Display inquisitiveness 2

1. Display inquisitiveness
2. Be self-disciplined
3. Extend your learning
4. Discover cultural diversity
5. Challenge yourself
6. Focus on people’s wisdom
7. Involve yourself into new spheres
8. Stick to a schedule

A. Self-education requires a willingness to learn, the self-discipline to stay focused and a level of interest that exceeds the standard job mill education. A curious mind seeks to be educated. By asking questions, you can find out a lot of things that many people don’t know and won’t ever know. In fact, questioning is key to active and meaningful learning. The formulation of a good question is also a creative act. Questions help us to make sense of the world.

B. Try to expand your mind by learning beyond your comfort zone and seeing how other people think, perceive and understand things. If you only ever see romantic comedies, watch a documentary or an action film instead. If you only ever read comics, try a novel instead. If you only ever see car rallies, go and see a museum exhibition instead. Read world history and learn about different cultures. It is one of the finest ways of self-educating. Read about others who self-educate.

C. Curiosity is about pushing yourself beyond what you’re used to. There will be times when you feel really uncomfortable, out of your depth and perhaps even upset when trying to learn new things. This can happen especially where you feel dumb, unlearned or when your beliefs and values are challenged. These are the very times when you should keep pushing yourself to learn and to become wiser about whatever it is you’ve been avoiding. Read a lot. Without fail, always read something, and make it substantial.

D. Read English from different parts of the world, don’t assume that authors from your own country are the only ones worth reading. By extending your reading to elsewhere in the world, you’ll discover that even with one language, the thinking is diverse and the ways of seeing the world are wonderfully varied. When you feel more competent in this area, push into other languages. Realize that learning a language is about immersing yourself in another culture too.

E. If you’re learning or have learned the basics in math, science and other subjects, find out what you’ve yet to learn and set about teaching yourself. There is much more beyond the basics and most of it will challenge you in much more interesting ways than your initial learning did. If you did badly at a subject, do not let this hold you back. Every brain is plastic and capable of being rewired to relearn things and to learn new things.

F. Self-education requires very good self-discipline. Besides, borrow from intelligent people what you consider works well to improve the mind and understanding. Observe, learn and apply what you see good from them. You can learn a lot from them if you just take the time to sit with and listen to them. Should you feel that what they tell you is old hat and odd, put aside your biases and really listen. There are authentic human things to learn from older people.

G. By the time finals roll around and your time is precious — every minute counts. That is why scheduling is essential during the preparation for the exams. So as not to become totally confused during this stressful time, make a realistic study schedule for yourself, too. Leave yourself time for breaks — you’ll be taking them anyway — and be sure to prioritize according to which class you’ll need to study for the most.