#2. Lifelong Learning

Ah yes, lifelong learning, a major buzzword in education. I love how school is referred to as an "old school" form of learning. 1). Set goals. 2) Accept responsibility for your own learning 3) View problems as challenges 4) Have confidence 5) Create your own learning toolbox 6) Use technology to help your learning 7) Teach someone 7 1/2) Play.

One of the things I wonder about is if I'm spreading myself too thin, or not thin enough. For example, there are so many things I'd like to do and learn, but making choices is a big part of learning. The same goes for reading: I'd love to read many, many books, but there is only so much time, and thus, decisions must be made.

I've learned to play the guitar over the past 10 years. I didn't play it much during the first four years that I had it. I distinctly remember thinking that I should just abandon playing it, because I wasn't getting any better and wasn't enjoying it much. But I'm glad I stuck with it. I've found it's essential to break through those moments of doubt if you're going to get better at anything. Now I can't imagine myself not playing. It's a true outlet and joy. It's changed the way I relate to music. It's made me want to learn others instruments.

This leads me to the hardest part of the lifelong learning, which is ironically the first step in their process: set goals. This is the hardest thing. It requires you to focus upon your desires and to not simply indulge them, but to edit them into a realistic form, into something that demands striving but is also possible. That's a strange negotiation between ambition and self-awareness.

My goal is to learn how to cover the Beatles' song "Blackbird."