Learning How to Learn

“It’s a poor day when we don’t learn something new.”?

??

Adopting a learner’s mindset is arguably one of the greatest competitive advantages in business. This is an ironic notion especially since the business world celebrates ability, knowledge, and skill most commonly. But if we think about it – Bill Gates , Warren Buffet , and many more of the world’s greatest business minds have been adored for their ability to learn constantly. Why such an obsession about learning??

??

When I was a little kid, I met someone who was a traveling sales guy. A stylish dresser who was one of those people who could sit down and talk with anyone, knowing just enough to have an intelligent conversation and the ability to ask specific questions about whatever the topic was. I found this remarkably interesting – how could this man always know what to ask about or talk about with people? One time he filled me in. “Flying around and meeting all the people I do; I have the chance to learn about so much. If I can just learn a little bit about each of them and what they do, I should be able to talk to just about anyone!” ??

??

In 2024, many of us are fortunate to have the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. With the internet, Audible accounts, social media, learning databases like LinkedIn for Learning and more, our limitations for ingesting new, interesting information are only limited by our own selves. But we first must develop a learner’s mindset and choose to focus on learning if we really want to develop this critical skill.?

??

In the LinkedIn Learning Course Developing a Learning Mindset Gary A. Bolles shares “A learning mindset means that you see challenges as opportunities and that you are motivated to learn something new every day.” Below are my hacks to learning more about something every day:?

??

Read, Listen, or Watch – Most of us admittedly waste part of our day. Some call it “doomscrolling” or “scrolling addiction” but the way many of us spend more time that we like to admit mindlessly scrolling through content on our phones is a quick way we can easily replace with reading, listening to, or watching something that can help us learn more. Yes, technically we may be learning something watching endless Instagram reels, but what if that was instead an educational podcast, YouTube tutorial, or documentary? When we’re doing our daily commutes, what if we were listening to an audible, audio book, or podcast? We can even go ‘old school’ and read a page or 2 from a book before bed instead of looking at our phones. Whatever we do, we have opportunities every day to read, listen, or watch something informative or educational. This habit compounds quickly! ?

??

Ask more questions – Asking questions is obviously a terrific way to learn more from other people but asking questions can be hard. As a sales leader, I have listened to thousands of client conversations over my career and witnessed curious sellers and leaders who understand the art of question asking. I, unfortunately, have also seen even the most well intended professionals turn a conversation into awkward exchanges without having this skill well developed. The difference between the 2 has always been true curiosity. This is something that is hard to fake, and when it’s authentic, the amount of information and ideas traded is incredible. So, when we are exposed to something we can learn from (another person, a new experience, or added information), tapping into our genuine curiosity can allow us to ask a lot of questions, good questions, that help us rapidly learn from that beneficial moment. ?

??

Focus on a chosen area of growth – I genuinely believe that everyone wants to be better. Even the most convicted or confident people have a part of themselves they want to improve. But how many of us are actually choosing to focus on that area and do the work to develop it? Therein lies the work. But it’s in this that we have a beautiful opportunity to both learn more and grow more without those things being mutually exclusive. Approximately 8 years ago, I decided to focus my energy on inspirational leadership, and with the help of trusted advisors and a growing ability to be more open about my pursuit, the amount of information I started to find, absorb, and focus in on, was incredible. By focusing on my chosen area of growth, I began to receive and process tremendous amounts of information on the topic, essentially becoming a student of inspiration, leadership, and more. Choose wisely because the wormhole can be vast ?? ?

??

Learning How to Learn is a skill we all have an opportunity to develop or grow. But taking that first step is a choice. When we assess our days, even the most efficient of operators can likely locate 10-15 minutes of time that can be used for Learning and with wonderfully effective and high-quality resources like LinkedIn for Learning , we can use this time for the growth and success we are chasing. ?

??

Happy Learning!?