Expand your knowledge

By: Nicole A. Published on June 23, 2020

With absolutely no intent of offense, I personally don’t believe that knowledge and intelligence are solely determined on how well you perform in school or how many degrees you have. It is hard work and I have a lot of respect for those who have done so. Hours and time spent on working towards your goals, but learning is doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t have to always be about tests, grades, essays, homework, and so on. What I think we need is more understanding, awareness, knowledge, and a drive to learn more about things that we don’t think about in our everyday lives, or don’t even know about.

I wanted to make it a goal in my life to try harder to learn more. In our current day and age, our society lacks an understanding of those who are different than us, lacks motivation to stray away from their everyday routine and learn something new, and lacks an awareness of things that are happening outside of our comfort bubble.

We need to help each other, push each other, and teach each other to be better people. I don’t want to be the same person I was 5 years ago, a year ago, a month ago; I’m not, and I will continue to push myself to try harder every day. If we try new things to expand our knowledge we can open our eyes to bigger things, to more change, to better versions of ourselves.

Below I have listed different ways you can learn and expose yourself to different things, some are very simple, others might require you to get out your comfort zone. I hope at least one inspires you to learn something new!

• Talk to someone

It could be as simple as talking to a friend, a stranger (in a safe setting), a family member. Ask them what they’re passionate about, what they like to learn about, things that they’re into. Start looking into it, and maybe you’ll have a better understanding of who they are, and you’ll learn about something you never would’ve thought about.

• Get a new book

I know reading isn’t for everyone, but there’s a lot of amazing pieces of work out there. And if you look hard enough, or maybe just close your eyes in a library and choose, you’ll find something you love. You can even learn something that is really interesting and could spark new passions or ideas.

• Check in on a different countries‘ news

I think that we could all be more aware of what’s going on around the world and I want to get better at this too. We are so used to what’s going on in our towns, states, own country. There are so many people in so many different places that need help, need someone to hear them, and a lot of us don’t even know what’s going on. If we takes the steps to start becoming aware, we can begin to unite with people around the world.

• Add some different/new people, groups, or companies on to your following list

Maybe it was just me, but I found myself scrolling through the same things over and over again I would feel like a robot. Whether its on social media, podcasts, or video subscriptions, expand your horizons so you are exposed to different things every day. Pop that bubble you’ve created around you and you’ll be surprised about how many new things you learn about and become passionate about.

• Travel

Before you skip over this one, I’m not saying you have to hop on a 10 hour flight to the next country over. While it is my dream to travel and learn about other cultures, if you do some research about what is around you, you can travel to different areas or regions and learn and see more about a different culture.

• Listen to different music

Music is a means of expression and communication that goes way, way, way back. Learning about new music, the meaning behind it, the instruments, beats, dances, you can communicate with someone without having to even know them. I do believe music brings people together, and it is a true blessing.

• Research online

You hear about a name you don’t know, a topic you’ve never heard of, an event you have no idea about. Look it up and read about it from different sources. Not only have you just made an effort to be more aware, you might find something you want to share and educate others too.

• Spend some time alone

It is definitely great and a blessing to spend quality time with people you love, but it is important to have time to yourself. Learning should not only be about others, but yourself too. Spend some time alone, either reflecting or doing something relaxing, and you might find yourself learning more about you.

I’m sure there is much more I can add to the list, but I’m gonna log out for the night. I hope you enjoyed the read. I’d love to hear your ideas as well!