What we learn with joy we never forget

Whether we recognise it or not, there are dozens of moments in a day that present the opportunity to learn incidentally. 

It could be simple, such as discovering how a friend prefers the milk poured into their coffee before the water or that a neighbour is going on vacation and having someone come to collect their mail each day.

While it may not seem like learning, it meets the definition: Learning is a lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, and behaviours.

Learn to ask why and then how

I find it helpful to pause at this point and consider why I want to learn that particular thing. When I skip that step, I find I generally do not follow through, sometimes at the expense of money or time.

Once I have considered why I want to learn something new, the next question is how. 

For me, if what I want to learn is a skill, then I much prefer to learn by doing. That is not always possible though, so my next preference is visual instruction, in-person, a video or even photos.

When it comes to a process though, I love a good flowchart. Being able to see the path that the user or data will take from the start to the end helps me to build a story in my mind that I can walk through as I work through it.

Learning to reset the default

The process of learning new behaviours is different from learning how. It is learning to act in the moment. Learning to identify triggers. 

To be able to learn a new behaviour, or develop a consistent, long-lasting habit is perhaps one of the biggest challenges for humans. It often requires us to unlearn the old way, so we can make space for the new.

The goal is to learn to make the desired action subconsciously, to reset ourdefault.

These stories of adventures of learning new skills, knowledge and behaviours will hopefully inspire you to seek opportunities to learn something new, and encourage you to know the purpose, feel the pleasure and find the patience to follow through.