Click here to jump to the Learning Rebels BIG AUDACIOUS giveaway
For many, the New Year often brings into focus the possibilities of a brighter future.
We want to brighten our horizons, learn more, and to be better versions of ourselves. We cheer the New Year and write checks that we might not be ready to cash. Once the reality of January 2nd hits, some of us might not sure what direction to go in and our commitment to lifelong learning falters.
Sound familiar?
It does to me. Been there, done that – trying not to wear the t-shirt this year.
Begin with the end in mind!
Where we fall flat, and where we get caught up in the octopus arms of uncertainty, is because we don’t have our learning plan together. Whether you’re changing paths or expanding your skill set, it’s all in your mindset. Regardless of your goals, be they to earn a promotion or take over the world, some element of learning is required. This might be scary for some and exhilarating for others.
Talent and intelligence are not fixed traits.
The best way to approach your learning plan is to acknowledge that you need one. To move the needle toward your goals, your mindset must reflect that you are willing to commit to lifelong learning and willing to take on new challenges to your brain.
Adopt a growth mindset
Adopting a growth mindset toward lifelong learning, in particular, can reduce the intimidation and fear of failure that diving into something new can bring. Talent and intelligence are not fixed. We can develop skills, such as strengthening the brain, through effort and practice. A goal doesn’t know what you don’t know…
It comes down to asking ourselves: Are we willing to break out of our comfort zone, emerge from the cocoon of complacency? It’s nice, warm and comfy in that cocoon. Trying new things can be scary and uncomfortable. Having a mindset of learning reduces the fear of the unknown, allowing us to see learning as it should be seen, as an opportunity to grow as an opportunity to see new things, explore new worlds and boldly go where no one has gone before… (Couldn’t help myself, I had a Star Trek moment.)
Do we have what it takes this year to do better than the year before? I say we because we are in this together. Do we have the creativity, resilience, mindset, and emotional fortitude to drive ourselves to do better? Let’s start at the beginning.
5 Tips for building a lifelong learning mindset
- Challenge yourself: Ask yourself a question at the beginning each week or month, then challenge yourself to find the answer. Not just find the answer through a series of tweets or a quick Google search. Conduct deep research and share your discovery (there are bonus points for starting a debate). Examples: “Does the use of Neuroscience really benefit people in learning?” or “What is social learning…really, what is it?”
- Challenge conventional thinking: Seek out information that may be contrary to what you believe. Expand your horizons. Challenge yourself to find a better way… You want people to communicate beyond the class and your organization says it can’t be done…WHATEVER…you will find a way. You will find a way around barriers!
- Conscious experimenting: Try new things! We make tiny decisions every moment of our lives. Often, we run on autopilot. Same design, same template, same patterns. Instead of running through the day on autopilot, think about the small conscious decisions you can make to explore new things. Try a new lunch place, a different driving route, or listen to a podcast over lunch rather than working on email.
- Build on your skills: If you love building engagements in Articulate, you’re probably already into graphics and colors. Those types of connected interests and skills help us think about the things we already do well and are passionate about. Think about what other related opportunities there are to learn. How can you level up? Passion breeds passion!
- Take time for self-reflection: Reflect and learn. Remember that one elearning program that didn’t work? Go back and find out why. That one program that was balls on successful? Unpack it, and understand how you can replicate the results. Feeling confused or overwhelmed by a project (or by life)? Reflecting on the environment can help pinpoint where the train ran off the rails. This may be a time to start a journal or start a chat group with like-minded people. Build support tools for success.
There are many other tips for successfully creating a learning plan, but those don’t have a fighting chance if your mindset is one of being passive. “I’ll practice a new skill when I have the time.” People the time is now. There is no tomorrow. Time is finite.
Do or do not, there is no try. ~ Yoda (BAM, Star Wars and Star Trek in one post!)
So what’s it gonna be? Are we going to do better this year with our learning mindset? Or are we just going to “try” and be passive – waiting for a better time? (In other words, make excuses). Let’s take action now, and re-energize our overall commitment to shaking our learning groove thang!
I’d love to know what tips you have to make room for lifelong learning in your day – please share!
BIG AUDACIOUS Lifelong Learning Giveaway
As you all know, I spent the better part of 2017 giving away books. What you didn’t know is that I was saving one book from each giveaway to create this BIG AUDACIOUS giveaway. Time to up your game! This giveaway includes a copy of the following books (plus a few gadets and fun stuff) all total over $150 buckaroos.
