Everybody seems to enjoy the praises when others think we are smart, and I personally believe that every one of us is smart in some way. I was thrilled when psychologist and science writer Daniel Goleman made his now famous statement about how our success in life is not necessarily dependent on how high our Intellectual Quotient (IQ) score is. For me, and perhaps millions of others, that was a breadth of fresh air and new hope that we all have a chance for success in life, even those of us who fall within the more moderate range of IQ scoring.
When it comes to learning, and this is probably a good time for me to explain what I mean when I saw learning. People often think that learning is all about getting information, and it really isn’t. You can have all the information in the world and still fail if you do not know how to use the information you have. That is the primary difference between knowing and learning. I can know how to use Microsoft PowerPoint, but until I create a presentation, I can’t really say that I have learned PowerPoint. My presentation is my evidence of my learning.
Having explained that, let’s talk about the three reasons people often do not enjoy learning.
First, learning is a humbling experience. Before we can learn anything, we must first be willing to admit our lack of knowledge. My best example is starting a new job, something I absolutely hate. The reason I hate it is because it is often an industry where I have not worked before, and I know in advance that I will have to endure the awful and agonizing learning curve, which is not an enjoyable event for me, even though I love to learn.
A second reason we don’t enjoy learning is because it is labor intensive. When I say labor intensive, I mean that learning is often very hard work that requires using muscles we perhaps haven’t used in a while, and would probably like to let lie dormant a while longer. We live in a microwave age where we are all told to work smarter and not harder, so that genuine learning tends to go against the mindset of the contemporary worker.
A third reason we don’t necessary enjoy learning is because it is almost always about change, and many of us hate change. Change can be frightening because we don’t really know what all is going to be involved when it comes about. And the truth is, we love to know what is around the corner of life because uncertainty creates stress, something else we want to avoid as much and as often as possible. If there is one thing about learning I have come to know, whether it is pursued as a desire or forced upon us as a requirement, genuine learning will always involve change.
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