Click. Learn. Create.

I live in a world of curiosity, surrounded by buoyant imaginations and inquisitive minds. I forget what it’s like in the “real world”. But this past week my sister had her birthday and what I thought was a simple project of curating loving videos was an absolutely enlightening experience of how others perceive technology and use it. A continuum of fear, with arrogant ignorance at one level: “Don’t know, don’t care to know”-ness and vain helplessness at the other with “I don’t want to look stupid so I won’t try”-ness.  I made how-to videos for making a video using Facebook Messenger (the very app we were communicating in!), and yet the willingness to do it wasn’t there.  It was fascinating to bear witness to this.  No one was willing to simply click on a button and give it a go.

Now you could say that this is a generational issue–“It’s those Baby Boomers!” Maybe…but I think it’s a mindset issue. It’s a lack of interest and desire to move beyond our comfort level. It’s a fear of failure. And all of us “Digital Immigrants” suffer from it.

I feel strongly that all of us, young or old, must embrace David Higginson’s motto: Click. Learn. Create. We have to be open to exploring different technologies and apps. Not because we have to be experts in everything, but we have to be more playful and less rigid in our beliefs about ourselves and what we can do. We need to get comfortable with making mistakes.

Personally, I like to challenge myself with technology, creating a podcast was just “for fun”. This website was created just “for fun”. I wanted to learn more about these things and researched and played around. For the past few months, I’ve been teaching myself about how to create online courses and all those things that are entailed in it. It’s been a journey of exploring all the learning management systems and the ways content can be created for it. I’m loving the challenge. But moving from a curiosity into creation seems like the longest journey ever. And it isn’t because of what’s possible with tech. It’s because of my mindset.

In my head, I hear of a litany of “What If” worst-case scenarios: What if it’s crap? What if I pick the wrong platform? What if I could design this better? ….etc….it’s all the same self-berating message that boils down to “I’m not good enough.” I think, this culturally programmed message of perfection paralyzes me at times, and I have to will myself to overcome my anxiety. But as awful as I feel sometimes, it is absolutely joyful when I encounter someone who has another piece of the puzzle and this gives me the courage to continue. I may move slowly, but I still move forward.

But this IS learning. Learning isn’t just about acquiring knowledge and skills. It’s about becoming a better version of ourselves. Me 2.0 It’s about surprising ourselves with what we can do. It’s about connecting and collaborating with others with purpose and passion. And most importantly, it’s about growing ourselves emotionally so we can be mature, sensitive and happy human beings. One of my friends, Graham Baines, would call this #SeriousFun.

 

Even the smallest efforts can lead to transformational gains in our personal and professional development. I wish for all of us to Click. Learn. Create. so that we may Discover. Inspire. Empower.