Notes From The Furlough: Day 56

Self-taught lessons are the only lessons.

Please discuss. How does this play out in life?

I’ll start us out. Life as a human has one constant: change. Ongoing change provides us with continuous opportunities to learn and grow. Teachers are all around us—educators, experts, mentors, trainers at work, social media influencers, bloggers, self-help gurus. There is no shortage of folks who want to help us learn. An yet, many of us continue our lives largely as we are, retaining the same beliefs, thoughts, knowledge, and behaviors. How can this be? Why aren’t we evolving more rapidly?

I can only learn when I m willing. Willing to keep an open mind, willing to try something new, willing to accept failure as a possible outcome. Observing someone, like a role model or YouTube expert, shows me a possible way to reach an endpoint, but I don’t really internalize the lesson without personal experience. I need skin in the game. I can be inspired by others and can look to them for possible solutions, but I won’t really get the lesson until I try it myself. I may stumble and may need to course correct, perhaps a number of times. But when I’m willing and persistent, I will learn things successfully. I am my own best teacher.

How about you? What’s your learning style?