Another year older, another year wiser.  But, the wiser you get the stupider you realize you are.  Like that?  I just made up that last part!  But, it’s the conclusion I’m coming to as I get older.  And supposedly “wiser”.

Knowledge is not what you can remember, but what you cannot forget. -Anonymous

Be curious…

Ask a million questions. Ask your parents. Ask your teachers. Ask your friends. Ask your doctor. Ask the librarian. Ask your boss. Ask your colleagues. Ask google.

What does that word mean? How do you cook that? What does that taste like? How does that work? Who invented this?

Don’t be afraid of asking dumb questions. Don’t worry about asking a question you should already know the answer to. Your short-term memory can hold up to 7 things at one time, but for only 20 seconds! It takes a couple of times to hear something before it really sinks in.

And it will really sink in if you participate in a discussion around the topic, or try to teach what you just learned to someone else. You’re able to retain 70% of what you say if in a discussion & 90% of what you say and do (cooking the recipe or play-acting a scene from history or teaching someone).

Unless you’re riveted by the topic, most human beings only have an attention span for 20 minutes.  That means while your teacher continues to lecture after 45 minutes, all you’re hearing is “yadda yadda yadda”!  So make certain you ask questions, have a conversation with the teacher, your classmates, your family, etc about what you just learned and try to teach it to someone else.

Dig. Dig deep. Don’t just skim over the surface of things without understanding. Even after you ask the question, find out more to the answer. Do research. Look it up. You now literally have a million resources at your fingertips with the internet….