- You’re a Bad Ass, Jen Sincero
- The Originals, Adam Grant
- Eat that Frog, Brian Tracy
- The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
- Performance Focused Smile Sheets, Will Thalheimer
- Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon
- The Steal Like an Artist Journal, Austin Kleon
- The Art and Science of Training, Elaine Biech
- How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck, Steve Stockman
- 101 More Ways to Make Training Active, Elaine Biech
There is an added bonus book: Learning in the Age of Immediacy, Brandon Carson
Click below for details on how to enter. Time is of the essence, next month it will all start again with a new book. YOU KNOW YOU WANT ALL THIS!
Karthik Iyappan Gunasekaran says
March 4, 2018 at 6:25 pmHi Shannon,
Great blog! Becoming a life long learner is quite essential especially given current times when what you know gets quickly outdated and newer knowledge is emerging in various industries. I am heading to a educational and professional development convention in Greenville, SC to help factory workers. It would be great if I could share your tips with them.
I feel like to be a life long learner we need to have an open mindset and also leverage educational technology. For example, we have access to audio books, coursera, Lynda.com etc. which all help in sharpening our knowledge or gain new knowledge every day. But I came across an unique case recently which I would like to share. A company was trying to help it’s blue collar workers with life long learning and gave all of them a subscription to Lynda.com. To their surprise most of them did not use the software to learn new skills. Upon further investigation they found that the workers do not have the minimum skill level to use Lynda.com to gain new knowledge which means they needed to learn the basic skills of using a platform like Lynda.com first. This tells me that the technology landscape is not predisposed to serve a segment of the population that lacks certain basic skills. To tackle this technology problem there are now companies that help this segment by educatings them through text messages (since most of these people don’t have a smart phone) and through voice calls in call centers.
Do you have any thoughts on how to help this segment of the population in their life long learning habits?
Thanks,
Karthik
Shannon Tipton says
March 8, 2018 at 4:35 pmHi Karthik – The situation you describe isn’t terribly uncommon. The issue becomes when we try to put training (however well-intentioned) in place without fully understanding how people work. As your example discovered, putting Lynda programs in place, won’t work if the population isn’t prepared for the delivery. I rather like the idea of dropping microlearning objects to them via text messaging and voice calls are clever. You might think of using a chatbot to deliver messages too. You can plan a curriculum around the bot and it automatically delivers via a preplanned schedule. You could go old school and have a book club, YouTube club or offer tech classes that people can sign up for after hours. Key is understanding the audience and their needs when it comes to lifelong learning. How I choose to build my skills a personal decision so you would have to offer a few different modalities to build motivation. What appeals to one group of people, will not for another. So don’t try to please everyone. At the end of the day, ask. Talk to people and find what out what they need to be successful. Then try to do that. I hope this helps.
Lewanda Morse says
February 6, 2018 at 10:46 amHi Shannon! Your post is a great challenge to grow…I think most everyone wants to say they are a lifelong learner, but so often we fail to set a path for that process. LOVE the mindset of the five tips you offer. This discussion is so very apropos for what our organization is going through right now. We are successful but some staff members really struggle with seeing the need to grow professionally.
I am personally posting the 5 tips on my desk as a reminder to challenge myself and engage in self-reflection. These are both things that I often forget the value of.
Learning Rebels says
February 7, 2018 at 12:24 pmThanks for the comment Lewanda! I think posting the tips is a GREAT idea. I’m going to do it myself to keep my own eye focused on the priority of learning. It’s so easy to get caught in the now and make excuses. Thanks for the idea!
Noël Zykowski says
February 6, 2018 at 10:19 amShannon – thanks for your great writing style that breaks down the topic in manageable bites! While digital communications are great, I love keeping a paper subscription to key industry info. I get the TD at Work print (and PDF). Keeping the most recent copy on my desk, I spend the first few minutes of each day reading an article. Then, I share that article with at least one colleague who might find interest as well.
I’m also so excited for the new APTD certification through ATD! The CPLP seemed to far away that this new option has created a new learning path go get on fire for! I’m taking those first steps to plan it out and carve out study time.
In general, learning something new and being able to apply it right away has been key for me. I recently needed to learn how to do something in Excel, watched a short video on it and transformed the way we track data with a 3-minute video! Impact like this is why continual learning is key.
