No. 448, January 7, 2002

A tip for learning with joy

Lusting to learn

Sit back in your chair and give yourself a few minutes to daydream. . . about learning! What are some things in your life that you would like to learn more about or learn how to do? Write down a few of these fantasies. For example, I would love to finally learn French decently, to play the electric bass guitar or to learn more about famous philosophers’ thoughts.

What prevents you from pursuing this learning? Are you like me, always finding more serious or useful things you need to learn for your work? Maybe you don’t think you really can learn the things you want to learn. I’ve surely tried to learn French without much success! Maybe you don’t think you have the time or you simply don’t know where to start.

Sit back again and think about the things that you "must" learn more about. Maybe this brings you a feeling of unease. Life does have its share of "musts".

In today’s modern world an ever growing number of young people are learning to follow their lusts and desires. They tend to eliminate things they find boring or not immediately useful. It’s fascinating to hear how they reason. People of my generation learned to do things out of duty, order and under the direction of authority. Schoolwork, for example, was just something you had to do. There was no point in questioning content or homework. Sure, there are plenty of duty bound kids today, but a growing number are learning to follow their hearts as they choose what to study – or what not to study and learn.

What would happen if we used this philosophy more often and followed our "lust to learn"?

A good start is to ask your workmates what they would like to learn more about in regard to their work. The next step is to let people learn and study things they are interested in, on worktime, but not necessarily related to their work. More and more companies are giving people these opportunities to grow and develop. The desire to learn is a strong driving force in small children. May we use this force in our adult lives as well.

Good luck! John Steinberg

© 2002 Strategies to Learn & Grow Newsletter • Printable version