Fostering a Mindset of Lifelong Learning

Learning how to make spot-on chicken dumplings doesn’t sound like a grand accomplishment worth any bragging, does it? Well, for someone who has spent countless hours ordering in out of pure boredom, I can attest to the fact that preparing your own meal can be rewarding and liberating all at once. And yes, you can let yourself feel some pride over the fact that you’ve learned something new.

For most people, change is something they avoid like the plague. As long as you can sit comfortably in your box called comfort zone, you’re good. Learning, on the other hand, pushes and pulls you out of that box and makes you create experiences that are anything but familiar. Yes, even preparing a meal can feel like that.

Building that learning mindset that embraces the joy of the unknown instead of cowering before it takes time and plenty of effort. Maybe your own journey can inspire your kids to do the same, or remind someone in your vicinity that they love the challenge.

When was the last time you asked a question?

Curiosity is one of the most natural innate qualities we tend to disregard or stifle as we grow up. As if our mind has determined an arbitrary boundary when you’ve learned just enough to manage and survive, but there’s no need to go through the humiliation of admitting you’re imperfect anymore. So many people walk through life doing nothing but nodding.

I’ve realized that I stopped asking questions. In conversations when people are discussing interesting topics and I have nothing to contribute, I still fail to ask: “What do you mean, what are solar neutrinos?”

Sometimes the entire value of any conversation lies in the number of questions that can be asked within it, and the number of discoveries you can make by learning to ask questions. Or re-learning, in my case.

Pick up a few hacks from your kids

Preparing for the world and its many challenges, kids are the ones picking up every possible trick and hack out there to make it. They try to speed up learning, to support each other, to get better results in less time – they are, in my experience, the masters of productivity when they want to be.

If preparing for the HSC (the higher school certificate) is anything to go by, they really can teach us so much. Especially during the pandemic and remote learning, they’ve started exchanging HSC study notes via online platforms to make it easier to prepare. This is a milestone worth the preparation, so they have found a way to get the knowledge and the information.

So instead of just going through the motions every time I come across a challenge or a milestone, I try to do the same: I look for alternatives. I get people to help me understand this new subject matter. I look for creative ways to grow.

Shaping your voice

Not everyone is a natural Dostoyevsky or Hemmingway. Some of us need to practice putting our thoughts into meaningful sentences or finding words that resemble what we feel. Learning, it turns out, especially the kind that extends throughout your life, is inward, too.

Learning to shape your voice through writing courses, for example, is a creative way to start understanding yourself a little better. It helps you get a stronger grasp of where those annoying, negative thoughts form, as well as the why behind them.

The beauty of saying yes

Although the Jim Carrey movie doesn’t represent the reality of this choice, the beauty of it is represented in a way that I can genuinely relate to. Before I started thinking about learning as a mindset as opposed to a mandatory process you go through school, it was extremely difficult to force myself to try new things.

It turns out, saying yes to new experiences, even if they aren’t all that exciting, might give you a glimpse into your own psyche as well as your limitations. It might give you a chance to work through some of your imperfections. So, here I am, saying yes to making dumplings (round two) and using cooking as a way to start a new chapter in my life.

Being critical instead of self-critical

Being overly critical of my shortcomings is basically my signature move. If I were talking to my kids, friends, or spouse about the same shortcomings, I’d show much more kindness and I’d be far more understanding.

Turning this concept upside down to help myself has done wonders for my abilities. Instead of berating myself for not knowing something, I’ve started perceiving it as a chance to learn it. It’s not perfect, it doesn’t always work, but it helps me move forward in all my relationships and my profession alike.

Life is in perpetual motion, and you cannot afford to stand still. If you’re a parent, you’ll want to know the time and the world in which your kids live and grow, and to do that, you need to grow with it. The more you discover how much you don’t know and how many learning possibilities there are, the easier it will become to embrace new skills and knowledge. Or at least try to get as far away from your comfort zone as possible.

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