Throughout my life, I have been told that I have a good memory.
I suspect that I am like most people when my initial reaction to comments like this is "I guess?" or "Not really! I just happened to remember this particular thing."
But when you hear something from different people over and over for years, it makes you wonder. This morning I was ruminating about this.
When I am exposed to new information, I try to learn it as though I will be teaching it to someone else later.
Needless to say, I've found myself in teaching roles constantly.
IT work for family members.
Economic principles.
History.
Roberts Rules of Order.
Tons of job training at every place I've worked.
How to set up and run Facebook ads.
How to use Discord for recording a podcast episode.
Financial concepts.
The list goes on. Teaching people has a transformative property to it. This is obviously true, because the goal is to build up others and make them more self-sufficient.
But there is also powerful transformation happening inside the teacher. You want to really master a concept? Teach it to other people. They will have questions you would have never thought to ask, and in answering them, you vastly increase the depth of your knowledge.
If the goal of life is to seek and accept responsibility--and I would argue that it is--then what better way to do so than by putting yourself in the position of a teacher and mentor?
Start by making yourself into the best you that you can. Learn as much as your brain will hold.
Arthurian legend has much to say here. T.H. White, in "The Once and Future King," writes:
"“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds.
There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”"
From there, teach.
I view this as a personal responsibility we should all embrace to the fullest extent possible.
(This post was originally made on Facebook. The date has been set to match the original.)
