This is Part Three looking at my results from the Strengths Finder assessment by Tom Rath.
My third highest ranked strength is that of “Learner.”
People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
It has been said that when you stop learning, you’ve started dying. I remember my college graduation like it was a long time ago… maybe ’cause it was! I do remember having the thought, “I’m done with the formal education system. For here on, it’s the School of Hard Knocks.” In recent years though, the idea of furthering my education has crept into my thinking occasionally. I lay down and it eventually goes away.
I do have a desire to continue to grow. I read books and attend conferences in an effort to learn more. I can count on one hand, and have fingers left over, the number of fiction books I’ve read in the past couple of decades. I used to read novels all the time, but I made a switch years ago to focus my reading on gaining information with the goal of personal growth.
I remember one of my kid’s first grade teachers. She had been teaching for 30 years. I believe that she had taught one year, thirty times. It seemed that she hadn’t made any significant shifts in her teaching methods, even some of the decorations she had in the class were yellowed with time.
I don’t understand people that want to change for the sake of change, I also don’t want to be caught in the ‘how did we do it last year’ mentality!
Growth requires learning!
