beginners the joy and transformative power

Inspired by his daughter’s curiosity and growth, he decided he could not be satisfied with just being a spectator of her learning. When he became a father, Tom Vanderbilt, a New York-based journalist and author, embarked on a personal learning quest. What a waste! Each of us could gain so much from being a beginner all our lives! We are so scared of being bad at something we’ve never done before that we give up the profound pleasure of discovering a new world, of being a beginner. Most of us prefer to stick to what we’re good at and cultivate an image of expertise. Adult beginners arouse condescension and a touch of pity. Yet by and large the overwhelming majority of those who go to school and start a new activity are young. They find it hard to recruit new, qualified candidates, so investing in the training of their present employees may be a cost-effective solution. Companies say they will spend more on training and education in the future. As the world of work is transformed by multiple trends, new technologies, new business models, and climate change, it’s increasingly hard to imagine that a person can last a whole career only with what they learned in the first stages of their life. Many people today pay lip service to the idea of lifelong learning.

Beginners the joy and transformative power