My Auntie turned 80 last weekend. She lives in Anglesey, North Wales so unfortunately I couldn’t be there to celebrate with her, but of course we talked on the phone, and I was struck by just how spritely and full of life she sounded – and indeed still is.
This is a lady who, sadly widowed and living alone, really could have been impacted by lockdown life. Considered ‘high risk’, she was advised to isolate at home alone for months on end.
For somebody as sociable and full of life as she has always been we were naturally worried about how the isolation might affect her mental state.
We needn’t have been.
I remember one Facetime we had just a few months into the pandemic and her proudly producing a ukulele and playing us a few tunes she had learned. When she put the ukulele down, she then turned to a Casio keyboard and showed us what she had learned with that.
And I’m not exaggerating when I say that, following that, she then picked up a harmonica and did the same.
It’s worth pointing out that none of these were skills she had before the pandemic started. She just saw the way things were going, realised she might be in for an extended period home alone, and seized it as an opportunity to learn a few new skills to keep her occupied, entertained and her mind engaged.
It was seriously inspiring.
But I think it must run in the family. I also love learning. And I’ve come to notice that, in periods when I’m feeling low, it’s often because I’ve started to stagnate. I need to learn something new, to get me feeling inspired again.
Right now I’m also home alone for a couple of months whilst my significant other is off doing some learning of her own at Le Cordon Bleu. Taking a leaf out of my Auntie’s playbook I’m immersing myself in The PowerMBA, Dutch, an online Foundation course in Graphic Design at UAL, as well as diving into the world of NFTs, Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. I’m also very excited that my former tennis coach in Germany has just moved to the Netherlands too – so I can’t wait to get back on the court with him (I hope you’re reading this, Michael!)
And I couldn’t be happier! My mind feels sharp, I’m generating more, fresh ideas than I can remember in a long time as I make connections across topics, and I’m springing out of bed every morning excited to find out what I’ll learn each day.
So it felt apt that I dedicate an edition of The Power Up to the subject of learning and growth.
In this week’s edition, I’ve unearthed articles and videos/podcasts covering:
- A Growth Mindset is the most underrated way to evolve your life
- Why everything we know has an expiry date
- How Emma Raducanu is reaping the benefits of a multi-sports background
- A 6-minute guide to accelerating growth & personal change
- Personal growth during times of digital disruption
- How hidden mindset issues affect career growth
- Why you may have lost your sense of ambition (and why that’s OK)
Plus plenty of bonus content too.
As ever, I hope you find something in this edition that teaches you something new – or positively impacts your own learning methods.
Enjoy!
OPTIMISE YOUR LEARNING & GROWTH / FEATURE
A Growth Mindset is the most underrated way to power up your life
If you haven’t come across the term ‘Growth Mindset’ then it’s time to get acquainted.
A growth mindset, when properly applied, opens up a world of possibilities. It changes how we approach everything.
Read this Medium article that also outlines a few common misconceptions.
OPTIMISE YOUR LEARNING & GROWTH / MIND
Why everything we know has an expiry date
Changing our opinion when presented with conflicting evidence is one of the most valuable – yet too often underused – skills of the 21st century.
Psychologist and researcher Adam Grant dedicated an entire book to ‘rethinking’, in which he discussed how “The purpose of learning isn’t to affirm our beliefs; it’s to evolve them.”
Pulitzer Prize winner Kathryn Schulz was on the same page in ‘Being Wrong,’ when she wrote: “This is the pivotal insight of the Scientific Revolution: that the advancement of knowledge depends on current theories collapsing in the face of new insights and discoveries.
“In this model of progress, errors do not lead us away from the truth. Instead, they edge us incrementally toward it.”
All of which means that, no matter how fond of our opinions and beliefs we might be, everything we know does have an expiration date.
But this isn’t something to be afraid of — it’s how we learn and progress.
OPTIMISE YOUR LEARNING & GROWTH / BODY
How Emma Raducanu is reaping the benefits of a multi-sports background
Like many sports fans around the World, I was enthralled by the US Open Women’s Final last weekend whden two teenagers, Emma Raducanu & Leylah Fernandez, duked it out in a thrilling final, having both swept aside a succession of more experienced opponents throughout the tournament.
