7.5 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

Oh boy! Here I am, blogging away with gusto for my learning adventure! I suppose my enthusiasm would be seen as being rather cheesy, but I can't help it, I really like these sort of activities.

Last week we were asked to review a presentation on the seven (and a half) habits of highly successful lifelong learners. It was rather interesting and I had to think for some time before I could decide which ones I had trouble with and which ones come naturally to me.

Since it's so much easier to write about what I like rather than delve into my weaknesses (or challenges, as the presentation would have me believe) I will state that habit number 7.5 - Play! - is of course probably the easiest for anyone. Who doesn't like to have fun? I admit, I feel a little strange taking time at work to post...I think "Maybe I should do this on my own time, at home." But I have to remember that this is all to help me grow as a part of this library, plus it doesn't take that long. :)

The other habit I feel I do well is 6. Using technology to my advantage. I've been a computer nut since I was a kid, so stuff like blogging, Youtube, Myspace etc are familiar to me.

I also realized that I do 1. Begin with the end in mind. I used to be rather bad at setting goals, but when I put some thought into it I saw that over the past couple years I've become really good about setting a goal and working towards it. So even the first week I am seeing new things about myself!

Okay, now thinking about what I need to improve on was easy, though not as exciting. I seriously need help with 4. Having confidence. I've worked around books for so long, but since I am relatively new I get shy and second guess myself here. It's really weird going from one job where I am the "go to" person, to having to ask dumb questions like "where do we keep the phonebooks?"But with time I know I'll gain more knowledge and be able to help out more!

Since I get quiet and flustered, I think I'd also have to work on 7. Teach and mentor others. I always get tongue tied and end up repeating the same thing fifty times, I really don't know how anyone understands what I'm trying to teach them! They catch on somehow (thank goodness) but my tendency to ramble and worry about my message getting across is tripping me up. So I will work on organizing my thoughts before speaking, and try to understand that if someone asks me for help, or someone asks me to help someone else, that they have the confidence in me to do right, so I should too!