Changes I noticed in myself after learning something new everyday for a month

I consider myself to be a curious individual, constantly poking at the obvious in an effort to extract more. And that is one of the reasons why I regard Google as one of my best friends. My search history has firmly carried the weight of a million questions, each flaunting a personality of its own, ranging over different domains. After all, the world, this universe, is an inflating bubble, waiting to be burst. The amount of knowledge and skills that exist out there are infinite and one could possibly spend their whole life in the process of learning. Given the limitlessness of the knowledge that exists at our fingertips via the internet, I decided to learn something new everyday for a month and track the impact that took on me. 

For a month, I tried to learn and become relatively proficient in certain fields of knowledge and skills. While some only took a day or two, others required constant attention and practice for weeks. Over the course of the month, I challenged myself to learn something I’d never read about or done before and thus by the end of the month, the things I’d learned to do ranged from changing a flat tire to sewing to practicing calligraphy and reading about the origins of english idioms, etc. I was picking up trivial parts of the world around me and they, in turn, were positively changing me. 

It made me more patient

For skills that require more practice every day to master, I had to be patient in order to see results. For instance, on the days that I was learning to play a keyboard, I often got frustrated and still do as I continue to practice. But the process of trying and failing and winning along the way has taught me to be more patient about things in life. 

It increased my persistence

“Nothing worth having comes easy.” I did always believe in that saying and my belief in it strengthened when I noticed that each thing that I was attempting to learn had to be given constant time and effort from my side. I had to be persistent in order to get even mediocre at things like carving and stitching. 

It sparked my creativity

The brain works faster when constantly stimulated and makes it easier for new thoughts to form and foster. I noticed that during this month, I was also generating ideas and was able to be productive when writing and composing art.

It instilled a sense of accomplishment

There’s no feeling better than finally attaining a goal that you’ve been working hard towards. Setting small goals for myself in the form of learning new things made me feel good when I was able to fulfill my goals and simultaneously increased my self-confidence.

It made me a better communicator

All the new things I was learning gave me so much more to talk about with people and share my experiences with them. 

It expanded my interests and passions

I started to learn some things only as a part of this small challenge that I was doing. However, along the way I found some things that I was genuinely interested in. For instance, I now know that I want to further continue playing the keyboard and practicing calligraphy.

It augmented my appreciation for the world we live in

There’s so much that the world has to offer. There are billions of things to learn and each of those things is unique from the other, making me see that diversity makes the world what it is: beautiful and illimitable. 

• creativity
• growing
• learning
• passion
• persistence