Learning Rebels says
February 7, 2018 at 12:29 pmHi Noel! I’m thrilled you are thinking about the APTD certification offered by ATD, what a great way to enhance your knowledge and skills. It’s funny, I was JUST talking to a friend about how to fill the gaps in our knowledge and what you bring up here is just one way. It takes a commitment but as you said, it time to carve out space in the day.
I also appreciate your idea about sharing articles (Hopefully you shared this post so others can enter the giveaway). Sharing information and knowledge is what helps us all grow and move forward. I’m sure the team appreciates your efforts. Is there an article that has inspired you lately? Share the link, if you can – I’d love to know. 🙂
Tracey Steiner says
February 5, 2018 at 12:02 pmThank you for sharing! At my trade association, we are trying to inspire our members to embrace a lifelong learning mindset. What better way to start than to model the behavior we’d like to see? I particularly liked your Tip #2 — Challenge conventional thinking. I like to think that I do that, but we can all fall in the trap of “finding” data that confirms what we already believe. I am going to consciously seek out information that is contrary to my beliefs. Who knows what I’ll discover? And as your article notes, the journey itself is important!
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:39 amHi Tracey – YES! We all fall into that trap. Seriously, we all want to believe we are right about topics that are near and dear to us. That could be something worth exploring itself. Maybe challenge your group to go off an do some research about confirmation bias. See what everyone comes up with, and discuss the findings. Great way to kick off the year! You’ve given me an idea… #WINWIN
Julie Roy says
February 5, 2018 at 10:30 amI really like to read you ! Building in time for self-reflection in my schedule is something I have never done. I will try to implement this as I go forward this year. I am also going to try to manage my time better when working on my different projects. Thank you for the inspiration.
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:41 amYou’re most welcome Julie. No one is perfect when it comes to planning time. I know this is something that I am working on myself – so we are in this together!
Nick says
January 31, 2018 at 9:46 amI’m going to (re)dedicate myself to #3 “Conscious experimenting.” Our organization gets a little bogged down in templates and not changing formats so as not to confuse our users, and there’s some value in that, but I think it tends to create a culture of “track changes” updates instead of really thinking about how to best deliver training. I’ve decided to look at each of my projects this year as though they haven’t been designed before – how would I do it now? Thanks for the inspiration!
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:48 amHi Nick – great idea, and I think you’ve hit on something important, sometimes we have to be different to achieve different results. It’s like driving down the same road every day. We stop seeing what is around us, and all of a sudden BAM a building goes up. When did that happen?? Time to open up the blinders and do something unexpected. 🙂
Start with small pilots to test out different paths and see what happens. You never know what the response maybe – that is the fun of experimenting!
Georgette Nicolaides says
January 30, 2018 at 7:31 amI am focusing on “challenge yourself to find a better way.” I plan to apply my data analysis skills to analyze training outcomes and determine if the training is effective. In other words, is there a measurable change in employee performance?
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:51 amHi Georgette – Wonderful idea! A solid analysis will tell you the story you need to hear about your training outcomes and overall analysis. It might not be what you WANT to hear, but it’s important for the organization and for the people who may be participating in training that isn’t helping. Good luck!
Angela Shertzer says
January 29, 2018 at 7:24 pmHi Shannon,
I love your commitment to continuous learning! I tend to have a huge pile of books I’m wading through but struggle to actually finish any of them. So lately I’ve been able to commit to reading only one book at time if I can focus it on whatever challenge I’m facing or new thing I’m working through. This is working for me, so I’ll take it!
Thanks again,
Angie
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:54 amHi Angela! You are not alone in having stacks of books! I don’t think there’s anything wrong about “cherry picking” what you read. Especially non-fiction. You read the parts that apply to you, and give you the help you need and go back and review other parts later. This is why I love reading on my kindle. I can track my notes. Soooo helpful.
