“I Am Still Learning” (Michelangelo at age 87).
What do you wish you'd known ten years ago that you know now? How does that inform what you need to know ten years from now? I live in Mexico but learned French as a kid. So, at 59, I’m taking three one-on-one Spanish classes every week I’m in Baja. I know I will regret it ten years from now if I don’t make the investment now.
Management theorist Peter Drucker lived till his mid-90’s using curiosity to lubricate his mind and soul by studying a new subject every two years, one that had nothing to do with his career. He studied everything from Japanese flower arranging to medieval war strategies.
I adopted this practice a dozen years ago. I dove deep into a variety of subjects, everything from the nature of emotions (that led me to write the book, “Emotional Equations”) to why hot springs exist to the history of festivals.
Higher education has become the “60-year curriculum.” More and more universities are creating lifelong learning extensions responding to the need for midlifers to constantly update and upgrade themselves. And, the MOOC’s (Massive Open Online Courses) are making affordable education available to almost everyone.
What is it that you genuinely need to learn that will serve you for years to come? And, how can you relearn how to learn in an era when YouTube is the learning concierge for more and more of us?
