Are You a Learner or An Expert?

Photo credit - Link

I came across a radio show that opened up an AHA! moment this afternoon and some Bob Ong quote yesterday and both talked about success and how it makes us forget about learning as its most important by product.

We were programmed to be experts not learners ever since we were kids. We get educated in good schools so that we can be equipped with the proper knowledge and skills to make it out on our own after college. We earn diploma and degree, some even going after PhD's that we think we need to earn the dream job we want or give us higher income. Most of us have a goal in mind and we find out how we achieve that destination. We might fail many times before we get the right formula and smile graciously at the given "Congratulations" to us when we get accomplished on something. Once we reach that end results, we strive to improve yet again or decide to be better in other areas of our lives. That same thirst is what propels us to always find something to learn irregardless of what we are doing with our lives.

Can you see the pattern here? Learning is really part of being a success be it in relationships, hobbies, or career. As human beings, we are always learning every day even if we get out of the traditional classroom teaching. What we learn might not be related in the goal we have in mind but we come across them anyway. 

We are simultaneous beings in that we can accommodate different real modules at a time even if we feel overwhelmed. You might be gaining notoriety in your work but you find out about having better communication skills with your family all at the same day. You always learn something even without trying because that is how we were built for. As we claim to be higher intellectual creatures of Earth, we should never stop learning just because we got comfortable in our expert chair.

Mistakes are part of learning. Making mistakes has no short cut or other equal substitute. We all have different experiences because we have to make our own mistakes. This levels the field and help us learn from each other no matter the background. If we pause a few seconds in our busy life, no matter how different we are we always find commonality in our mistakes. Funny, huh? That is because we are human beings and having human natures - we fall into similar pits. But our learning abilities differ and we must be thankful because it means we can share more ideas and methods about life.

So do not believe that life can give you the expert badge for a long time. Almost always, life can really knock you off your high horse and reminds you to resume your duty as the student of life. Always choose to be a learner because that is something that cannot be taken away from you. It makes you an adventurer in life - keeps the boredom away and hey, keeps you interesting because you are always interested with something. We only use 20% of our brains in our lifetime and we could improve the odds by setting our minds in using the rest of the 80% in learning. 

We are learners and success should only be its by product as contrast to the first sentence in this write up. Success can make you happy but often only temporarily - and emptiness would always find its way back at you. Learning on the other hand, can be more fulfilling and makes you more contented with what you have and prompts you into sharing it with others.

That is why people who dwell in the process and not the end results always lead more meaningful lives. They are the ones who make unforgettable contributions to the society. And surprisingly, we are part of those who admire them because their effort in learning has surpassed beyond normal human powers. 

But we are capable of doing greater things if we just set our mind to learn. Think about it - and learn!

And this reminds me of the usual kudos of the groups:

For Scho: "Destined to do greater things!"

For Wbz: "I don't need luck, I'm good!"