Hello everyone! We hope you’re all doing well and that you’ve been staying warm in this cold-snap spreading across the country. This month we’ll be talking about Teachability, and it’s importance in growth.
Teachability is the pathway of learning: it means possessing the intention, attitude, and behaviors to keep learning throughout life. These traits don’t always come easily. Like any kind of personal improvement, we need to cultivate our capacity to learn and grow.
Approach each day as an opportunity to learn — success at teachability is more about your attitude than your inborn abilities. If you desire to learn, you will learn. As you start each new day, ask yourself these questions: Where are the potential learning moments I’ll have today? Who will I meet and what can I ask them? What will I experience and what will I learn from it? With this positive attitude in mind, you enter the Beginner’s Mindset:
• Everyone has something to teach me.
• Every day I have something to learn.
• Every time I learn, I benefit.
• I will constantly be curious and ask questions.
Aside from engendering these attitudes in yourself, the other axis of teachability is based on others; they’re the ones you’ll be learning from! Work to establish long, trusting relationships with those you can learn from. Encourage honesty: you need others to tell you the truth about your abilities and your progress if you’re going to learn. Practice good listening skills, and make a point of applying what you’ve learned from your mentors. And, just as vitally, hold yourself and your mentors accountable. You won’t be able to build each other up if your commitments to learning fall by the wayside.
With these principles in mind, you’ll be oriented to learn and improve yourself. Remember that everything you do and every person you meet is a potential learning opportunity. Even your negative experiences are chances to learn! (in fact, sometimes those are the best to learn from) Like any other skill, teachability takes practice. But if you can set aside some time to practice these principles each day, you set yourself on the path to success for any project.