Learning something new? Start acting like a child

I was privileged to learn to ski as a child. My mum bemoans not having the same opportunity – not because she was especially keen to ski, but because learning as an adult felt so much harder. To her mind, us kids learnt at an age where we picked it up quickly, and had absolutely no fear – not least because, as she argues, we were physically lower to the ground and had less distance to fall. She spent our one (and only) family ski holiday nervous, physically drained, and awaiting rescue by my 10-year-old sister.?

I wonder if she has a point. Implicit in her logic is the suggestion that it’s easier to learn a new skill when you’re young – that children have brains like sponges and pick things up more quickly. Whether empirically evidenced or not, I think there are a couple of helpful principles that us grown-ups would do well to consider when trying to learn a new skill – whether skiing, or anything else.?

1) Children’s brains are malleable (and so are ours)?

We seem to understand that, for better or worse, young minds are suggestible. That’s why many see part of the role (privilege? burden?) of a parent or guardian is to help shape their children, to mould their malleable moral compass and direct their worldview.?

When it comes to our own adult minds, we’re perhaps more inclined to think they are hard-wired. It’s the sentiment of the adage that you ‘can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ - that our brains are fixed.??

Until a decade ago scientists would have agreed but have more recently recognised our brains’ neuroplasticity . This refers to the way in which the adult brain, like a child’s, is malleable, able to change and develop, and build entirely new pathways of information. Learning something new, engaging a new emotion, or responding to a situation in a new way, builds new ‘pathways’ in our brain, physically changing its structure.?

This science is absolutely fundamental to the Spear Programme , which is why we explore it with our trainees on Day One; assuring them of their innate ability to acquire new skills, learn and grow.??

2) Children are not afraid of risk or failure (and neither should we be)?

There is something undeniably joyful about the innocent naivety of a child, who doesn’t yet know enough about the world to understand danger or risk.??

Most children haven’t yet experienced (or understood) the shame that can come with failure, and so haven’t yet begun to build their own comfort zone to shelter within.?

Conversely, adults gradually gain a more realistic world-view that shapes our fears. We begin to experience failure that can dent our confidence, shrink our comfort zone, and make us less likely to repeat a risky or uncertain activity. It's why my mum edged cautiously down the mountain, while I and my sister brazenly sped past, unaware of the sheer drop next to us and the real risk is posed.??

So what??

What might it take to have a more childlike approach to growth, risk, and failure when we’re learning something new? We explore this with our clients and trainees in a model called the ‘cycle of development’, which unpacks the process of learning a new skill, and how this affects our comfort zone.

Learning any new skill starts with attitude. Say you’ve decided to learn a new language. Without the mindset that you need to, want to, can and will learn this language, there’s little point going any further. You need the right attitude in place – the childlike motivation and self-belief that change is possible, thanks to the neuroplasticity of your brain.?

Next, you need to gain some knowledge. Perhaps you buy a grammar book or download Duolingo to begin learning some vocabulary. Ideally, you take this in bite-size, manageable chunks.?

And while you could simply read the grammar book cover to cover, over and over, what you really need is to start practising. At this point, you need a teacher or instructor to help you – to provide feedback on your pronunciation, and correct your faltering verb conjugations.??

Any part of this process might require you to take risks. You might feel embarrassed to be buying the beginners’ grammar book, or vulnerable when struggling to make yourself understood at your conversation class. You’ll need to step out of your comfort zone, with a healthy dose of childlike willingness to give it a try.?

But with each rotation around the cycle, it becomes a little bit easier, and your comfort zone grows – right up until you’re speaking fluently. You’ve acquired the new skill.?

What new skill would you like to master??

Maybe it’s a specific growth area at work, or simply something you think you’d enjoy at home in your spare time.??

How could you apply a childlike attitude of self-belief and risk-blindness to achieving your goal? What difference might this make??