Hey guys, welcome back.
I'm a firm believer that we should all be students of life forever
and that we should all be lifelong learners because there's so much to be learned,
so much to be experienced, so much to be discovered, so much to be explored.
A lot of successful people attribute their success to being lifelong learners
- I can't talk, great start -
So here are 6 ways you can be a lifelong learner
And thanks to Skillshare for partnering with me on this video. Let's get started.
The first thing I do is remind myself to be open
to new experiences, to possibilities, to growing,
to the fact that we're all students and that we'll forever be students
because there are always new things to learn, new skills to acquire, and new viewpoints to understand.
As Marcus Aurelius said, "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.
Everything we see is perspective, not the truth."
So I'm constantly reminding myself to be open
to seeking out new opinions and perspectives, even if they differ from my own
And to have empathy for myself and for those around me
that it's completely okay to not know something, or a lot of things
Because it's important to embrace the beginner's mind.
There was a point in my life where I convinced myself
I knew everything and I didn't need any help and that I could do everything on my own
and truth be told, that was as silly as I've ever been.
Research has found that self perceptions of expertise increased closed-minded cognition.
This means that the more you think you know, the more narrow-minded you become.
So what is a beginner's mind?
It's dropping our expectations and preconceived notions about something,
seeing the world anew with an open mind and a fresh pair of eyes.
Once we begin experiencing life with a curiosity we once had as children, it's time to start asking questions.
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."
"The quality of your life is the quality of your questions."
"Knowledge is having the right answer.
Intelligent is asking the right question."
In all seriousness, when you don't understand something,
when a question pops up in your head,
when you're unsure about anything,
the best solution is - to ASK.
So simple, right?
But I can't begin to count how many times I didn't, in the fear of looking silly,
inconveniencing or burdening others, or just purely out of pride.
These days, I try to put all those feelings aside and JUST DO IT.
I try to ask less "would", "should", "is", "are", "do you think" questions, that usually gets a yes or a no,
and more "who", "what", "where", "when", and "why" questions that require more thought to answer
And I usually come up with follow-up questions for my follow-up questions
by following my train of thought until I get a satisfactory answer.
Now that we're asking questions,
be proactive in seeking answers and start collecting data points and filling in the gaps.
Know where and who you can turn to for questions of varying degrees.
Google is my best friend, books and podcasts are great resources
and so are my parents and my friends.
For life advice that doesn't suck on happiness, habits, and relationships,
I love the hyper self-aware, cool older brother vibes from Mark Manson.
He gets it, and I think he's pretty hilarious.
Brain Pickings is great, too, and so is Medium.
Here are three of my favorite articles: "The Risk Not Taken", "The Crossroads of Should and Must",
and "How Radioactive Poison Became the Assassins Weapon of Choice".
This is like a science nerdy one. It's super cool.
When I want to learn a specific skill or explore something more creative,
Skillshare is my favorite online learning tool.
They're a variety of online courses from productivity to
creativity to business and lifestyle.
They're currently offering the first 500 people to sign up a two-month Premium Membership for $0.99.
Link is in the description and more on this at the end.
As for being proactive in seeking answers, it's worth noting though that
at times, doing the opposite works better.
Our minds will answer most questions if we learn to relax and wait for the answer.
Next, is learning how to listen to listen and learn to learn.
My friend told me a few years ago that there are 5 levels of listening:
some people straight-up ignore you (which you know they're not listening),
some people pretend to listen and nod their head from time to time
but you know full well they're not really listening,
some selectively listen just waiting for their turn to speak,
some listen attentively but only hear from their frame of reference,
and very few listen just to listen.
Now this is monk status - listening with full attention to understand the meaning of what is being said.
And I think this applies perfectly well to learning as well.
I learn to learn because I want to learn, and isn't that the best and only way to learn?
Am I Doctor Seuss, yet?
And, lastly, don't let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.
I was scrolling through Facebook last year (I rarely use this thing anymore)
and came across a video from Jim Rohn - Tony Robbins's mentor, on "How if you don't use it, you lose it."
Whatever you don't employ, you forfeit. Whatever you don't use, you lose.
Ambition, unused, declines. Strong feelings, unused, diminishes.
Faith, unused, decreases. Energy, unused, decreases.
Today, unused, is lost. A talent, unused, is lost. An ability, unused, is lost.
So make sure all you've got is being used, otherwise you lose.
And to end this video,
this is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite favorite favorite dudes of all time:
"Be humble, stay grateful,
remain a student of life, and remember that true knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing."
A million thanks to Skillshare for partnering with me for this video.
I just finished this course with Simon Sinek on how to share ideas that insp- inspire action
and I'm starting this Gary Vaynerchuk course on Social Media Strategy in Noisy world.
Want to nerd out with me?
Skillsshare's offering the first 500 people two months of Skillshare Premium for 99 cents.
A Premium membership gives you unlimited access to over 100, not a hundred, seventeen thousand courses.
Think Netflix for learning. Yeah!
Thank you guys so much for watching.
I'm testing out a little shorter format.
Let me know what you guys think.
Do you like it? Do you like it a little longer? More info? Less info?
And let me know how you guys are continuing to learn, either you're at school, you're out of school,
you're working, you're doing whatever. How do you continue to learn?
What are some of your favorite resources?
What are some of your favorite things to do or activities or just anything.
Let me know.
See you guys in the next video.
<3
Bye