“New Year, New Me” and The Art of Actually Learning a New Thing

Another year is coming to an end. It is, once again, the season of making your resolution list. If you are unfamiliar with this concept, then congratulation, you save yourself out of a menace. But if you know what it is and, especially, if you fail to check half the boxes on that list, this article is for you.

To begin with, I would like to clarify that my resolution list only consists of learning: a couple of new languages, some monetizable skills in case my writing career does not lead anywhere, a new hobby I can brag to people, etc. Therefore, as the title of the article has already suggested, I will only talk about learning. I love learning, and I tend to learn better on my own without the hanging threat of exams looming over me. New year’s resolution seems to be the perfect opportunity to do just that: learning for fun. And yet, repeatedly, I failed to check all the boxes.

This was very disappointing for a self-proclaimed lover of knowledge. To retaliate, at the beginning of 2021, I decided, instead of prioritising new things, I put myself first on the list. Sun Tzu had said: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” (No, I did not read his book, I am not that emo. My brother, however, read and summarised The Art of War for me. Talk about quality education). For those who do not know Sun Tzu, he was one of the most famous war strategists and philosophers in Ancient China. His source was and still is taught and cited, so I decided to follow Sun Tzu’s teaching. I learned who I was and who I want to be.

Who I was – A confrontation with Past-Me

What is the common denominator in my past failures? Me. I was the one who put goals on the resolution list and failed to follow them accordingly. What I kept telling myself was: “I did not have enough time; I would do it tomorrow”. “Tomorrow” became “the day after”, and “the day after that”, until it became “never”. I never ran out of excuses. Turn out, Past-Me was quite a successful procrastinator. Future-Me is having none of that. All is at stake for Present-Me.

The lesson: stand in front of a mirror. Who is that person looking back at you?

How do I “fix” myself?

The key to change lies in yourself: what motivates you, and what is your goal? You cannot move forward without knowing the answers to these questions. Luckily, I always know who I want to be - a writer who constantly learns new things for fun. But the motivation question was the tricky part. I had thought the simple joy of acquiring knowledge was enough, but it was not. Punishment was not effective either since no one was forcing them on me (sorry Duo Lingo, I mean no offence) …

I realised, suddenly, that I have been thriving out of spite. Spite is the biggest, most effective motivation for me. I can take a random comment of a stranger I meet in a café in a city I just happen to stop by and turn it into the mental fuel that energises me for the next five years. With the right kind of comment, I can check the boxes of my 2021 resolution list. Armed with a better understanding of Past-Me, I acquired the necessary amount of spite to learn a couple of things.

The lesson: Get to know that person in the mirror. What do they like? What do they hate? How can you get them to leave this mirror and start to do the thing both of you want to do?

Who is Future-Me?

Think of it as a relationship. If you want it to work, you must invest your time and intention into it. You cannot bombard your partner with love and promises and disappear for the next three weeks. If you do, it is a commitment issue, please visit a therapist and stop torturing your partner.

The same goes for learning. What Present-You learn today will enrich Future-You. You can certainly cram, every student does that. However, if you truly wish to acquire that sweet, precious knowledge, if you truly want the best for Future-You, you need to stop cramming. You need to work out a schedule on how many hours per week you are going to invest in learning, and what you are going to learn it for. If you want to be precise, there is a learning curve model on how to form a learning habit. However, I would suggest coming up with your model. The human brain remains largely still a mystery, not one is the same as the other. You need to find what works best for you.

The lesson: DO NOT skip this step.

Do not be afraid of mistakes.

Notice how I did not include a personal experience in step 3. It was because I skipped it. I accidentally acquired too much spite and plunged myself into the deep end of front-end development for two weeks without a second thought. While I still remember most of the things I have learned, the toll it took on me was not pleasant. Additionally, I went through a three-month phase of “what’s next?” after learning it because I did not set out a personal goal. It was a mistake. But I also realised that it was okay. No one died because of my oversight. I still had an extremely annoyed Future-Me to take care of, so it is quite unlikely that I will repeat this mistake.

The lesson: mistakes are prone to happen, and it is irrational to fret about them. Learn from your mistakes and you should be fine.

Learning is fun, particularly learning about yourself. It feels like I have unlocked a new level in this game called life and adulthood. Let me tell you, it is a pretty good feeling. I guess for 2022, I can add a couple more things to my to-learn list and hope to finish them.