How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Lifelong Learning

Techniques > Happiness > Lifelong Learning

Description

Study. Learn. Don't stop. That's it.

Go back to school and gain more qualifications, whatever your age. Read voraciously, particularly (but not exclusively) non-fiction -- books of knowledge are ridiculously cheap for what they contain.

Also learn from any and every situation. Try things. Find what works and what does not. Seek to improve things. Explore how the world works. Figure out how people work (as much as you can ever do this, that is).

Find mentors, coaches and teachers who are willing to impart their hard-won knowledge and wisdom to you.

Discussion

Learning is a very good strategy for evolution and our ancestors soon found that those who could learn would outwit and outlive those who relied on basic instincts and little else. Our brains reward us for learning with the endorphin buzz of the 'aha' in each 'Eureka moment'. Learning can thus be addictive, though with the non-harmful drugs your own brain creates.

Learning and being expert are very different. Being expert is a static state and those who are most expert are those who never stop learning.

Learning requires being open, admitting that you do not know and challenging the things you believe you know. It can mean throwing away years of assumption as a new piece of understanding turns your past experience on its head.

Lifelong Learning

Description

Discussion

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