Learning is never a waste of time.

Lately I’ve been feeling the importance of learning something new.

To me, there’s nothing better than learning haha.

It’s what we strive for as humans, and most of the time we don’t take a second to realize that!

Literally any given day, at any given moment, you can choose to learn something entirely new for yourself.

And you very likely even have the resources to do so at your disposal.

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The Guitar Example

I’ve always wanted to learn guitar.

But why has it taken me so long to dive into it?

Do I truly care about learning this thing, or is it just wishful thinking?

It wasn’t a real strong desire at first… but as my brother became a musician throughout my middle school and high school days, it was always intriguing to me.

Then later on in life, I developed a greater appreciation for music. Folk, rock, indie, you name it.

I realized that this style of music could be played with a guitar (or a banjo, which was also a few month stint trying to teach myself banjo 😅).

Guitar seemed like a great instrument to learn a lifelong skill and hobby.

So the past couple months, I’ve made the most progress in learning guitar that I ever have in my life.

All it really took was a commitment to a 10-day guitar course on YouTube, and choosing to sit down for 10 days in a row and follow along with the tutorials.

It was awkward, difficult, and even painful at first.

But now, less than 60 days later…

• My fingers are calloused
• I have a few beginner licks in my pocket
• I have the base knowledge to continue learning exponentially more

Learning (this little bit) of guitar has given me the confidence to learn more things, even if they’re totally new to me.

This is how a lot of things in life work. Break the ice, then swim.

Most people don’t get past the ice.

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Learning About vs. Learning Through

There’s a big difference between learning about, and learning through.

Statistics, ideas, and strategies come and go in our mind like a flooded river.

Experiences on the other hand, are not quickly forgotten.

They’re engrained into our minds, thoughts, and actions. They teach us in a way beyond a small flicker in our minds.

Learning through experience is a way to learn something that uses our bodies and brains in an entirely new way.

Projects force us to put an idea into action.

Then we learn through DOING, rather than by THINKING.

For example… you could watch 100 guitar tutorials, totaling 4-5 hours of content about how to play the guitar.

Through this, you’d likely know where your fingers go for the the major chords, the anatomy of a guitar, and some lingo about the instrument.

But none of this knowledge is going to aid you physically in playing the guitar.

Until you physically pick up a guitar, awkwardly work your fingers into uncomfortable positions, and feel the texture of the strings and the rhythm of your strum, you aren’t going to learn how to actually play the guitar.

There’s a difference between learning ABOUT something, and learning HOW to do it.

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Takeaways For You

• What have you been waiting to learn?
• Do you know a lot ABOUT this topic? OR do you have real-world experience making it happen?
• In what ways can you put this knowledge into practice?

It likely only takes 5-10 minutes PER DAY to learn about something “very quickly.”

You would be amazed at what results would yield when dedicating 10+ minutes each day to learning AND experiencing something new.

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Try, and fail.

Learn, and grow.

Attempt, and reiterate.

Consume, and receive.

Plant, and water.

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No effort in learning about something new is wasted.

It expands your mind and increases your confidence.

And better yet – a failed experience teaches you even more.

Go learn, fail, succeed, and repeat.