The Art Of Learning, Unlearning And Re-Learning

When was the last time you learned something new?

My recent encounter with this question brought my thoughts to an abrupt halt and made me genuinely question myself! When was the last time I learned something new? Not only that, when was the last time that I renewed an old hobby or went back to an unread book? I often wonder, why is it that we just think about learning something new. Ever thought of unlearning something instead?

Unlearn? How can we do that!

Remember as children, how we were conditioned ‘Never to speak with strangers’? Look at us today – Connecting with strangers across the globe with similar interests and inspiring ideas. This is exactly how we have unlearned and liberated ourselves from the pre-set rules. Therefore, making enough space to adapt with the current times.

Our mind often needs a detox to learn new and relevant skills. Only once you’ve recycled the old space will you be able to filter what you need and what you don’t. This brings us to the next stage that highlights renewal of our existing skill sets. What about that old hobby that you’ve been thinking of reviving? How often do you actually put in an effort to sharpen your skills even with something that you do on a daily basis?

It’s time to relearn what we already know. Just like any operating system that consistently upgrades itself for yielding a better result, our mind must also be equipped to adapt with the present way of life. It’s just like cycling – An action that had been ingrained in our minds initially, that may get rusty over a period of time, and needs reviving.

It is as simple as living in the now and understanding what skills we need to excel. While unlearning may not be something that we can consciously control, we can definitely make an effort to master what we need to relearn.

Change is the only constant and believe it or not, hitting the refresh button is the key to overcome our inhibitions, as well as sustain this constant change. Especially, in today’s competitive world, the best solution to stay up the curve is inculcating a habit of continuous learning.

Let’s begin with unlearning the stereotypes, relearning the traditional processes and thus, making way for new learnings.