Be Intentional with Learning
Dear destiny Friends,
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” – Alvin Toffler
One of the beauties of life is its ability to humble anyone. Nobody truly knows it all. We all learn, and need one another to succeed. That’s why it’s important for one to thread softly. It is, however, sad to see people who have lost golden opportunities to learn due to pride. Most ignoramus feel because they are mentors, rich, older etc., they can’t stoop to conquer; I have a simple message for them, as Per Michel Legrand, “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”
Still on humility, an energy entrepreneur, Mr. Kola Adesina, once stated that “one thing I like about tomorrow is, you will not know who will truly be relevant, available, alive, bigger, and mostly needed. Tread softly”, and I concur with this quote because life is so dynamic, it will teach you a lesson if you refuse to learn the experience of life.
One of the unique traits of all great men is their ability to learn, relearn and unlearn. Most people who have truly succeeded are great learners. These set of people learnt from their failed businesses, relationship/marriages, personal and professional lives. If you truly want to make an impact, you must be intentional in learning.
Learning is not limited to the four walls of education, one can learn from friends, parents, family members, colleagues, partners, mentors, mentees, social media etc. According to a sage, the wise man learns from his mistake, but a wiser man learns from other people’s mistake.
We live in a digital world, where the internet is the new currency for people who truly know how to take advantage of the opportunity it provides. Everyone is literally on social media. You can connect and learn from resourceful people if you have a good product, service, skill, gift/talent, knowledge or attitude and seek either mentorship, internship or support.
However, it is sad seeing some uninformed and poverty-stricken minds gallivanting on social media instead of learning from resourceful minds.
The good thing about learning is that it never goes out of fashion, and no one can take it away from you. Whatever you have, lives with you unless you desire to share. We will continue to learn until we leave this sinful world.
According to Henry Ford, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
The sad thing in our contemporary society is the prevalence of young minds and advanced adults looking for handouts as opposed to looking for opportunities to learn how to fish. Learning is a posture of the heart. If your heart is willing to learn, you will have the eagerness to explore different learning styles to help you discover new things.
Just as life comes with challenges, learning is not an exception. According to Albert Einstein, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving”.
To navigate the tough terrain of learning, one must always improvise new ways of learning-by-learning new skills, techniques, and principles. This is because when you look at most of the successful people in the world, they understand these ideologies. For example, Warren Buffet and Henry Ukazu spend most of their time reading and researching. Today, be motivated to heavily invest in yourself.
It’s instructive to know that knowledge will not come to you, you must be intentional and strategic in seeking knowledge. On a personal note, I spend time reading; I read voraciously on almost anything I find valuable. This is because when you know more, you will be paid more. This is why the “top” is always scanty while the button is crowded. Dr. Seuss was right when he stated “the more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Nothing will teach you a lesson in life more than life experience. Tom Bodett once stated, “the difference between school and life – In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.”. The beauty of school is that it will give you theoretical knowledge, provide security for you and maybe connect you to resource persons if you are able to network well, but life will give you the pragmatic and practical answers to apply all you have learnt in school.
Nobody will give you an opportunity to learn or thrive unless you show interest in the opportunity. As the Buddhist will always say, “when the student is ready, the master will appear.”
Below are some of the advantages of learning. Learning will open your brain; it will keep you abreast of recent information globally by keeping your mind young and sharp; you’ll gain new insight and perspective to life. Learning will make you think out of the box; it will make you more creative; learning can humble you when you become aware of what you don’t know; learning will make you have value and respect.
In conclusion, in 2024, and beyond, be intentional in seeking information and opportunity to learn. Remember, if you are not informed, you are ill- deformed, and once you are ill- deformed, you can’t perform because information will lead to reformation and transformation.
In a nutshell, information leads to formation. Regardless of what you have learned, make it a habit to continually develop yourself adding value to the world while practicing humility because life will humble you.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer Design Your Destiny and Unleash Your Destiny. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
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