Do you stop learning when you get out of school? Why is it important to always be curious in life?
Curiosity is key to lifelong learning. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that being curious transforms the people around you into potential teachers and attracts those who recognize your eagerness to learn.
Let’s look at how to stay curious and keep an open mind about learning new things.
How to Stay Curious
In order to always be curious, don’t hesitate to inquire about others’ experiences and their fields of expertise; people are often glad to share their knowledge if you adopt a humble approach. Asking “how” and “why” questions is particularly helpful when it comes to retaining what other people teach you, as they help you make connections with other things you’ve learned, leading to deeper understanding. Through continuous learning, your grasp of the world expands, and with it, your control of your life’s circumstances, easing your path to achieving your dreams.
| Teachers, Coaches, Mentors, and Sponsors Whereas Schwarzenegger lumps everyone you can learn from into the general category of “teacher,” other experts classify them by the nature of the teacher-student relationship. For instance, in Empowered, Marty Cagan and Chris Jones write about the importance of having a coach to inspire you, help set your overall direction, and encourage you to stretch your abilities. However, in The Motivation Myth, Jeff Haden suggests finding a high-achieving professional to emulate because a professional who isn’t a coach by trade won’t cheer you on or cut you any slack—they’ll just explain what it takes to succeed and expect you to do it on your own. There are other types of teachers in line with the relationships Schwarzenegger describes who can help you advance toward your goals—namely, mentors and sponsors. A mentor is distinct from a coach in that your relationship isn’t transactional. It’s a coach’s job to help you develop skills, whereas a mentor helps guide you as a way to “pay it forward” and invest in the future of their field. A sponsor, on the other hand, is someone who helps you move forward not just by developing your skills but by boosting your visibility and reputation, which is essential in fields like film and politics where networking is of paramount importance. |
Schwarzenegger writes that throughout his various careers in bodybuilding, movies, and politics, he’s never stopped being a student. His hunger to keep learning propelled his growth at every stage of his life. By viewing himself as a perpetual student, he learned valuable lessons from every available teacher who crossed his path. Even when working out in a gym—an arena in which he’s an undisputed master—he’ll still approach his fellow weightlifters to inquire about any exercises they’re doing that he’s unfamiliar with. As governor of California, he was surrounded by policy experts whom he questioned incessantly so he could understand every angle of the complex issues he faced.
(Shortform note: Schwarzenegger shows how the line between teacher and student is often blurry, and an expert can learn from anyone, even someone who’s not as expert as they are. More than that, you can learn by teaching, because when you teach, you reexamine your knowledge from a different perspective—your student’s. This is called the “protégé effect,” by which your understanding of a concept is improved when you explain it to someone else, not just because you have to retrieve it from your mind, but also because you need to make it clear enough that someone else can understand it too.)
