Week 37 – welcome back! I hope you had a great weekend! 

Operation skip watch is progressing nicely, it is nearly full to capacity and should be going back soon. 🤞

Spring is in the air and the daffodils are out. The days are brighter and my beard feels nice and fresh in the windy breeze. 

The building work is progressing and we have a painter right now. I hope he paints better than he sings, as I need some ear plugs right now. The house currently is lighting up like a lighthouse in the evening, as the last owners loved glitter. Glitter and paint is not a good combo. Especially when you hug the walls by accident and then look like a glitter ball when you head out. ✨ 

The theme for this week is learning a new skill and why we should all give it a go.

What is learning? 🧠 

Learning is the acquisition of information, knowledge and skills. It is an ongoing process that takes place throughout life.

To learn you must encounter information, pay attention to it, coordinate it with what you know, store it in your memory and then apply it.

What is active learning vs passive learning? 🤔 

Active learning is an interactive process, where you can do hands-on experiments and learn a concept rather than reading about it.

Passive learning is still a type of learning and it can be effective. It is less hands on, for instance: reading text, listening to a lecture or watching a movie.

I’ve found that some people are more geared towards active learning, rather than passive learning. For me personally I would say that I am a mix of the two. I like to prepare via passive learning and then apply the concept via active learning.

For instance, lately I did some wiring of my bathroom mirror (obviously under the guidance of an adult a.k.a. electrician). I initially applied passive learning on YouTube, and then actively did the work. For you electricians out there, I love wago connectors! 🤩 

Why should we learn new skills?

1. Opens more doors in terms of your career
2. Increases your adaptability
3. It will give you a sense of achievement
4. You will have more creative ideas
5. Boasts confidence
6. You will grow in skillset and as a person
7. It may lead to a promotion and career advancement
8. Learn transferable skills
9. Keeps life exciting as you learn new experiences

Impact on the body when learning new skills 🩻 

1. Brain chemistry changes – new neural pathways are formed and it strengthens existing ones
2. Helps to stave off dementia
3. Decreases stress levels as it increases your sense of achievement and positive emotions
4. Helps you to sleep better
5. Hormone changes take place – dopamine released, which gives pleasure and motivation. Cortisol is also released, which helps reduce stress levels.

Examples 🧩 

I like to learn new skills and find that it helps to keep my brain active. For instance I do daily brain puzzles, read the paper digitally daily, most recently I have been doing some basic electric work and general DIY around the house.

On the cooking front I made some cauliflower cheese last week by following a recipe step-by-step. It tasted like baby food, though out of principle I made sure that I ate as much as I could, and also made the ‘yum’ noises to trick my brain. I certainly need to keep learning on that front!

Learning can be fun, but it can also be dangerous, so please do keep safe. Take my Dad who was cutting a metal gate with an angle grinder. A face mask is made for safety (in this case he did not), it is not a good look when your beard is on fire! 🔥 

Another lesson is to be careful when your learning becomes something which does not challenge you… it does not last. Take my nephew who I used to beat at Fifa when he was younger (oh those were the days). Now the tables have turned, I celebrate not when I win but when I score a goal. 😔 

As I have aged (still 21 without the beard), I have mellowed out with my learning, it is fun to learn and not just focus on the win, but more so to enjoy the process!

Some examples of things you can learn right away (but do be safe and non-competitive 😊):

1. Cooking
2. Gardening
3. Basic sewing
4. Public speaking
5. Photography
6. Basic coding
7. Yoga

Meerkats and learning new skills

They are known for having complex special structures and cooperative behaviour. What is key is that they learn new skills throughout their lives.

For instance they learn to:

1. Forage for food – they eat insects, small reptiles and some fruit. They need to learn to find them and also take the nutrients from them.
2. Communication – this is a key skill for survival from a young age. They have various vocalisations and body posture which are key to them staying alive!

Bye for now 👋 

Have a great week all and keep on learning! 

Leaving you with a picture of me learning about Belaurus football. We went to watch Bate play in Belarus with some of my friends, and I remember how freezing cold it was – the best part of the trip was the spiral potato chips, if you have not tried them, they are amazing!