The most important skill we can gain is learning to learn. Gifted people can sometimes act like they know it all, which makes it hard for them to keep growing. Being teachable isn’t so much about competence and mental capacity as it is about attitude; it’s a deep-rooted hunger to grow. It’s a willingness to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Sports coach John Wooden said, ‘It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.’ We’ll only keep growing and continuing to make an impact on the world around us if we stay teachable. Lifelong learning is an ongoing daily pursuit. The Roman scholar Cato the Elder started studying Greek at eighty years old. When someone asked why he was tackling such a difficult task at his age, he replied, ‘It’s the earliest age I have left.’ Unlike Cato, many of us can think of learning as an event instead of a lifelong process. It’s estimated that only one-third of adults read an entire book after leaving school. Often it’s because they view education as an episode in life, not a way of life. Science confirms that while our physical bodies decline as we get older, our minds keep most of their capacity for continued growth. Every stage of life is filled with lessons to be learned. We can choose to be teachable and keep on learning, or we can close our minds and stop growing. Try this experiment for a week: ask others for their advice…deliberately withhold the advice you would normally give…and at the end of each day write down what you’ve learned by actively and purposely listening. You’ll be amazed!