Michelle Casper says
January 29, 2018 at 3:46 pmThanks for the post, Shannon. As a self-proclaimed life-long learner, I’ve always thought of myself as open to new discoveries, new pathways and opportunities. However, I like the suggestion of #1 Challenge Yourself. It is much more proactive to state a question – maybe even out loud – and commit to finding the answer. It’s a simple idea with potentially profound implications.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 4:52 pmHi Michelle – Thank you for your comment! I agree, in a way what we are doing is chunking down challenges. I think when we say we are going to master something it becomes overwhelming, in contrast, if we begin just by answering a question then we find our way down the path of discovery. Fun, isn’t it? 🙂
Tricia Ransom says
January 29, 2018 at 3:28 pmI am going to make it a priority to incorporate at least one idea that I’ve learned from each conference I attend IRL, or via the back-channel. For example, I’ve incorporated a couple of gamification techniques mentioned by Karl Kapp in his session at ATDTK18.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 4:55 pmHi Tricia – Great idea. I think we go to conferences with the best intentions then our notes get pushed to the side. I know I could do better to incorporate the learning gathered at those events. 🙂
Lilly-Anne says
January 29, 2018 at 1:37 pmThanks for starting the New Year off right. Learners Learnees. I am cleaning out the cubicle. Then I will intentionally fill it back up. I like to hang up reminders of things I previously learned, as declaratively as possible. Blooms Taxonomy with color codes, hearts and cartoons. Temporary, rotating art projects.
I am also keeping a reading “pile” ON the bed and another on the passenger seat of my car. So as you can see I need to win this “pile” of books!
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:00 pmHi Lilly-Anne – OMG…my office is a MESS. Filled with books, notes, and assorted ideas. I love your idea of putting art projects in a rotation, I think that would keep the creative juices moving and provide with fresh motivators. I recently had a participant in a workshop tell me that she keeps her Blooms laminated at her desk as a reminder to keep learning outcomes focused, seems you have taken that idea to whole new level. Most excellent. Thank you for sharing your ideas. 🙂
Suzanne Kolars says
January 29, 2018 at 12:14 pmThis is a very inspiring post. Thank you for leaving this little nugget of tips for us to ponder. I love reading books that help me become a better leader, trainer, instructional designer, friend, and colleague. I keep a book on my desk at work. Luckily my management team supports professional development. I spend about 30-60 minutes a day, reading whatever book I feel is relevant to my learning goals at the time. I do the same at home. I have a book on my night stand and carry it with me around the house when I am home on the weekend. Any opportunity I have to read for a little time, I take it. (with a 2 year old, I am finding it harder and harder to do) Sometimes I have to block out an hour to take a bath (where it is easy to read in peace and quite) or “napping” (while actually reading;)
Whatever I learn through reading, I am usually eager to try out.
Where I struggle is, keeping myself from getting frustrated and giving up when I don’t gain the buy-in I need or things don’t work out how I planned. Tip #5 is something I am going to try “Reflecting on the environment can help pinpoint where the train ran off the rails. This may be a time to start a journal or start a chat group with like-minded people. Build support tools for success.”
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:04 pmHi Suzanne – I applaud your commitment to reading. I can be hard to carve out the time, and you are right on target with making the time. I love that you have made your own professional development a priority (plus setting an excellent example for the little one). I keep a mix of hard copy books and ebooks, I find that I can pop into my iPad at any time and I have a variety at different stages, depending on what I am researching or what has caught my eye at that moment. Maybe I needed to add, “focus” on my list. LOL.
I can relate to your frustration, I think we have all been there at some time. Reflection will also help with buy-in, when you can point to success and even failures to help create more targeted learning you will win over support. People will respect that you are trying to ensure success. As far as journals, if you don’t have a tool – try Penzu.com. Good luck and thanks for sharing!
Taruna Goel says
January 29, 2018 at 12:10 pmThanks for the post Shannon. Two things jumped at me: conscious experimenting and the enjoyment of the discovery process.
I have been trying to consciously experiment and get out of my comfortable cocoon. I am not successful every time and do crawl back into the ‘tried and tested’. But on those few occasions when I stretch beyond the boundaries of my own box, it has always been the joy and the excitement of the discovery process and the learning mindset that helps me stay there longer and deliver unexpected but positive results!
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:16 pmHi Taruna! If I had to be honest, those are the two that resonate with me as well. I just may make conscious experimenting my mantra for the year. Getting too comfortable can be dangerous to our growth. I’m glad you are finding joy in experimenting, finding the passion and fun in our work can be hard sometimes. For those of you reading…be sure to follow Taruna on twitter @write2tg – you can depend on her sharing good stuff!
