So what? Quite right!
Well, I’ve got sore fingers, and I can play some chords without that annoying buzzing sound. I’m making progress, and it feels good.
Truth be told, this guitar has been sitting in the corner of my room for years now – I made my (then) girlfriend buy one for my twentieth birthday when we were at University. I got it home, tuned it, and promptly put it back in the bag under my bed. The same thing happened to the PS2 she bought me for Christmas last year. We were engaged by then, and now we’re married, so I guess I must be doing something right.
But, I digress. The point isn’t about me playing the guitar – there’s a wider issue. It feels good to learn. Learning makes me a better person, sometimes a more interesting person, and it makes me better at my job.
What? That’s right. Learning anything makes me better at my job. Last year I took some courses in German. This year it’s the guitar. If you’re the sort of person that doesn’t want to give up learning stuff, you’re a more valluable employee, and you’ve always got something to talk about over a pint.
I want to write a technical book, but my narrative skills aren’t quite up to scratch. I know some stuff, and I keep thinking that if I could just find the right words I could share what I know with people, and we’d all be a little bit better off. I’d make some money into the bargain! A blog is a good way to practise writing, so here we are.
Take a course. Go to lectures at an art gallery. Learn an instrument. Give a talk. Read a new blog. Write a new blog. Read a book. Read another book.
Does your employer offer training? Could you learn to teach other people? Could you volunteer somewhere? Could you join a choir?