SCH 075 Four Self-Care Hacks to Turn Life-Long Learning into a Habit

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They say you lose what you don’t use. And I certainly don’t want to lose my mind! Check out today’s podcast for hacks to turn life-long learning into a habit.

Is Life-Long Learning Important?

“Whatcha doing, Grandpa?” I asked.

“Polishing the glass on the lens for my telescope,” he answered.

“Cool,” I said, and wandered off to find something more interesting. A year or so later, Grandpa finished his telescope and whoed me Jupiter and her moons. Once again, I thought it cool, but didn’t really wonder why a retired plasterer made a telescope.

It wasn’t until later in life, when I had finished college and he had passed away, that I recognized the implications of his telescope building. My grandpa never finished high school, but he made a commitment to life-long learning. He subscribed to magazines like Popular Mechanics and National Geographic and read them cover to cover. Grandpa didn’t let his lack of formal education stop him from learning new things and putting them into practice.

Decades later, research bears out what Grandpa did throughout his life. Life-long learning helps improve our mood, our memory, and our overall health. Even if you hated school, you can still learn. Success or failure in school often has more to do with a mismatch of educator and student than it does with intelligence. Many of my students come to my English classes telling me they HATE to read. Once we test them and share their zone of proximal development (ZPD) with them and allow them to choose their own books, their attitude starts to change.

Eventually, the kids who hate to read gain confidence in their ability to read and they start to love it. Nothing thrills me more than when I ask a group of students what they’d like to do when we finish a history project early and they all cry out, “Read! Can we read our books?”

Do we really NEED to keep learning new things as we age? Absolutely! Today’s podcast will give you four hacks to help you make life-long learning a habit–no matter what your age.