Have you ever wanted to learn something? I don’t know about you, but in my case I have always liked to be learning new things. Not only things related to my profession but in general. Seated, comfortable with something to drink nearby and maybe some snacks on hand.
Maybe you are learning something for an exam, maybe it’s for your work, or maybe just for the sake of it. Either way I’m sure you’ve run into a problem. After a while… you forget things. And when that happens, 1 of 2 things follows: Either you have to start over to learn everything or what you learned is left to be forgotten.
It’s a problem I’ve been aware of for a while but had never gotten around to solving…until now. Learning how to learn sounds pretty useful, after all it should inherently make anything in life easier. That sounds good.
Most of what I will share with you is what I learned from a Platzi course, (a very good learning platform, I recommend it), although I will add a few additional things there.
The learning curve
Unlike what we could have been taught in school, the effective learning is not something that is achieved in the same way for everyone or in the same amount of time. Learning is not a straight line to the goal, it is actually something more like this:
This means that at first you will always feel that you are doing extremely well and will probably build a certain amount of confidence. After all, going from not knowing anything to knowing even just 1 thing is already a world of difference. However, after a short time you will really see the magnitude of what you are trying and you’ll probably be disappointed as you realize how much you really need to master the subject.
It is normal that upon reaching the “Discouragment” stage, people begin to let themselves be dissuaded by their own mind and convince themselves that it’s best not to even try. Don’t let those thoughts overwhelm your mind, and remember that that feeling of insecurity will probably go away with a few months of effort.
Learn something new or the same old thing?
One of the things that many come to face when they decide to learn something new is not knowing what to focus on. Sometimes they have many interests but little by little they become dissuaded: “I am not good at that”, “But I already studied x, I can’t waste my time on that”, etc. Even worse, sometimes it is even close people who end up reinforcing those ideas.
I think that the idea of focusing on our professional area is very valid. At the end of the day, specializing helps us distinguish ourselves as professionals. However, I also believe that this is no reason to limit ourselves and prohibit us from learning something outside of that area.
If you are an accountant, learn more about accounting, but don’t leave aside the desire you have to learn about design. If you are a programmer but have always wanted to know more about marketing, then learn more about programming, but don’t deprive yourself of the pleasure of also learning about marketing.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
Robert A. Heinlein
People have the ability to learn an infinite amount of things and doing so will only enrich your life. So if someone criticizes you for not “specializing” or for wanting to learn something new, you know what quote to use.
If this helped to inspire you or even make you a little curious, I invite you to take the next step and take a little time to get to know yourself a little more.