got learn ing?

story by | carolyn baana

When was the last time you learned something new? When was the last time you deliberately learned something new? Sure, every day we experience events that can teach us something if we look for the lesson, but I’m not talking about that learning. I’m talking about the last time you decided that you needed to know more about a particular topic or wanted to learn a new skill, and then you went and gained that new knowledge. Been awhile?

why bother?

Why should you take the time to learn something new? Why make the extra effort to add a new skill or build on what you already know?

With a little bit of digging, you’ll find all kinds of research on how learning benefits the brain, makes us happier, or improves careers. It also makes you a more interesting participant in conversations around the water cooler and at cocktail parties.

While it’s interesting to have new information, the best part about learning is the fact we can’t learn something new without learning something new about ourselves as well. It’s inevitable…learning something new creates an environment for personal growth.

Whether you read a book, listen to a lecture, or conduct an extensive Internet search on a particular theme, you’ll come away knowing something more about what you believe, what you know to be true, or what you would like to change going forward. That’s the impact knowledge has.

Intentional or as a by-product of a life event, learning is foundational to growth and development. I once heard a conference speaker say that as a manager he would pay for any sort of learning one of his employees wanted to pursue. Why? Often learning something in one area provides inspiration and insight in another.

It’s time to be more deliberate about what you’re learning. Let’s get started!

make a plan

Is there something you want to learn and haven’t yet?

What’s holding you back? Make a plan to move toward your goal by first figuring out the commitment needed to get there.

Making a plan helps in many ways:

• having a written plan makes it real and increases the possibility of your learning event taking place

• if it’s a big learning goal [like scuba diving or creating pottery] you’ll identify what gaps you need to bridge [time, money, etc.]

• creating a plan will help you work through any fears you may have about learning something new learn from your life events

Next time you participate in an activity that isn’t what you usually do, take a few moments before the event to examine what you want to get out of it. Following the event, think about what it taught you. What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about your relationship with the individuals around you?

Sometimes learning is forced on us, particularly in a work environment. Even in areas where we have expertise, we hold the door open to learning more when we come into each situation with an attitude of curiosity, learning and expectation. Speaking from experience, in those times when I’ve joined a learning event where I thought I’d “heard it all before,” I’ve learned little. Conversely, when I’ve gone in with an attitude of curiosity, looking to find one or two things to take away and apply to my life or add to my own expertise, I learned something. get to that reading you’ve been putting off Russian poet Joseph Brodsky said, “There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them!” Pull an unread non-fiction book off your bookshelf and read it. Then refer to your to-read or want-to-read list, pick one, get it, and read it. And don’t discount social media. The Facebook pages you like, your LinkedIn newsfeed, or your Twitter feed all link to articles that should, since you connected with them, be interesting to you. Follow those links and learn something new.

Teach Someone Else

We learn so much when we teach others. What do you know that you can pass on? What do you know that you can share? What advice can you give? How can you help someone else avoid some of the mistakes you have made?

I encourage people to take the initiative to become a mentor to someone else. You might be surprised, but there are people out there who look up to you. There are individuals who would be thrilled to spend time with you to learn about your business, your experience, and the path you took to get to where you are today.

Being in the Midwest, and typically conservative and very modest, acknowledging that we have a particular expertise or talent can be difficult. It takes courage and a little bit of ego to put oneself out there like that. That said, I can tell you from experience that each mentor learns from his or her mentee. The relationship and benefit go both ways.

Enjoy The Process

Hey, this isn’t about going back to school! When we feel forced to learn something it usually takes the fun out of it. This time you get to choose. When a new topic or idea can be approached with a sense of curiosity and adventure, it’s then that we’re able to learn the most.

So, when was the last time you deliberately learned something new?

It’s time!