Is learning difficult? Many people seem to think so … but I believe that we have actually been built or hardwired so that learning is easy if we try to learn in a brain friendly manner and are also open to learning.

Mahatma Gandhi once said “Learn as if you were to live forever”, which is all about being committed to and passionate about lifelong learning.

According to him, learning should continue right up till the point that we cease to live on this earth (and possibly thereafter as well).

So learning is not limited to what is needed to pass exams but much more than this.

 

Learning from the environment

Each day and indeed each moment of each day is a learning opportunity as we are exposed to different things and our experiences each day is different.

What comes through our 5 senses each day (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) could be entirely different to what we have experienced before and therefore is an opportunity to learn.

 

 

The very fact that we are where we are and are thriving … yes thriving, in our surroundings … is that we have been conditioned to learn and adapt. Without any form of learning and adaptation we would now have ceased to be.

For example when we feel sick we need to be receptive to ‘learn’ from the signals our body is giving us and take some corrective action. No action at all and the state of sickness could get enhanced isn’t it? But the key is to be receptive!

Are we open or closed to learning?

So all of us are exposed to stimuli every moment of every day … this could take the form of seeing something on the road … or even being consciously taught something by someone else.

The latter example is what we normally consider ‘learning’ isn’t it … as it is more formal and structured.

 

 

But even in this case … even when we have seen something work … we may not apply this into our ways of doing things! Let me give you an example.

A couple of years ago I was fortunate to be a part of a choral conducting workshop where all the participants were shown how positioning a choir (using a live choir) could have a dramatic impact on the overall sound being produced.

Now this was not theoretical … it was demonstrated … we saw and heard the difference first hand.

Acouple of years down the road I have seen many of the participants at the workshop conducting their own choirs with scarcely any change in the way of positioning. So we were exposed, we saw the results, but we still didn’t apply it!

 

Conscious acceptance or rejection

So we can be exposed to new ideas, and new thinking, but we need to be open and receptive or else nothing will change.

I am not saying adopt everything that we are exposed to … but on the contrary understand, filter, and then consciously accept or reject the new ideas. If we accept them … then also try to see how we could use these ideas, thoughts, or innovations in what we do.

We would then be on the path to lifelong learning. And that would be fantastic!

 

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Sanjeev Jayaratnam – [BSc (Hons) First Class, MBA, MBCS, CEng] is a visiting lecturer at the University of Moratuwa and the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenapura.

He previously also lectured at IIT, IIHE, SLIIT and APIIT. He is the CEO of Revelations Professional Education and a partner of the Revelations Academy.

And the choral director / leader of ‘The Revelations’ ranked #4th in world in 2008. He can be reached on [email protected]