“Focus on your books because they will never fail you,” he would say.
From a very tender age, my parents instilled a love of reading and from a very young age I was an avid reader of books, newspapers and anything written.
I would watch my father spend hours in his study (he does that to this day) in his pursuit of knowledge, because of his understanding that learning and growing throughout one’s life are never done.
In fact, to me, he exemplifies that at any age, you can still learn something new.
This does not only relate to academic pursuits but to the pursuit of knowledge and life-lessons.
Dani Johnson has a quote that reads, “Never stop being teachable.
If you think you know everything, you will never learn anything.”
Acquiring knowledge and new skills requires openness to life, experiences and opportunities.
It means humbling yourself to the fact that there is a sea of knowledge that you are yet to swim and you may not ever reach the end.
It is about taking in as much as you can, while you still can.
When I was younger, I would get so annoyed when my dad would correct some of my school assignments or expect me to rephrase a sentence.
However, when I reflect on it now, all those point of corrections have had a profound impact on my life and my approach to learning new skills.
This has made me more capable, confident and even more willing to immerse myself in the acquisition of knowledge.
I recently had a conversation with my uncle and he told me about the importance of allowing yourself to be “stupid” for the sake of emerging “smarter”.
He said, “I know when you’re young and energetic you feel that you can do anything and that you know everything – but you don’t.”
“Allow yourself to do all the menial tasks that no one else wants to do, because that is where you will learn the most.”
He was relating this to every aspect of life in the pursuit of achieving anything worthwhile.
Oftentimes we fear reproach or failure because we define ourselves by our ability to perfect tasks or meet certain expectations but, as clichéd as this may sound, you learn more through failure than you ever could through success.
The advantage of getting things wrong is that you have more time to master something until eventually you are able to execute it without error.
You do, however, have to be willing to be committed to learning, growing and becoming better in order to see the benefits of not knowing everything.
I am grateful for every person who has ever reproached me and shown me errors of my ways, in all aspect of life, because that is where I have been able to grow the most.
It is a blessing to be surrounded by inspiration in the form of people, challenges and circumstances because they elevate you to your potential.
James Laffery once said, “Nothing comes easy, ever.
If you want something you have to work for it.
By working for it, I mean work on your craft.
Learn from people who have something to teach.”
A teachable spirit adds more years to your life and more life to your years.