Raducanu’s story is remarkable for so many reasons. To name just a few: She was the first unseeded winner of a grand slam tournament – woman or man – in tennis history; It was only the second major tournament she had ever entered; She didn’t lose a single set in the whole tournament; – and she only properly made tennis her main focus in her early teens.
Partly that last fact was because she was studying for her A-Levels – a measure of her maturity and mindset that – even with such exceptional sporting talent – she wanted to make sure she had a solid education behind her.
But also it’s because tennis is just one of a dizzying array of sports she practiced – including golf, horse riding, ballet, skiing, basketball, motocross and go-karting.
“How is this possible?” you might be thinking. By now Malcolm Gladwell’s theory that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in a field to become world class has become so ingrained in our collective minds that we assume that to reach the top in anything – especially at such a young age – requires a single-minded focus and joyless repetition that very few of us would subject ourselves, or our children to.
But this has evidently not been the case for Raducanu, who nevertheless already appears to have the full package of talent, physical and mental aptitude to be a champion for many years to come, in spite of – or actually because of – living what reads like an amazingly fun and varied childhood.
And what if I told you that another tennis player – one by the name of Roger Federer – also had a similar upbringing – experimenting with wrestling, skateboarding, swimming and skiing, as well as a range of ball sports, before he knuckled down to tennis in his teens.
OPTIMISE YOUR LEARNING & GROWTH / SPIRIT
A 6-minute guide to accelerating growth & personal change
Experiencing real change and personal growth isn’t as simple as ‘finding a good course’. High quality learning material is only one aspect of personal development. We also need the right conditions – both externally and internally – to maximise the potential for growth.
This article outlines six areas of life to address: Meaning, Focus, Motivation, Movement, Environment, Pain – and explains why each is important in turn.
For example, according to organisational psychologists, just as the vision we entertain for the future motivates our efforts in the present, the reverse is true as well: Where there is no “vision” or “focus” for the future, there is often little focus or resilience in the present.
We win, therefore, by training our minds to focus on the things we want in the longer-term, which is also a means of powering-up our motivation.
OPTIMISE YOUR LEARNING & GROWTH / CAREER
Personal growth during times of digital disruption
It’s no surprise to read that digital disruption is impacting today’s workers more than ever. Sociologists believe that today’s workers will need to ‘reinvent themselves’ several times during their careers.
While maintaining the status quo provides a temporary comfort zone, personal disruption can dramatically improve chances of finding financial, social, and emotional success. But these kinds of personal transformations require a new perspective.
This podcast discusses the importance of personal and professional growth with Brian Solis, digital anthropologist, global speaker and author of the new book, ‘Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive and Happy Life‘.
Brian discusses his scientific findings and provides insights that can help any of us dissect where we are today, what could be holding us back, and how to be better positioned for long-term success and satisfaction.
R E C O M M E N D E D
Harvard & MIT-level online education with edX
edX is an online learning platform that offers high-quality courses in a hugely wide array of topics from the world’s best universities and institutions.
Almost all edX courses are free to try – you only need pay to submit graded assignments and receive certificates of completion.
So if it’s just the knowledge you’re looking for, it’s an incredible deal.
R E C O M M E N D E D
Interactive music lessons from the world’s top musicians
If you want to learn ukulele, keyboard or harmonica like my Auntie – or indeed any other instrument or musical talent, check out Music Gurus for interactive lessons from top professional artists.
Covering all major instruments, as well as singing, songwriting, music production and even the fundamentals of beat boxing, Music Gurus could help you unleash the inner pop star you always knew was there.
B O N U S
C O N T E N T
How hidden mindset issues affect career growth
Beware the common traps that make us complacent with our careers.
Just-in-time learning: How to learn new skills faster than ever
Learn exactly what you need when you need it.
Video: Be, Do, Have: The secret to change
A compelling, 5-minute case for why we should start acting and thinking like the future self we want to be, today.
7 nutritional ways to get smarter
Natural ingredients that boost brain function.
How to remember what you read
Why getting the rough gist and absorbing lessons are completely different things – and how to do the latter.
Why you may have lost your sense of ambition (and why that’s OK)
Mr Porter explores the ways that the pandemic has impacted our attitudes towards work.
“The purpose of learning isn’t to affirm our beliefs;
ADAM GRANT
it’s to evolve them.”
