How to learn something new every day

They say you should never stop learning. And I think they are right.

We all carry a little bit of knowledge around with us that is based off of whatever we studied in school or whatever we do for a living, but there’s always so much more out there to learn. And sometimes you can feel empowered and energized from obtaining new knowledge.

I’m one week into training for my new job as a personal trainer at Equinox, and each day I’m reminded just how much I love to learn, especially when it’s about health and fitness.

I truly enjoyed studying for my personal trainer certification, and now I’m building on that by digging deeper into the science of training to prepare to work with clients at the soon-to-be-open Equinox in San Francisco’s Marina neighborhood. The last few days, I’ve been immersed in exercise sciences, kinesiology, anatomy, business and program fundamentals. And today, I even had a pop quiz. Although it takes time to study and soak in new information, it’s rewarding.

To make it even better for me, my learning has been taking place in an awesome setting …

That’s the currently open Equinox in the Financial District, which is housed in the old Pacific Coast Stock Exchange building, a gorgeous structure built in 1915.

To make it even better for you, my learning journey has inspired this semi-preachy post.

How to learn more every single day

You don’t have to be in school or start a new job to be in learning-mode. Here are a few ways you can learn something new any time at all:

• Listen to and talk to new people. Strike up a conversation with someone in public and ask them about what they do for a living and why.
• Read. Read. Read. Read a few stories from your local newspaper. Don’t just choose the ones that jump out at you as interesting, but find out about a part of the world you don’t normally follow.
• Do something with your hands. Try preparing food using a new-to-you cooking technique or try to build something from scratch.
• Attend a class and move in new ways. Attend a new group fitness class and ask the instructor to explain the history and background of the program. (This one is a personal favorite for me a group fitness instructor and fitness buff.)
• Watch a TED talk. TED talks are free, short, and powerful talks on a range of business, technology, design and education topics given by inspired thinkers around the world. They come in 100 languages and are all less than 18 minutes.
• Ask more questions. Whether those questions are to a waiter at a restaurant about how dishes are prepared and why, or to your family members about a project they are working on at their job. Take time to understand things around you a little better, for no other reason than to learn more.
• Listen to a podcast. Find something to listen to other than music every once in a while, perhaps on the NPR Podcast Directory. Maybe an educational seminar won’t help you run faster, but it could offer you great background commentary during an after-dinner stroll.
• Watch a documentary. I’ve never met a documentary that didn’t open my eyes to something, whether I agreed with it or not. Check out the documentary queue on Netflix.
• Learn a new word every day. Sign up for A.Word.A.Day., a popular service in which a new word-a-day is delivered directly to your inbox.

There are a lot of things you “should” be doing every day, like eating healthy, drinking water, getting active and sleeping. So yes, learning is just a nice to have, but take it from me, you might really enjoy it.

Go forth and conquer!

Questions of the day

Have you learned anything new today? If so, what?

What’s your favorite way to pick up some new knowledge? Could you add anything to my list?