Adopt a student mindset for perpetual growth
From childhood growing up I’ve always been autonomous when it comes to studies. My parents never had to control if my homework was done. Some days, I even managed to finish them before school ended. To me, learning has always been leisure and I used to think most people felt the same. It is just recently that I came to realize what it takes to be a perpetual learner.
Humility is the key
Born with a natural incline to remain silent, it gave me the time and space to study people and things around me. I never thought of myself to be smarter than others even when they kept telling me I sure was. In my point of view, I never knew enough and I always tried to find better ways to do even the simplest tasks. I think this is what constitutes the basis of my learning journey: I felt humble about what I knew even if it was more than average. Of course, it was unconscious and it is probably why I managed to stay the same years later.
“I know that I know nothing”
Socrates
This famous quote guided my route but recently I stumbled upon a new one:
“What is more important is what you don’t know that you don’t know”
I realized how true it was when I started learning digital marketing. Even after identifying the topics, I should focus on, I was left with a feeling of incompletion without being able to figure out what should come next. Arrogant and self-sufficient people cannot realize it because they don’t even acknowledge their ignorance.
The student mindset
This is something I felt as an emotion before really understanding it. It happened one morning as I was packing my stuff and going to work. I’ve recently decided to use good old handwriting to retain more of what I was learning. So, I have 3 or 4 notepads dedicated to various subjects that I always carry with me. The first day when I started this new habit, I felt the same way I did when I was younger and getting ready for school. I guess this feeling was buried under years of work and parental lives and it was so amazing to feel again that energy flowing in your body. A few instants later I understood that it was the other cement of any learning journey. Whatever you want to learn always approach it with an open mind and forget all your assumptions or so-called knowledge from past experiences. Pretend as if you were entering the university for the first time empowered by the passion and will to study. Having this mindset will take you places and allow you to learn anything, from anyone especially the best teacher: life itself.
These are the strategies and personality traits that worked for me and I hope you can relate or implement them to make the most of your learning trail. Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what works for you.
