Last week, I wrote about the importance of maintaining a lifelong learning mindset. Birthed when I first read the John Wooden quote, “It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.” I shared two ways of learning: Our life experiences and reading about others. This week, I am sharing two more. But first, here is another quote I remember as a reminder of my commitment to learning.

Ghandi said, “Live like you are going to die tomorrow and LEARN like you are going to live forever.” This is another mandate for lifelong learning.

Here are two more methods of learning:

  • Other people’s experiences. Today, we have many opportunities to glean from others: Podcasts, webinars, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and various posts. When others share what they have encountered and how they navigated through challenges and opportunities, we gain new insights to apply.
  • Attending live workshops on best practices can be useful. However, we must take care when attending workshops. If we are not careful, we will get “firehosed” with a ton of information, which can become overwhelming. I have found that we need a system to break down only actionable ideas that we can apply quickly. Just be intentional about learning from others.

 

  • Writing: Lastly, and this is a new one for me. I only really appreciated the learning opportunity in the last ten years. When you write, the words stand still. It’s like they talk back to you and ask, “Is this what you want to say?” As a result, writing can sharpen your thinking. It will help you focus and provide clarity to the reader. As a leader, you will always have opportunities to communicate through your writing. If you are intentional, you will learn plenty from writing.