The School of Life

Courses, conferences, and discussion groups are great opportunities for learning. But we don't need to enroll in a program or wait for a gathering of the professionals in our field in order to learn.

We can learn every day of our lives wherever we are and whatever we are doing. The best school is life itself and all that is required to excel in this school is the quality of being teachable.

What Does It Mean to Be Teachable?

Especially in today's rapidly changing world, being teachable is essential to success. To remain competitive, we have to constantly learn and grow.

This means staying open to new information, even when it contradicts our favourite theories or challenges our beliefs. It means welcoming the hard work of learning new skills and allowing ourselves to be beginners.

How Teachable Are You?

Think of everything a person learns in the first few years of life. Simply put, we are born teachable. If only we could sustain that rate of learning, imagine the impact that might have on the world.

A toddler learning to walk falls many times, and each time the toddler falls, they get back up and try again. Being teachable is the same. We try things we haven't done before. We keep going until we accomplish our goals. We are not afraid of sometimes falling.

5 Tips for Staying Teachable

Being teachable is a way of life. It's something we practise every day and we can all do more to foster this skill. Here are 5 tips for staying teachable:

1. Surround yourself with learning resources. I'm not just talking about books and websites. People are valuable learning resources too. Those who love learning keep an inventory of resources close at hand.
2. Stay open to new information. Never assume you have learned everything about a particular subject. There is always more. To remain teachable, you must always be ready to ask yourself what you might be missing.
3. Welcome coaching. Figuring out how to do something on your own takes a lot longer and is likely to result in unnecessary disappointments. When other people offer tips, give you a demonstration, or guide you through a process, welcome their help.
4. Seek feedback from others. People who are teachable welcome feedback because they know that is how they can grow. They ask for other people's ideas and try suggestions that are new to them.
5. Feed your natural curiosity. When a question comes to mind, seek the answer. If you observe something unexpected, find out more about it. In feeding your curiosity, you foster a sense of wonder. Not only does this lead to learning, it makes life a lot more fun!

Learning to Golf

Often our best opportunities for learning begin in frustration. It was like that for me when I started to golf. The first time I golfed I showed up at the course eager to play, but I couldn't seem to hit the golf ball farther than 10 feet no matter how hard I tried.

New skills take patience and practice, but not just any practice—the kind of practice that can only be accomplished in the company of a first-rate coach. I experienced this firsthand when my husband hired a golf coach for me. After five lessons, my swing improved enormously. I was able to stay on the fairway and people started complimenting me on my swing.

My husband has always loved to golf. He's good at it too. But things are different now. He's been joined by a new challenger on the golf course and that challenger is me.

Like inspirational writer, Shannon L. Adler, says, "Happiness is always on the other side of being teachable."

Call to Action

The next time a question comes to mind, seek the answer. If you're busy doing something else, write the question down so that you can come back to it later.

If you observe something unexpected, find out more about it. Talk to people. Look up information.

Your Friends,
The UpCloseTeam