Edith Crawford says
January 29, 2018 at 10:37 amI enjoyed this post, it was a great reminder to keep building on my current skills. The point that hit home for me was Build on your Current Skills. I plan to schedule 30 to 45 minutes on Sunday morning to work on my Captivate skills or to research a topic related to learning. I sometimes feel out of touch with current topics, so this is a way for me to stay current.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:20 pmHi Edith! I think you hit on an important point, planning. Setting aside time to practice and to level up your skills is so critical. Otherwise, we fall back to “someday” or “some time” and then the skills never develop. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
Stephanie says
January 29, 2018 at 10:12 amThis was a great read & reminder for me. I agree our days are busy and tend to fill up fast, and I forget to make time for self-reflection. I tend to go from one thing to the next… no time to think. My goal is to spend more time in reflection and make a conscience effort to ask myself what did I learn today.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:24 pmHi Stephanie! I completely agree – I think the main reason training or professional development efforts fail is the lack of self-reflection. We don’t stop to process the act of learning, and then think about how we are going to apply the knowledge or consider the next logical steps. I’m with you, I need to block time at the end of the day to reflect on my own personal journey. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
Julie Marciel-Rozzi says
January 29, 2018 at 9:19 amWelcome Back Shannon- my email has missed your posts. I like your first tip and the focus it provides. I can easily see something shiny and be off in several directions without a lot to show for the adventure. Asking a specific question each month – maybe every 2 weeks- can help me rein in those “oohhh shiny” moments. I’ll need to keep a list of those distractions though as those may lead to a focus I take on later. I also like Chris’ comment about dedicating 30 minutes a day to this.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:32 pmLOL – Thanks Julie. It has been waaaaaay too long. But I’m back in it, and I’m taking to heart the point you mentioned. I get lots of ideas, but I need to dig deeper with them. I love the idea of making a list of distractions. I’ve never thought of that before, and I can see how that would be of huge benefit. Sometimes distractions are worthy of exploration, just not at that time. The fear is that I’ll lose the thread. WOW! Mind blown!
I would build on the thought by keeping the “distraction” list where you can see it, so it becomes a parking lot. Like on a small whiteboard, or a piece of paper that is out in the open not in a notebook. You win the day Julie! 🙂
Julie Marciel-Rozzi says
January 29, 2018 at 8:34 pmKeeping the distractions lost visible is a great idea! In a notebook is out of sight out of mind. And that’s the fear that drives me off in so many directions- maybe it’s a little FOMO too.
Julie Marciel-Rozzi says
February 1, 2018 at 7:33 amI came back to read everyone’s posts again for more inspiration. I found myself letting those distractions pull me away and realize I need to focus on one or two specific areas. Based on everyone’s posts and looking around my cubicle, I think I’ll be taking down or consolidating a lot of the stuff I’ve pinned up to make space for new. And rather than a random, “ooh there’s space here…” approach, I’ll organize for distractions and things that fall into these areas: Challenge myself to do, try, learn something new and Conscious experimenting. There’s so much “we’ve always done it this way” here- and in my small area this is one way I can shake things up.
Keep the great ideas and inspiration coming everyone!
Learning Rebels says
February 6, 2018 at 9:43 amOMG Julie! Me too! My desk (and office) is a mess, and it’s because I had the mindset, “If it’s out in the open it must be important”. Apparently, EVERYTHING is important because EVERYTHING is on my desk. Baby steps! BTW – I’m with you, I’m loving the comments here…I’m inspired!
Annie Greenawalt says
January 29, 2018 at 9:13 amThe conscious experimenting concept is really hitting home for me. Going to give myself a weekly reminder to check in and see how I am implementing that experimentation in my practice.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:38 pmHi Annie – Great idea to give yourself a reminder for experimenting, you’re “killing two birds with one stone” because you can add self-reflection time too. Perhaps add it to your calendar rather than a to-do list item, this way you see it and it may force you to take action (it’s easy to put off a to-do list item). Thank you for sharing your thoughts and idea. 🙂
Chris Coladonato says
January 29, 2018 at 8:24 amTwo things thatI do to make lifelong learning a priority is to schedule it and reflect on my work. Our days are packed with so much that it’s easy to not leave room for learning. I have 30 minutes blocked off each morning to spend learning something new, diving deep into a topic, etc…
Also, I try to ask myself each day, “What Did I Learn Today?” It just takes a moment and sometimes leads to me making a note in my journal to explore something in more detail later.
Shannon Tipton says
January 29, 2018 at 5:42 pmHi Chris! Wow, 30 minutes of your day…impressive. We all need to take that example and put it to use. It is so easy for the day to get in the way. I know I have been victim to waiting to the end of the day to try to do something, and by then I’ve run out of mental energy, or are am in deep with a project. So, excellent idea to commit to 30 minutes and keep the time precious. Thank you for sharing.