Learn to unlearn

I have been reflecting on the cycle of learning, unlearning and relearning. While learning never stops, I couldn't agree more that unlearning is twice as hard as learning. 

I think of unlearning as emptying a cup; you cannot refill a pouring cup. For me, 2020 was a year of unlearning many habits. It was a painful but highly transformative and fulfilling process. My greatest unlearning was that burnout is not a medal of honour to carry around. Neither is guarding your mental well-being. Granted, unlearning years of doing things a particular way, thinking or way of life can be difficult and takes great courage.

But how can we evolve without unlearning? Women would still be better suited for the kitchen and not the boardroom had we not discarded such stereotypical thinking. I much prefer the boardroom. The unlearning in this case is knowing that I have a choice to be whatever I set out to be and so can any girl. Can you imagine that women could not vote at one point in history, and now, we have them as Presidents, Prime Ministers, Vice Presidents, MPs, etc. 

I dare say the process of unlearning is analogous to life and death, or Kodak would still be the giant it once was. Typewriters would still be sought after and it would be fancy to own a floppy disc. Therefore, it is paramount that we let go of outdated thinking, habits and old conventions that have no place in a modern world.  

 Learning, on the other hand, is the easy part. You just need the right attitude and agility will follow. During the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people learned new skills; social media was rife with bakers experimenting, parents teaching children and people learning new phrases like 'Sorry I was speaking on mute.' In the same vein, to learn, we must embrace child-like curiosity. Also, being humble and vulnerable – you cannot learn when you know it all. 

Lastly, relearning calls for adopting a fresh perspective, modifying or simply revamping our skills. Think about how Uber changed the taxi business, Nexflix and the film industry or Coursera and learning. 

In the grand scheme of things, the cost of rigidity and ignorance is far too high for anyone to fail to learn, unlearn and relearn. May you unlearn as much as you can, learn and relearn at any opportunity you get.