The Importance of Cultivating Learning Habits
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
Albert Einstein
A human brain can store around 1 million gigabytes. That's equivalent to downloading all of the articles on Wikipedia fifty thousand times. R. Buckminster Fuller estimated that knowledge doubled every century prior to the industrial revolution. In 1945, knowledge doubled every 25 years and in 1982 it is estimated that knowledge doubled every year. It is expected that we will soon reach knowledge doubling every 12 hours. These numbers are mind-boggling. Sparkline Capital outlines the impacts of the advancement of technology and notes that what we have learned in school may already be obsolete.
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
Alvin Toffler
As science fiction writer Brian Herbert says, "the capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice." We are born with a brain that has an extraordinary capacity to learn, but it is up to each of us to choose to apply our learning skills. Lifelong learning is defined as the ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. We are the first human beings to have easy access to humanity's collective knowledge, the most successful people will be those that develop perpetual learning habits.
Our Brains are Programmed to Learn
One theory in psychology is that curiosity is a drive state that motivates our biological learning systems. Introduction to Psychology defines a drive state as "motivational mechanisms designed to ensure that organisms take self-beneficial actions." When you feel hungry (a drive state) you are motivated to eat an apple. Once you eat your apple you don't feel hungry anymore. When you are curious about something, you are motivated to seek out information. By following this logic, you could argue that learning is an evolutionary survival skill. Each day, we acquire information to help us better understand the world and make better choices. Good learning habits leverage our natural curiosity.
Learning is a Smart Investment
Prioritizing learning is a profitable investment in yourself. Warren Buffet was not born an investment guru. He reads between 500-1,000 pages per day. Buffet describes this habit by saying, "This is how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it." A voracious reading habit is a common trait amongst the world's most successful people. Reading has also been shown to preserve brain health as you age and lessen the risk of Alzheimer's. It doesn't matter if your goal is wealth or health, learning is a smart long-term investment.
Learning Contributes to Your Success
There are rarely shortcuts to success. Luck and talent can help, but it's not surprising that the most successful people have good learning habits. Reading is proven to correlate to higher income and happiness. According to socio-economist Randall Bell, Ph.D. "Those who read seven or more books per year are more than 122 percent more likely to be millionaires as opposed to those who never read or only read one to three [books]." That is a powerful insight. From Elon Musk to Oprah, many of the world's most influential people say reading contributed to their success.
Our Institutions Have Failed to Instill Learning Habits
Unfortunately, the institutions we rely on to educate us have failed to instill lifelong learning habits. As Mark Twain so eloquently said, "I never let school interfere with my education." I stumbled upon the following statement by educator Thomas Hitch in a 1945 edition of the Journal of Higher Education.
It requires no demonstration to show that the college graduate is not educated until he has learned how to continue to educate himself after graduation.
Hitch says that the "process of thinking" taught to us in our education systems "rapidly decays through disuse after graduation." Information has never been more abundant, technology has never been more disruptive, and the amount of data we need to process has skyrocketed. Self-driven learning is a must-have skill during all stages of your life.
Start Feeding Your Curiosity
In my early, to mid-twenties, my learning mindset shifted. I was always taught that your school or workplace will dictate what you should learn. This approach was holding me back. I decided that I needed to take control and build my own self-driven learning habits. I allowed myself to freely invest in books, courses, and learning tools. I carved out dedicated time for reading and reflection in both my personal and professional life. Most importantly, I let my curiosity tell me where to apply my learning skills. The pay-off has been substantial from a career and personal happiness perspective.
Self-driven learning is one of the smartest investments you can make. It will open new doors and you will be happier. Go pick up a book that interests you and start reading.
