💎 Friday Gems (Intentional learning, A manifesto, Systems Thinking + Zen, and much more!)
Life is the best teacher.
Hi there,
The common thread weaving through each gem this week is learning. Learning how to learn, learning how to live, learning how to understand, and learning through each moment which brings an aliveness within us. This knowledge makes each moment we have exciting because the possibilities are endless.
May each moment be full of enjoyment of learning for you! ✊🏽
On to the gems!
In this week’s edition:
Learning: The most fundamental skill: Intentional learning and the career advantage
Keeping It Real: A Rebel’s Manifesto
The Mindful Designer: Systems Thinking + Zen
Wisdom: Every moment is the guru
Learning
💎 The most fundamental skill: Intentional learning and the career advantage
Learning itself is a skill, and developing it is a critical driver of long-term career success. People who have mastered the mindsets and skills of effective learning can grow faster than their peers and gain more of the benefits from all the learning opportunities that come their way.
Being intentional is a powerful way to go through our daily lives because it can help guide our actions, emotions, and thoughts towards a desired way of being.
Since learning is a skill in itself, bringing intentionality to our learning helps us become more effective learners.
Formal learning opportunities account for only a small percentage of the learning a professional needs over the course of a career. Everyday experiences and interactions offer tremendous learning opportunities, but only if you intentionally treat every moment as a learning opportunity.
Repeat after me, “Treat every moment is a learning opportunity!”
Every day we are presented with moments where we experience challenges, delays, questions, and uncertainty. Those are perfect opportunities to examine and learn from as a result. The learning opportunities don’t have to be on the vocational side either, they can be in “real skills” such as time management, improved communication, collaboration, etc.
Every experience, conversation, meeting, and deliverable—carries with it an opportunity to develop and grow.
This article explores these core mindsets and skills needed to become a effective learner:
Adopting a growth mindset - A growth mindset suggests you can grow, expand, evolve, and change.
Feeding your curiosity - Curiosity is bringing inspiration, awareness, and an openness to ideas to help you make new connections between disparate concepts.
So how do you bring intentionality to your learning journey?
The article suggests five best-practices:
Set small, clear goals
Remove distractions
Actively seek feedback
Practice deliberately
Practice regular reflection
Being an intentional learner helps us invest in ourselves, raises our skills, keeps us engaged and inspired, and aligns us to the goals we seek.
Remember, “Treat every moment is a learning opportunity!”
✊🏽
Source: McKinsey Quarterly
Keeping It Real
💎 A Rebel’s Manifesto
Which one resonates with you the most?
For me #7 is intriguing. Exploring our “dark qualities” and using them to fuel our creative work is a inner territory to explore.
Do the opposite of what you were taught in school.
Care not for the opinions of others. They are based on their own thoughts and fears.
Study the work of other rebels. steal things from them. Research with fury.
Forget about the competition. They are on a different path than you. Trends are for suckers.
"There's nothing we really need to do that isn't dangerous." - John Cage. Do the things that scare you on a regular basis.
Make a mess.
Embrace your darkside. Your so-called dark qualities (as labels) are a source of great power. Find a way to incorporate them into your work. feature them. pay particular attention to what makes you angry.
Exercise your voice. put your thoughts, ideas and opinions out into the world even if it scares the shit out of you. (see number 5).
Expand your horizons. leave home. visit other places /cultures. Wander aimlessly.
Never limit your play-time. even if your brain is telling you otherwise. All of your best stuff comes from it if you allow yourself to remain open to the unknown.
Question everything!
13. Follow your heart.
Source: Pinterest
Announcing a new permanent section in this newsletter called The Mindful Designer, in which I will share ideas and insights to help designers bring more awareness, curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and mindfulness into their work, their discipline, and within themselves so they can live a more fulfilling life.
💜 Systems Thinking + Zen
I am currently reading Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows and Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck. Both books help to better understand the world we live in and the world within us.
Through Systems Thinking we can perceive the interconnectedness and interdependence of various components within a system.
Through Zen we learn about our interconnectedness with the universe and that nothing exists in isolation.
As I looked a bit closer I found quite a few concepts that are similar in both Systems Thinking and Zen. I could be wrong but I feel there are quite a few connections there such as:
Interconnectedness - The idea that all things are dependent on one another.
No boundaries/Non-duality - The idea of “not one, not two”, we are all part of a whole.
Emergence - New patterns can arise from the interactions between parts within a system. We create our reality as we interact with the people and the world around us.
Holistic view - Looking at the world around us while also better understanding the mind and the body together.
Acceptance of Change - Change is a constant within a system and around it. The world, the people, and we ourselves are never the same from one moment to the next.
Mindfulness - Paying full attention to the world we live in and in each moment, without judgement helps us live with more awareness and understanding.
By understanding these concepts and applying them in our work and life it can help us show up, lean in, and become a mindful designer.
What are your thoughts on the connection between Systems Thinking and Zen? I would love to know!
✊🏽
Wisdom
💎 Every moment is the guru
“Life always gives us
exactly the teacher we need
at every moment.
This includes every mosquito,
every misfortune,
every red light,
every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss,
every moment of joy or depression,
every addiction,
every piece of garbage,
every breath.
Every moment is the guru.”
― Charlotte Joko Beck
That’s it for this week’s Friday Gems. See you next time!
Hit reply and share any gems you have found insightful.
Till next time, curiosity will save us.
Really liked the Rebel's Manifesto, thanks for sharing!