Forever a Student
“A student of life considers the world a classroom.”
- Harvey MacKay
When I was in the NFL, I would do interviews with college athletes prior to the draft. They would come to our facility and I would have 20 minutes with each of the athletes that had been asked to come see us.
One of the most memorable interviews was with a lineman from a major college out east. He was a nice kid. I asked him what he was reading these days, trying to find out where his interests were. He responded he wasn’t reading anything.
I went on a different track and asked him what his favorite book he had ever read was. He thought about it, and said, “I don’t have one.”
I then tried one last shot, “What’s the last book or magazine that you have read? He shrugged and said, “I don’t read much.”
I looked at him and said, you do know how to read? He laughed and said, “Yes, I can read.”
I then followed up with another question, “What do you do to pass the time, watch TV, do you take time to look at the internet?” He looked at me with a blank look and said, “I hunt.”
I asked is that a passion: hunting? He looked at me and said, “No, I just like to hunt.”
I didn’t give him a very high grade. We drafted him anyway. And he was terrible in the meeting room, he had issues with his ability to learn and understand information. This inability adversely affected his play on the field. Wow, I didn’t see that coming (said with sarcasm).
Let me ask you, “When was the last time that you learned something new?” Hopefully it was just a minute ago. “Where did you learn this new something?” Probably from reading or watching someone do this task.
Life is constantly happening around us. If we stop learning (EVERY DAY) then life will pass us by. Have you ever seen someone who has never used an iPhone (or whatever you use) try to navigate through an app? It’s like showing a monkey a road map … they just stare at it. How does this happen?
They stopped learning. Life passed them by. They stayed the same. The world changed around them.
We must constantly be learning. If you don’t read, then watch. If you can’t watch then ask a lot of questions. If you can read and watch, still ask questions. Knowledge is the key to success, relationships and staying viable.
When we know more, we understand what is happening, why it is happening and most importantly what are our options to reacting to the chaos as we control what we can control. And learning is within our sphere of control!
When we stop learning we set ourselves up to be victims. We then are at the mercy of the chaos that happens in life.
Be a lifelong student. Always be ready to learn. Listen to understand, rather than listening to reply. Understand that we aren’t always right. Being wrong isn’t the worst thing that can happen. Because as we listen, we can, in the future, make better choices.
Even if you are right, you can learn from people who are wrong. When you listen to their argument you can see where they have made an error in the collection of information. This will help us be a better teacher, when we help others make sense of all that is happening around us.
I will always have a notebook in my pocket so I can write down the knowledge that will help me move forward in my life. I am forever a student.
Have an amazing day!
