What practical advice could I offer someone who is seeking to discipline themselves for the purpose of pursuing knowledge? I'd like to offer 5 pointers that I'm utilising.
I had a rather enlightening conversation with a co-worker the other day. This exchange is part of the reason why I'm underslept but writing a post when I could be sleeping instead. My co-worker is only nineteen and hasn't spent a great deal of time pursuing study outside of the classroom. Having said that, he's clearly an intelligent individual. The other day he asked me, "Do you think I could learn German during the course of my lifetime?"
I chuckled a little bit and replied, "You could learn German in a year."
My co-worker seemed quite curious with my reply and asked if I was serious. I responded that I was and then we continued with our work. The thought occurred to me as to why I said a year. Why not less time? Could my co-worker commit himself to rigorous study and attain a level solid of fluency in 3 months? A quick Google search reveals numerous examples of people learning to read, write and converse with new languages in timespans of less than a year.
So how is this possible? I would argue that a significant factor would be motivation coupled with discipline. An individual doesn't need to be particularly 'gifted' intellectually to excel in a field of interest. I've even heard it argued that motivation can trump intellectual giftedness in certain circumstances. I would tend to agree. What is the use of exceptional talent if it's not harnessed? Would not the limited potential that's purposefully channelled achieve more?
I have a friend who is studying his masters in counselling and loves intellectual pursuits. I like to think of myself as an amateur scholar in a variety of fields. However, this particular friend has often taken on more of a mentor role during our conversations on some topics. A year passed where the two of us had limited contact and during that time I spent much of my free time absorbing knowledge, particularly of a political nature.
We caught up with one another a week ago and discussed politics. I was somewhat surprised because the conversation quickly became one-sided. My friend was no longer a match for myself in this area. That wasn't to say my goal had been to take on the role of influencer. However, I clearly saw how my disciplined pursuit of knowledge had produced fruit. I'm convinced this can be a reality for anyone.
Therefore, I've written all of that to grind things down to the following practical points that I hope are helpful.
Commit to your topic.
You must be committed to learning. Anything less than this means you're wasting your time. Enthusiasm isn't enough because it can fade quickly. However, commitment runs deeper and means you continue striving even when it becomes very difficult.
Disciplined study.
It could be podcasts, books, articles on Vox, Youtube or whatever. However, it must be consistent and disciplined. You must set a time for study, preferably daily. Even 10 minutes a day adds up. The commute to work is a great opportunity for this. Give yourself 6 weeks and you'll form a habit.
Practice explaining your topic to others.
One of my secondary teachers once said to me, "You understand something when you can explain it to others." Practice mentally explaining your topic to someone else. When you get stumped, make note of where you fell short and study up on that area later.
Spar with yourself.
Play devils advocate and practice constructively criticising your own position. See if you can find answers to objections someone may have.
Accept that there will always be others who know more than you.
There will always be gaps in our knowledge of any topic. The goal shouldn't be to reach the top of the ladder so we can look down on all the little people who know less than us. We should desire to be well versed in a topic so we can add value to the community pursuing knowledge in that field. At the same time, we should also recognise that there will always be someone out there possessing more knowledge than us and that's just fine.
I hope this has been helpful. Be disciplined and love the journey. It's awesome to see how your hard work pays off. I'm a firm believer in that old expression, 'The more you know, the further you go.'
