I wonder how many days go by without us really learning anything valuable. I think most people would accept the fact that we should be actively learning our entire lives. I have seen a few famous quotes by people like Albert Einstein, Henry Ford that indicate that a person should continuously learn up until the day they die. Which brings up an interesting concept. If you are not trying to learn anything new on the day that you die, perhaps you were already dead and did not know it.
So I have a question. Are you trying to learn anything new today? Did you wake up this morning with a desire to learn something, to figure something out, to be inspired with a new concept or idea? I think we learn a little bit just by living, but sometimes our days become so predictable – I wonder if we have lived out the usefulness of that routine and we have really stopped learning anything at all.
In thinking about this – I have noticed that things that used to be exciting for me, have become somewhat dull and my motivation to engage in them has diminished. The reason is that I am not learning anything new at all, I am stuck in a repetitive behaviour and any motivation I had slowly got sucked away. So, I imagine that one of the hardest things to do as a human is to wake up each day, and despite your routine, strive to push the boundaries of what you know and learn something.
Second question. When was the last time you learned something, just simply for the sake of learning it? Meaning – there was no obligation, no requirement, no end goal or pressure. You just simply learning something out of complete curiosity of the unknown. I think that is truly living. When we are comfortable enough in our current condition to give ourselves permission to learn something just for the sake of learning – that is special.
So today, for my 365 Commitment, I have simply put down “learn something.” Today I am going to let my curiosity wander and when I come across something interesting today, I am going to let myself explore and learn without consideration of obligation or ambition. I am going to learn just for the sake of learning and for no other reason.
Guy Reams (134)
365 Member
