Learning is a Child’s Play

Let’s start with a simple thought experiment:

‘When was the last time you learned something for the first time?’

If it is yesterday or last week, awesome and kudos to you. And if you can’t recollect any in last six months, no worries. There is always a new start towards developing a ‘New U (You)’.

I am not saying that we must learn for the sake of learning. Like anything else in life, you need a powerful ‘Why’ to inculcate any new habit. It could be that you want to learn to stay relevant in the industry, or to prepare yourself for next job promotion, or you learn new skills to fulfill your dream like running a marathon, writing a book etc. So, what is a ‘good WHY’ to motivate yourself to inculcate the behavior of lifelong learning? Think about it.

Having a good ‘Why’ will be a good starting point but may not be enough. Once a knowledge seeker went to a Guru (Teacher) in a monastery to learn. Guru welcomed him and offered him tea. To his amazement Guru continued to pour tea even after the cup was full to the brim. The astonished knowledge seeker asked – ‘Guru, why do you continue to pour tea in my cup even when it is full and overflowing?’ Guru smiled and responded back – ‘Our mind is like this cup. Always full and preoccupied with many thoughts and knowledge; with very little space for new knowledge.’ So true - isn’t it? We need to make space in our mind, ready to unlearn so that we can relearn. Even when we consider learning new skills and knowledge a priority, we are not able to make time for the same.

So how do you make time? How do you prioritize? HOW do you make learning a habit? I will share 3 ideas with you:

• First, block time in your calendar for learning. To make it consistent, make sure you put it almost at the same time and duration every day. A word of caution and hope - I tried it for last 6 months and failed miserably. The issue was not with blocking time, but with defending it. In the first opportunity when another urgent work comes up, you will be tempted to give away this time slot. That is a dangerous trap. The hope on the other hand is encouraging – whenever I was able to utilize it, I felt energized. And I have promised myself to continue despite my struggle
• Second, have a method and purpose to the learning. Make a list of what you want to learn? Have ‘micro ambition’ and then build on it. Have the ambition to become an expert, but start small with micro ambition one at a time and then build up on the early success
• Third, do not underestimate the need for a Guru or a mentor. The Guru needs not be someone higher in the organizational hierarchy. In fact, it is the other way. Many times, someone higher in the hierarchy may be more illiterate than you are in terms of the topic you want to learn. The best will be to have some practicing professional as your mentor - may be junior to you in the organizational hierarchy, but a guru or mentor higher in the knowledge hierarchy. There is no shame in going to your juniors or peers to learn. In fact, you will earn more respect and will become knowledgeable in the process

Suppose you have your WHY and you are ready to make time (emptying your brain ‘cup’), and you have figured out your own way as HOW to learn. Then the question is WHAT will you become, when you make learning a habit?

Many times, we start with this; like I want to move up in organizational hierarchy and decide what to learn. We then become too much focused on external validation rather than having learning as a mechanism for our internal growth. What if I say this to you? You will become a CHILD again, when you start inculcating the learning habit.

Just think about it. A child learns very fast in early years – between 15 months and 6 years. A child thrives on sheer curiosity devoid of ‘adult’ inhibitions. A child learns by observing, by mimicking, by trying and sometimes failing, still trying again to learn. Wouldn’t it be nice if we can train our mind with child’s curiosity and lack of inhibition? Remember the movie ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, where the lead character becomes smaller with every passing years and eventually becomes like a ‘child’ with progressive aging? How about we become ‘Benjamin Button’ – not in our physical appearance, but in our mind. Henry Ford once said:

‘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.’

Let’s open the closed pores of our mind, becoming more curious - ready to unlearn and relearn. Let’s be a child again and start our journey towards becoming a ‘New U (YOU)’ …

… Learning is a Child’s Play

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are my personal point of view and do not in anyway represent that of the organization I work for.