7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

1. Begin with the end in mind.
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning.
3. View problems as challenges.
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner.
5. Create your own learning toolbox.
6. Use technology to your advantage.
7. Teach/mentor others.
7 1/2. Play!

Of all of these habits, I think that the hardest one for me would to be to view problems as challenges. I think I tend to view problems as challenges in general, but it really is difficult to do this when the problem is interfering with a task that has a deadline or when time is precious!

The easiest habits for me would be the last two. I am a teacher at heart and view this 23 Things blog as a record of my journey but also as a way to inspire others with their 23 Things tasks. I've already talked to a number of coworkers, encouraging them to sign up to 23 Things and to come to me with any questions they may have.

And of course playing is very easy. One of my mentors when I interned at National Geographic Libraries, Karen Huffman (Manager, Knowledge Initiatives), is a wiz at Web 2.0 and the excitement she has for these technologies is contagious. It isn't rare for Karen to play with different wiki applications over weekends. Karen is definitely an exemplar of a highly successful lifelong learner. She in fact wrote an article pertinent to the 23 Things community: Web 2.0: Beyond the Concept; Practical Ways to Implement RSS, Podcasts, and Wikis (PDF)

A Summary of My Thoughts About Lifelong Learning

Learning is not easy. When we are children we make many mistakes: falling off bicycles, using words incorrectly, coloring outside of the lines... We stumble and it is accepted as normal--part of the learning process. But as we get older we forget this. Making mistakes becomes an inconvenience and oftentimes embarrassing. We feel comfortable with what we currently know. But we need remind ourselves that it is OK to make mistakes. Learning is hard, but in the end it can be very rewarding. And personally, I think it makes life very new and exciting.