Learning Nerd’s Diary #49

Welcome back Learning Nerds!

*Apologies for being a day late this week - ran into some scheduling glitches*

👀 Sneak peak

Here is what I have in store for you this week -

💭 Learning About Learning: Take a Learning Breath

🥜 Learning Nugget: Osmosis Learning

💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt This Week:

Superpowers & Nichés
Fixed vs Growth Mindset
L&D in Organisations

🔦 Spotlight: Offbeat Talent Collective

Let's jump right in!

💭 Take a Learning Breath

Can you imagine breathing in without breathing out?

Learning is exactly like breathing. Most of us remember to breath in, but we rarely breath out…

“Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out.”
- Pam Allen

I recently came across this quote in this post by Andrew Barry. It got me thinking, learning is like breathing.

In the world of learning, breathing in = consumption.

This could be through an article, a video, a book, a teacher, a podcast, an experience - anything at all. This is a stage of divergence - you’re expanding your mind to learn something new.

Similarly, breathing out = creation.

This could be through note taking, reflecting on your experience, writing an article, having a conversation or creating an artefact. This is a stage of convergence - you are making sense of what you learn by applying it in your context.

The funny part? Most learning focusses only on breathing in.

But, learning is so much more than just consumption. Without applying or making sense of what you’ve learnt, it’s as good as not learning it at all.

Breathing in is not enough, we need to breathe out.

Here are 3 simple ways in which you can start breathing out while learning:

1/ Teach to Learn

“While we teach, we learn”

Learning grows by sharing. Teaching someone else can help you learn better.

More on this →

2/ Build a Learning Museum

By making your learning:

👁️ Visible: Make it visual - document and capture.

👋 Tangible: Make it hands-on - write and create.

♥️ Shareable: Make it spread - talk and share.

More on this →

3/ Use Mirrors and Windows

🪞 Mirrors: Reflect on your learning - connect it with your past experiences.
🪟 Windows: Share what you’ve learnt with others — letting it spark conversation and debate.

More on this →

So the next time you’re learning or teaching something, make sure you’re taking a learning breath - breathe in and out.

Any other suggestions for what breathing out can look like? Let me know in the comments!

Read the full article →

🥜 Osmosis Learning

Bet on osmosis to learn something new.

Surround yourself with experts in the domain, boost your learning!

Snack on other Learning Nuggets →

💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt this Week

Superpowers & Niches

I came across this article on how you can achieve Course-Market Fit that my friend Phil wrote. And like everything she does - it’s super actionable and relevant for anyone who is a part of the creator economy and wants to build courses. In a nutshell she talks about 2 things:

Finding your Superpower: Designing the course on something that you are uniquely suited to teach
Define your [sub'] Niché: Picking a smaller piece of the puzzle instead of going broad to attract the right kind of learners

Fixed vs Growth Mindset

The best learners are the ones who have a growth mindset - who are not afraid to jump into rabbit holes and let questions guide their journey.