2020, the year that experts refer to as “annus horribilis”, became a learning experience for just about everyone. Businesses and politicians scrambled to develop new policies and procedures; everyday life took on a new look with learning from home, Zoom conferencing, and adapting to “mask etiquette.” Now some new research shows this upheaval has a positive outcome. Here are some principles for becoming a beginner once again:

• Learning something new is a tough slog. It feels better to be good at something established than bad at something new. But it looks as if learning a new skill is a worthwhile effort. If you try tap dancing, or juggling, or speaking a new language, the gray matter in your brain changes. You have jolted your neural tissue to function in a new way. It is called ‘activation-dependent structural plasticity.’ Your brain begins to learn a new skill that eventually becomes muscle memory—which means it’s time to try another new learning skill to keep the little grays cells adapting.

• If you join a group of beginners, you get positive vibes from those who are, like you, seeking to look foolish while learning a new thing. Psychologists call this like-mindedness ‘openness to experience.’ This ‘beginners’ mind’ frees you from preconceptions which can prejudice your thinking and delay your learning. And the good news: it is a characteristic which appears to extend your longevity, preparing you for the many changes you may encounter during your lifetime.
  
• Lots of attention is being paid to those who are beginners in the truest sense of the word: toddlers learning to walk. They are preparing for a future walking about, having hands free to explore their new environment. Often this new skill takes three years (and many falls) to perfect—which tells learning adults that developing a new skill takes time while your brain continues to learn for you.

Conclusion: To keep learning we all need to stay at the edge of what we currently cannot do. “If you don’t learn to fail, you will fail to learn.” How is that for a positive new year’s cliché?