Making Learning a Habit: Why we should learn something new every day
Learning doesn’t have to look a certain way: it doesn’t have to take place in a classroom and information doesn’t have to come our way via textbooks.
Knowledge is all around us, and with a little consciousness and thoughtfulness, it isn’t hard to learn something new every day. We can learn by observing our surroundings, watching YouTube videos, browsing through our Facebook feed or even talking to our family, friends, or strangers. Especially with technology in everyone’s pockets, there isn’t really an excuse not to be constantly learning.
Through fortnightly Learning Day gatherings, Praxium aims to promote the practice of learning to learn, and to emphasise that learning is limitless and bite-sized. Most of our participants agree that learning is a continuous and valuable process.
Related: How to learn something new every day?
Although the possibilities of learning are endless, many of us tend to neglect it in lieu of other immediate priorities. Unless there is an urgent necessity — a problem to solve, or a topic to be tested on — most of us don’t practise learning intentionally as a daily activity.
We think this matters: here are 6 reasons why all of us should learn something new every day, and make this activity a habit.
Did you know that as you gather information to ponder, discover and satisfy your curiosity, you become more aware, thoughtful and reflective? Learning expands and stimulates our mind as we gain new knowledge. Trying to comprehend new information gets our intellectual juices flowing; it can probe us to dive deeper into topics to further our own understanding and sharpen our critical thinking. The urge to learn more is quite like quenching one’s thirst after days of dehydration.
Related: Failing to learn: Why mistakes matter
Learning can be a social activity that helps us connect with people from different walks of life; which is sometimes quite difficult to do on a meaningful level in a digital world. It’s time to stop staring 24/7 at your screen and meet actual people face to face. Why not join a learning circle that will allow you to share your knowledge with other people, encourage you to learn continuously, and provide opportunities to pay it forward by sharing what you know — all at the same time?
Do you know that when you learn and share something, you could leave a deep impression and impact on those who are listening? Instead of learning on your own, why not learn something with a family member or friend (or romantic interest)? Besides getting to share the experience with someone, you’ll both gain a common topic of interest and can encourage each other through the journey.
Learning is the best way we know to fight boredom! If we’re continuously acquiring new information, we’ll find that there are many interesting, complex things out there to learn about, will never be short of a challenge, or cease to find the world an interesting place.
Furthermore, we’ll be able to discover things that we may be passionate about too! Learning gives us the opportunity to explore our interests, gather more information and guide us to what we would like to do in life as well.
Related: Kickstart your passion project
Learning provides us with knowledge when we seek it, and stress relief when we need it. Learning doesn’t have to be a chore (even if school often feels like one); it can introduce us to new hobbies, passions, and ways to improve our lives. We daresay that learning improves the quality of our lives - be it through understanding others better or empowering us with the knowledge to make sound decisions in our personal and professional lives.
The world is filled with lots of fascinating and unique skills, knowledge and talents only discoverable through learning! Learning something new comes with a sense of achievement. The process and outcome of learning gives us confidence in ourselves, and sparks a ripple as we then become empowered to pass that knowledge on to someone else.
With the future ever volatile and unpredictable, learning might be our only insurance against redundancy.
Rather than view learning as a chore, why not turn it into your lifestyle and commit to learning something new every day? To start off, join Praxium for our next Learning Day, or download our free toolkit to kickstart your own learning circle.
