At 18 years old I think my to-do list is slightly too ambitious. Just some of my goals include:

• Start a business
• Meditate daily
• Learn how to play the cajón
• Learn how to code in Python
• Learn investing basics and start
• Learn how to cook some simple dishes

Needless to say, such ambitious goals require hard work and dedication. It requires unwavering discipline to learn and practice, rain or shine. It requires patience and perseverance in the face of repeated failures. So, I’ve basically made no progress. However, one might wonder why I even bother with such a list in the first place.

I was originally introduced to the notion of a polymath or “master of all trades” from a friend. At first I scoffed at the idea, how in the world could someone be an astronaut and a surgeon at once? Each skill would require years of dedication and why would someone switch fields after dedicating so much time and energy to one particular one?

Yet somehow, there are people who have managed this. F. Story Musgrave is not only an astronaut and a surgeon, he’s also a mathematician and a Marine.

There are many articles explaining how to learn, or explaining “hacks” to pick up new skills in no time. In other words, there is plenty of information on how to be a polymath, but I don’t think many people focus on why we should consider being one in the first place.

Firstly, we need to examine what exactly a polymath is. My definition is simply someone who is skilled in many different aspects of life, where skill refers to an above average level of competence. This means someone that actively works out and maintains good social relationships while holding any decent job that challenges him and forces him to keep learning could be considered a polymath.

Of course, there are different levels of being a polymath and some people excel much further than others. Examining the key features of a polymath, it’s easy to see that one thread that run common through them is the wealth of experience under their belt.

Some people spend hours grueling in the gym, teaching themselves the art of perseverance and often picking up basic nutritional sciences knowledge. Others become philosophers, learning how to pose good questions and think logically. Even skills such as maintaining good social relationships requires a good understanding of body language and the ability to read and react to situations quickly.

All skills provide experiences when developing them and experiences provide us with valuable lessons. In theory we all know experiences are valuable, but the difficult part is being consciously aware of the lessons learnt from every experience.

The best part is that the more lessons we learn, the easier it is for us to pick up new skills due to the overlaps from past experiences. The more experiences you have, the more lenses available to you to view and learn from a particular situation.

But why is learning so important in the first place? The fact is, if you’re not learning you’re stagnating, be it in the spiritual, physical or emotional aspects of life. The more we increase our skills and experience in all areas, the easier it is for us to relate to others and understand ourselves. Problems that seem challenging to others appear easy to resolve. The highs of life seem higher and the lows of life are appreciated just as much. We become more in tune with the frequency of life and are able to live every moment to its fullest. Learning is the only way we can live.