What They Never Taught Us in School
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Children are the fastest learners in the world. Swept away by the opulence of their curiosity and imagination, they have no pretenses about learning new things and do not see learning as a means to an end. They learn for it’s own sake. Yet with age, this attitude fades.
As the sense of “I,” the ego, develops and attaches itself onto whatever basis of knowledge we have. This is exacerbated by poor learning experiences from earlier in life where learning may have been something we “had” to do versus “wanted” to do. As early as elementary school, knowledge became a means to a particular end; usually a job or keeping our parents happy. We were placed in class after class that left us asking, “Why do I need to learn this?” The best answer anyone could come up with was either one of either:
a) Complacency: This is the way it’s always been done.
b) Shame: You will fall behind, won’t get a good job, disappoint family, etc.
Either way, most answers we ever got came out of fear from those raised by the same system. Thus, getting the right grade, by any means necessary, was far more important than acquiring knowledge. Given the choice of learning a topic or getting the answers before a test wasn’t much of a choice at all. All this may not have been our fault, but living in the past won’t serve our future. Whether switching careers, taking on a new hobby, or just becoming more knowledgeable about a certain area, how can we embrace that childlike mindset to learn faster, smarter, and better?
There are hundred of learning hacks and techniques out there, but they are useless unless we have the right mindset to implement them.
The Mindset
Rip off the Labels
Our brains work through association. They create labels from experience which act as shortcuts to optimize our lives. While extremely useful for basic survival scenarios, such as “fire = hot,” they are not without their flaws. Many labels arise early in life. While fire will always be hot, many things may not be as they seem from one experiences we may have had. This is why it is important to reexamine our labels and decide if they are true or are based on a small set of data wrapped up in one bad experience. Remember, while there are people that are absolutely horrible at things like math, there are far more people that are just phenomenal at lying to themselves.
Nurture Curiosity
Once upon a time, our curiosity knew no bounds. We’d pick random objects up off the floor, ask our parents why a million times, and see the most insignificant as awe inspiring. Yet with age, the world around us became painted in mundane routine. We began doing the same things, at the same times, in the same order. Taking time to discover things that may not do much aside from satisfying the craving of curiosity can train the brain to apply such an approach to other areas of life. By observing the feeling we get from such activities we can begin to recreate them in areas where “have to” takes place of “want to.”
Surrender to Time
People that are thinking of entering time intensive learning periods, such as traditional colleges or other types of structured learning programs, struggle most with the exchange of time. They see the the extensive time period of a few months or years as a wall they do not dare climb. Yet the only question to ask is if whether or not what’s on the other side is worth it. Time will pass anyways. No one can control that. The only thing that remains to be seen is where we will be when it does.
Remind and Refuel
As much as we may love to embrace the childlike attitude of “learning for it’s own sake” sometimes we just can’t. We’re not children. We have bills, relationships, and a mirage of other things children just don’t deal with. As circumstances and responsibilities pile on, motivation can flicker. During these times, feeding the fire is key. We must remind ourselves why what we are learning is meaningful and why we are here. Today may have been a difficult day, so difficult we almost quit, but then we didn’t.
Unlock Your Potential
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