As I have mentioned in my other writings, learning is something I hold very dear. To be true to that endeavor, I try to be open to learning from anyone/anything. Keeping an open mind helps out here. Try to be that way.
“Open mind” for me means to observe things around me, try to listen and be curious. After doing that, I can form my own opinions about things. A few examples -
- “Small Kids” - Observing and interacting with them is a great experience. I love my talks with my niece. Curiosity, innocence, and being happy are something I feel they particularly excel at. Being curious is something I try to keep alive in me.
- “Older People” - My favorite person ever was my grandfather. Amazing person, I feel very lucky to have spent time with him while growing up. He taught me lot of things, cards being my favorite. I don’t know how to put it in words but just being around someone like him was a great learning experience.
- “Books” - I have talked about this in here a lot more.
- “Dogs” - My pet or any dog I have seen throughout my life. They are so loving and loyal.
One big thing that helps is to never feel some work is beneath you. Be it anything always assume you will explore something new in it. Doing this allows you to have respect for the work others do. Gradually the more you learn the more you realize how much you don’t know. It keeps you grounded and humble. In the movie “3 Idiots” there is a scene in which the actor is thrown out of his class and goes sit in some other class saying “Chaaro taraf gyaan bat raha hai, jahan se mile lapet lo” (Knowledge is being spread all around, grab it from wherever you can). I love that scene. It’s a great way to look at things.
There are times when I would fall into tunnel vision which is needed at times to focus. But need to step back look at the bigger picture and be open.
I have never liked “exams” throughout my life. Especially before exams, I would like to do 100 other things but study for the exam the next day. I hated the fact that the “marks” represented, a judge of your knowledge. Especially in school apart from “Maths”, most of the teachers were interested in “how many pages you filled” rather than “what you wrote”. All of the above are just my thoughts and could be wrong. Plus I was never a good student, so take it with a pinch of salt. But in all of that, I do think I missed out by putting in less effort to learn things more deeply. I’m trying to change that now.
Since I have started working I think I have learned a lot more and the world teaches you things. I have been lucky to have worked with some amazing people who have taught me a lot. Also grateful to folks running communities where so many great people hang out.