind works, learning to meditate, maintaining high energy levels every day etc etc.
These goals are absolutely NOTHING if I'm not conscious of how I learn.
So back to the basics, back to the very first steps in the world - full of curiosity, free of the fear of failure, free of the need to succeed, master of sucking in the knowledge as a sponge.
Step by step, step by step, better and better.
Marjam, I was reading your blog post and I was surprised - this is a similar phase I am going through right now. Learning to cope and organize myself in this new environment, rather the new work environment. India as such would not shake me because I can keep my everyday living habits despite the environment. Once it comes about work habits, it becomes different. There used to be more chaos in my mind before, now it feels better.
ReplyDeleteConcerning the HOW part... I kept questioning myself how should I adapt myself for the work I am doing. Because everything is different. The way of the doing something is different and this "something" is also different for me.
Anyway.. for now my conclusion is that I should take everything as it comes. To follow the flow without worrying with "How".
For sure being conscious is important. But trying to be conscious in chaos is leading to absolute getting stuck.
Marjam, if you haven't read Brain Rules yet, do it right now! Order it from the closest place you can or wait it from USA.
ReplyDeleteFor me, if I start thinking that I may know a bit on some topic, then KABOOM! I find another book or some good article and it turns everything around.
If I ask some students, do they like studying (or learning), then some may answer "No". If I ask why, then mostly answers will be like: "I don't like to sit for 45 min (or 90min)", "Our seats are not comfortable" etc. Yes, these are important points to think of, but.. The question was "Do you like learning?", and not "Do you like to go to school?"
Learning is cool! :)
Thanks for leaving your comments, it's really great to know what thought my writings are triggering in the readers heads. So I'm really grateful you shared.
ReplyDeleteKarina, it's so clear from both of our thoughts why it's so beneficial to change your environment and learn to establish yourself again in a new environment.
I'm avoiding the getting stuck moment by first letting go of the expectations and taking to information as it is (going with the flow, as you said). Second part is my internal learning process, which I'm now becoming more aware of. Having a clearly established understanding how your own internal processes work help to create order in chaos, also make you able to make right decisions when operating in an unknown (going with the flow might otherways lead to wrong decisions).
German, I share your KABOOM! feeling! Learning has never been that exciting - and is increasingly so. I will grab the book in the first chance, thanks!