In this mindset shift, JC guides you through the process of learning. Today's leader's are getting very good at saying, "I don't know.", and are finding success through showing they have the willingness and the courage to acknowledge what they don't know and what they are doing to gain more knowledge.
In today's mindset shift, we're going to talk about learning the act of bringing in information that you do not know yet. I feel like I see another article every single day that raises the point that the world's best leaders. To lead is to affirm.
When you are in the process of learning, is it normally out of necessity or out of curiosity? The best lived life is lived in the seat of student as much as possible. Being the person who learns from curiosity brings the joy into the process.
For your journaling today, ask yourself four questions. What is your next learning opportunity? Is this learning opportunity out of necessity or are you entering it out of curiosity? Here's a slide with those questions.
When you enter into opportunities to learn out of curiosity, you never want to stop. Curiously, knowledge is fortified. Your being metabolizes what you learn. When you allow your curiosity to drive the pursuit, you will find the knowledge you need to know.
In today's mindset shift, we're going to talk about learning the act of bringing in information that you do not know yet. I feel like I see another article every single day that raises the point that the world's best leaders. Here's the thing that they say the most I don't know. In other words, what these articles are saying is that to lead is to affirm, to be vulnerable to the reality that they are an evolution, right? That they are not the answer to every question, but they have the willingness to go ahead and find out what they need to know to create direction and path to a new future.
So today I'm going to invite you to consider when do you learn? How do you learn and why do you learn? So I have three questions for you to start this conversation. Number one, when was the last time you sought to learn something new? Recent. Today? A long time ago? Give yourself a moment to think about that and maybe closely connected. How often do you find yourself in the pursuit of things you do not know yet? How often do you pick up your phone to be like, I'm going to Google that question, that trivia esque type of response to a conversation that you're a part of, or the huh.
I was just presented with a situation where someone asked me the question to something that I feel like I should know but I do not. How often do you find yourself in the pursuit of things you do not know yet? Here's the last question. When you are in the process of learning, is it normally out of necessity or out of curiosity? In other words, when you put on your thinking cap, is it because you have to or is it because you want to? We'll make the case today through a little journaling that those who learn the most and those who get the most joy out of the process of learning.
And I would say that the best lived life is lived in the seat of student as much as possible. Being the person who learns from curiosity brings the joy into the process, learning things through necessity, through. I need to know this because number one, it stops you from being able to take in the information that you're seeking. And number two, it creates a lot of strife and sadness and tension between you and the rest of the world in which you exist. So I just finished my master's degree in leadership.
It took me three years to get through the program. So I've had three years of people saying, hey, so what are you going to do with that degree once you get done? It's a really odd question. Think about other things that people buy that we never ask them what they are going to do with it. People buy a new car, we don't go, hey, so what are you going to do with that new car? People buy dinner at a fancy restaurant and we don't go, hey, so you're going to eat that? But it seems so sensical to ask someone what are they going to do with the knowledge or with the piece of paper of continuing their learning, their study.
Now, hey, I'm not saying that learning only happens in a classroom, right? Every time we walk into a conversation, every time we ask a question, right, there is a transfer of knowledge. There is teacher and there is student. I went back to get my master's degree because I was incredibly curious about the things that I would learn, about the experiences that I would have. And, you know, I believe that the things that I've experienced within this program are going to exponentially present their worth and new opportunities because I entered into this program with curiosity.
Now, perhaps you know someone, or maybe you are this person who went back to school because maybe you had an employer who's going to pay for it or there was a promotion or a raise waiting for you on the other side. Maybe you've had to take a class or a seminar. Maybe you've had to sit in an in service or go through a specific training for work or a role, passion or talent that you have. Have you ever sat in the seat of student and gone, ugh, gosh, how long is this going to take? Gosh, I hope I can pass the test that allows me to move past this experience.
Often maybe within how we're setting up this conversation. The weight and the negativity associated with those opportunities to learn is because we're looking at those opportunities to learn as learning for necessity rather than for curiosity. The way you perceive the opportunity to learn and grow changes the way that you learn and grow. And you may be saying right now, yeah, but there are situations in which I need to learn something to get something that I want. I want the promotion, I want the raise.
I want to get certified in the thing. But I may not be super jazzed about having to sit at the desk to go through the seminar to hop onto the Zoom call. Well, if you truly are interested in the prize at the end, my advice to you is to ask yourself the if this is something that you have to do to get to where you want to be, what can you curiously seek within the process? Now you know what? You may not be someone who loves sitting in the seat of student. You may not be the person who loves opening the book or writing the paper or citing the source, but what does fill your cup of curiosity in the process of learning?
If you focus your energy there, I guarantee you the quality within your student state. But then you being student will grow, will fortify itself. Your ability to take in information will increase and all of a sudden you'll get to the other side and the curiosity will have driven the learning that you have to do to get to where you want to be. I will also pose the question, is it truly something you need to learn? The power of community, the power of building a team of professionals who know the things that you do not know may be the solution to get around having to learn the thing out of necessity.
You know, I have very little interest in knowing things about doing my taxes. Doesn't fill my cup. I'm not going to spend any time learning how to do my taxes when I know that there is someone out there who is incredibly curious about my taxes. So I do not have to be. So, a few journaling questions for you. You'll have a few minutes to consider where you will find yourself in the seat of student next and how you can curiously maximize that opportunity. So, for your journaling today, four questions.
Number one, what is your next learning opportunity? Secondly, is this learning opportunity out of necessity or are you entering it out of curiosity? Third, it's kind of like two paths here. First, if it's out of curiosity, put onto paper the excitement you have to learn this thing. Take the moment to get it out of your brain onto the paper so you can see, see your fuel, the other fork of the road. If it's out of necessity, ask yourself, is there someone else who can already be the holder of this information for you?
Someone that you can hire, someone that you can lean on, someone that you can ask. But if you do need to do the learning, consider your path, your path of curiosity that led you to the place where now all of a sudden you need to learn this thing to continue down this path. What is the curiosity that has led you to this necessity and can fuel this learning opportunity with purpose, with passion, and with pockets of fuel to get you through? Here's a slide with those questions. Take the next few minutes to consider.
So as we wrap things up today, I don't really know how to deal with the situations where people say, hey, congratulations on finishing your master's degree. Are you excited to be done? Because I want to match their excitement. I want to appreciate their joy and celebration. Of this wonderful feat of learning. But no, I'm not really excited to be done because when you enter into opportunities to learn out of curiosity, you never want to stop. And so I will find the next opportunity to sit in the seat of student and I will continue my journey to learn.
Curiously, knowledge is fortified. Information becomes soluble. Your being metabolizes what you learn. When you allow your curiosity to drive the pursuit, you will find the knowledge you need to know will be picked up along the journey towards all that you are curious about. I invite you, I challenge you, I charge you to learn out of curiosity, to say boldly, I do not know, but I desire to know and see how much more you enjoy and engage in the process of learning. Have a good one.
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