The Joy of Learning
Once upon a time I started a new job that brought with it a yearly performance goal of completing a professional certification (an exam).
I had graduated from the university and therefore basically out of touch with the idea of reading books to gain knowledge. However, for this specific certification I would be expected to read seven different books (huge-looking ones) and then be able to recall all the information for a three hour long exam.
What surprised me as I started preparing was that I still could enjoy reading books. Now reading books on SAP Technology and the complexities of SAP ERP Systems is not everyone’s piece of cake and the information itself was not really put across in an exciting manner.
However, I began to enjoy the process. Partly it had to do with me having been a very good student in high school and a fairly decent one in university. It surprised me that I could still tap into the learning mode and just read and read and read all the hundreds of pages.
You get into the flow. There is a meditative effect once you get into the habit of reading. You tap into a meditative state basically and time begins to fly by. It does not have to do with reading for me. Even in other cases I can sense the joy of learning if I work non-stop on something that interests me.
Thus I have integrated regular learning into my daily routine. The last weekend I started improving my German skills and realized how much fun I have doing Grammar exercises. Maybe I have a brain that is pro-language but I think as far as language learning goes people just need to find the right way. My favorite method is books-based as I love the process of learning by myself. For others the joy of learning is discovered when they do it together with their friends or even virtual learners.
The crust of the matter is: Learning is the way forward. So find a topic, make a short regular slot in your calendar and show up regularly (even if just for 5 minutes) to practice whatever it is that excites you (from guitar playing to cooking oriental food to programming in python)!
