Do you need a reminder that you can learn all the time and from anyone? :-)
A 6-year old taught me something that's making me so happy this week...
The slight lull before the coming year is giving me a little time to reflect on the past year, and my priorities for the next one.
One thing I have realized is just how much better I’ll need to get at learning, and asking for help learning. It’s something - in both personal and professional life - we don’t necessarily do all the time.
I realized that I’m mostly teaching things to my kids, or coaching/mentoring most of the people I interact with at work or outside. From peer relationships, I’m mostly learning facts, seldom new skills and deep insights. The things I’m learning I’m doing mostly alone, and even when it’s through conversations with others, they’re really discussions that I later unpack and try to learn from. I very rarely use the words “Can you teach me?” over the last few years. I use “Can you help me understand?” but I should be using both a lot more. I attend a lot of talks and classes, but I feel like I’m missing out on the incredible talents of so many people around me by not being more proactive just asking.
This particularly hit home for me when my daughter’s friend was playing with her earlier this week. We have a keyboard - and though no one in the house has taken lessons formally (i.e. we’re all terrible :-)), over the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve been watching a YouTube tutorial now and then, and I’ve been trying to learn simple songs.
My daughter’s friend, just before she was going to leave and about to put on her shoes, played “Happy Birthday” expertly. I couldn’t help myself and asked, “Hey, can you teach me how to do that?”
She did - she showed me again. She let me try twice, corrected me, told me an easier way to remember the last part and literally about 3-4 minutes later, I can play “Happy Birthday” with one hand on a piano. This is dramatically faster, than learning from the YouTube videos has been. I’m thrilled, and it felt like she was pretty kicked teaching an adult to play as well.
Just a reminder, we can always learn from anyone and much more importantly, we shouldn’t be shy about asking them to teach us. The worst case scenario - here, merciless mocking from a couple of 1st graders that I couldn’t get the song - is seldom as bad as we think it will be.
As I’m putting together the list of things I need/want to learn over the next year, I’m also resolving in asking people to teach me those things in big and small doses more often.
Does that resonate for anything you’re trying to learn over the next year?