The Importance of Continued Learning

“…education is never about access to information, it’s about the forward motion of learning.”

- Seth Godin

Great white sharks can’t stop moving. They must swim to breathe. I find this fact both compelling and exhausting. Moving forward is challenging, difficult, involves risk. Sometimes, I’d like to just sit on the couch with a bowl of ice cream. I’m no shark, but I do understand that in order to be the person I want to be I can’t stand (or sit) still; not for long. In this age of information, we literally have the whole world (wide web) at our fingertips. All of the words of Shakespeare? Just a search away. The recordings of the Beatles? Stream it on any device. Digital images of masterpieces from a thousand years ago? Check out Wikipedia. Access to information is no longer our problem. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. We have so much information coming at us from so many directions that we don’t know what to do with it all.

That’s why this quote from Seth Godin struck me so deeply. We don’t learn unless we apply that information in some meaningful way. To our own context. We learn by doing. And that requires forward motion. That requires being uncomfortable for a while until we stretch into a new shape. And once we stretch, there’s no going back. It changes who we are. But that’s what’s so great about learning. Moving forward, even if it’s just a centimeter at a time, makes us better. It makes us wiser. It moves us toward being more and more effective at making the lives of those around us more… you choose the adjective.

How do we keep the forward motion going?

1. Don’t be afraid to put time into things that interest you. Feeding your soul inspires growth.

2. Focus on your strengths; it will move you forward much more quickly and easily than trying to be someone you’re not.

3. Start to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s the only way to grow.

What are your professional goals and what motivates you to pursue them? You can’t achieve goals without motivation; even the negative motivation of a deadline or a job requirement can be powerful. But I have found this: if learning and growing is at least part of your motivation, you will be more willing to put up with being uncomfortable in the service of achieving those goals. AND you will want to stretch and change in the process. Because standing still and remaining the same are no longer an option.

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