Tag: learning

Lifelong learning tips

Ways to keep growing and learning

If you’re going to keep growing—as a leader, as an employee, as a human being—then you’ll need to keep learning. If you want to remain interested and stay interesting, keep learning. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, increase your value to your boss, or become a thought leader, you have to keep learning.

Curiosity keeps us feeling young and keeps our brains in tip top shape. And the way to do that is to develop ways to become a lifelong learner.

Paul Sohn has a great post HERE on 10 ways to become a lifelong learner. I encourage you to read it. I agree with all 10 on his list but my two favorites would have to be books (#4 on Sohn’s list) and listening & asking (#2). In fact, I just came from a great lunch meeting where I learned a whole boatload just by asking questions.

I would add a couple more to his list. One is podcasts. There are so many great podcasts out there now and many are high quality. You can load them up on your device (I use the Stitcher app) and then listen while commuting or mowing the grass or walking the treadmill. A couple that I have found especially meaningful are The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast (for church leaders), The EntreLeadership Podcast (for entrepreneurs and business leaders from a Christian perspective, from the Dave Ramsey team), and the TED Radio Hour (interviews and snippets from TED Talk speakers centered around a topic each month). But there are so many great ones.

Reading blogs is another method I would add. Use an app like feedly to feed the blogs you follow; then you can go to one page for all the blogs. Learn the art of skimming to get through all the posts, but slow down when you hit something especially intriguing or applicable. This is how you can sift through a lot of blog posts and info quickly.

In all your learning, whether books, podcasts, whatever, make sure you get a balanced diet. Yes, you want to learn things related to your career (or the career you wish to move into), but also include topics related to who you are as a person and what your interests are. And then go beyond that into wildcard topics. Maybe you enjoy history books, but read a science or art book occasionally, or something else you wouldn’t normally read. And occasionally read something a little bit beyond you to challenge yourself.

Finally, use a journal to make notes on what you’re learning and how you might apply your learnings. Don’t just drink in the info, but really think it through and determine how you can grow as a person.

What are your favorite ways to learn?

Do you truly learn something new every day?

Not sure who first said it, but I remember my parents saying after acquiring some bit of new information: “Well, you learn something new every day.”

As a leader and as a follower of Christ, I place a high priority on learning. I’ve cultivated a strong reading habit and long to continually be curious and inquisitive. So when I saw these verses from Proverbs it got me to thinking about the importance of daily learning:

“Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
apply your heart to what I teach,
for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
and have all of them ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I teach you today, even you.” Proverbs 22:17-19 NIV

Here are some random thoughts based what these verses teach us about learning, whether it’s spiritual learning or otherwise:

The prerequisite to learning: Recognize that you don’t know everything and you have so much to learn in so many different areas.

We need to nurture our curiosity to learn: “Pay attention … turn your ear … apply your heart …” It takes diligent effort and cultivation to learn.

Pay attention: Concentrate and zero in on what you’re learning or it will go in one ear and out the other (another great saying). I find it helpful to highlight and take notes in books and to take notes in a journal I carry with me.

Turn you ear—listen: Books are easily available ways to learn, but it’s also important to listen to what others have to say. There are those who have gone before us and have dealt with what we are facing. Seek those people out and listen. But also realize that you can learn from anyone. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.”

Apply your heart: It’s not enough to acquire knowledge. We must apply it to our lives. Knowledge without application is like buying shop tools and woodworking books but never actually building anything. As you take notes, think and pray about how you can personally apply the information.

Another great way to beef up your learning is to share what you’ve learned with others (“… have all of them ready on your lips.”) We refine and solidify our thoughts when we share them with someone else.

Our learning shouldn’t make us arrogant, but should actually make us more humble (“So that your trust may be in the Lord …”). As Paul said, “… knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1 NIV). In fact, the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.

If your trust in God isn’t deepened over time as you’re learning, you’re doing it wrong.

Learning should be an everyday occurrence (“… I teach you today, even you.”). What is God teaching you today? What are you reading today? What are you learning from others today? What’s inspiring you today? When you share what your walk with Christ means to you or what else you are learning, it shouldn’t just be a history lesson, but a current events lesson.

So, what are you learning—today?