The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Learn is You Have Much to Learn

My grandfather has a saying: “That which I don’t know could fill volumes.”

He celebrated his 90th birthday in September. His financial services company celebrated 60 years of service in August. He rows, lifts and jogs five days per week. He plays golf on the weekends. His social calendar is packed heavier than most 20 year-olds’.

He was born during the Great Depression. He grew up during the second World War. He built his business during periods of monumental social and political change. His pedigree now spans four generations with the birth of my niece last July.

If he has more to learn, what does that mean for me? For any of us really?

We think we have all the answers, especially when we’re young. The world is our oyster and we’re ready to shuck it. It’s only as we get older that we begin to understand how much we don’t know. How wrong we can be. How many blind spots we really have.

I’ll never forget getting kicked to the curb from my first job out of college. I believed my exit would emulate Michael Scott leaving Dunder Mifflin. Instead, a series of unfortunate and rapidly cascading events led to me being summarily dismissed by a narcissistic CEO for refusing to drink his Kool-Aid any longer.

My parting gift was a cease and desist letter in case I felt compelled to talk to any former coworkers or clients. My “friends” wouldn’t look at me as I gathered my things under the watchful eye of an angry HR manager. I was escorted out like Charlie Sheen in the movie Wall Street (albeit with fewer police officers).

Talk about an introduction into the “real world.”

Priming the learning machine

I’m eleven years removed from that fateful day. I’ve left other jobs since then, thankfully with less pomp and circumstance. In fact some of my departures have been extremely meaningful and pleasant.

Having part of my worldview shattered early on was a pivotal learning experience. I learned what could happen if I wasn’t careful. I learned what pitfalls to avoid. I learned to trust more selectively, to keep my intentions to myself until the proper time.

Effective learning isn’t done passively. You have to be ready and willing to learn. You have to allow life’s lessons to be bestowed upon you. It’s a process like everything else, and the process always starts somewhere. For me it was a tumultuous job departure. It could be any number of things for you, whatever it takes to grease the wheel.

You have much to learn

Some of us don’t grow out of the arrogance of our youth. Even when traumatic events are flung our way it’s not enough to facilitate change or teach us something new. We think we’re hot shit and that said shit doesn’t stink.

You’ll never achieve your best self with that attitude.

The idea that you have nothing to learn is laughable. Warren Buffet reads a reported six hours each day in the pursuit of knowledge. You think you’ve figured out something Mr. Buffet hasn’t? You think you know something he doesn’t?

Embracing learning starts with accepting there is much you don’t know. With replacing hubris, arrogance and pretension with humility, humbleness and modesty. With understanding you’re human just like anyone else, capable of making mistakes and doing the wrong things.

This shouldn’t bother you. This should excite you! Imagine if you knew everything…how bored would you be? How meaningless would life feel? Learning is the antidote to many of the existential crises we face throughout our lives.

Stop thinking there’s nothing left for you to learn and discover. It’s holding you back more than you know.

Keeping your thirst for knowledge from drying up

Learning never “ends.” It’s a lifelong process. There’s always another hill to climb, another mountain to summit.

But learning can stagnate. It can become stale. Like anything else it can become routine and mundane if we’re not careful.

Constantly pursue new areas of interest. Nearly four years ago I never would have thought my writing would be where it is today. Where it’s taken me, what it’s afforded me, and most importantly, what it’s taught me.

Always seek new sources of knowledge. I was never a big reader. I read for school or work or when my dad would send me interesting news articles. But since I started writing I’ve become a voracious reader. I’ve learned more in the past several years than the past couple decades.

Books can teach you so much, and not just about the subject matter they contain. I’ve learned more about human nature from the books I’ve read, fiction and non-fiction. Books are written by people, and people weave their own emotions, biases and circumstances into the stories they create.

The most important thing you’ll ever learn is that you have much to learn. Way more than you could ever learn in one lifetime. “Why bother?” you may ask…

…why indeed.

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Janko Ferlič on Unsplash