I took a workshop on storytelling for a bunch of design students a couple of months back. It was my first workshop with students. They were being put through a pitch stimulator where they had to design a product and pitch it to a jury. My job was to help them design a captivating and engaging pitch using storytelling.
I’ve done countless workshops at corporates. The difference in approach by both these set of participants towards a workshop was startling. The students came with an open mind, a hunger to learn, a lack of judgement and an eagerness to perform. My effort to create an engaging, participative experience was minimal. With a corporate workshop however, I’ve noticed a huge reluctance to be a part of learning initiatives.
As we grow older, we develop a reluctance to learn anything new. There are several reasons for this. One of course is time crunch. Whether it is a 2 hour workshop or a simply reading a book, it is difficult to find the time to learn something new unless you have a passion for it or it is a part of your habit.. Another reason is the lack of understanding of the correlation between continuous learning, personal growth and professional growth. The third is the non comprehension that learning need not be structured as courses but can come in many forms – reading books, blogs, newsletters; an open mind while having invigorating discussions; meeting new people – all of these are forms of continuous learning that can help us evolve as a person.
Here are my top ways of always learning something new
1. I subscribe to a plethora of newsletters in subjects of my interest.
I’ve realized that structured and curated information sent to me in bite sized modules really takes the pressure off me to find interesting new information everyday. Finding the right newsletters of course is a one-time investment of time and patience. But usually forwards by friends, browsing through interesting websites and finding interesting recommendations on social media helps.
Here’s an easy tip to find interesting newsletters in your subjects. Google for top blogs /websites in your subject of interest. Once you find them, go through them to see if you like the content and it resonates with you. If it does, then subscribe to them. You’ll get newsletters with all the latest content from the website/blog and maybe other exclusive content.
And before we move forward, let me invite you to subscribe to my blog right here to receive my weekly newsletter-
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2. I follow interesting people on Social Media.
The people I follow on social media mix is an eclectic bunch across industries, and across types of content. Individuals, I think are the best content creators right now. Such great outflow of thoughts, ideas, opinions, in the form of posts, videos, articles. I have a bunch of people I follow on Instagram and LinkedIn. Between these two platforms I get my daily quota of business, fashion, food, opinion and even news. But the pieces of content I enjoy the most are opinion led pieces.
3. YouTube has been a constant source of learning new things.
The search function of YouTube allows me to look for the exact information I’m looking for. It also helps that based on my search, YouTube recommends videos to me that may be of interest to me. For e.g. yesterday I found an excellent channel that showed me
4. I’m a voracious reader of books.
I have the kindle app on my phone and continuously download books that may be of interest to me. A lot of times I get massive discounts only by tracking what the prices of the books are.
Many of us are not book readers. In that case look for bite sized reading on blogs, websites, articles, short e books.
Or if you are really not into reading, try podcasts and Audible for learning on the go.
5. I love meeting new people.
I’m always curious to know about different kinds of work that people do, new perspectives, new logic, new debates.
People bring so much learning with them. But here’s the catch. You have to be open to learning and absorbing from people. Many times we are so passionate about our own viewpoint that we refuse to look at other new perspectives.
Set up your life in such a manner that you’re constantly meeting new people. If your work or entail this, there are always networking events not to forget expanding your social life.
6. I’ve downloaded Udemy and LinkedLeaning on my phone.
I look up short courses on the go. Don’t be too hung up on certifications unless it is something you feel you require for professional advancement. But mostly, just learning something new should be anough as long as you are able to apply it to your work and life.
Let me know in the comments below what you do to keep learning new things.
Come join me on Instagram for your daily dose of inspiration.
Till next time
Dipika Singh
She Means Business