How continuous learning innovation improves our identity
[Music]
so good morning everyone so today i’m
going to talk about
how continuous learning and innovation
improve our identity
how many of you get home from school or
work
and just say that today is the day today
is the day that i’m going to be
productive
to learn something new
instead some of you may just be like
lying on your sofa
just scrolling through social media or
just binge watching
like youtube or netflix think about how
much time you actually spend on these
activities
if it’s a long period of time you may
think that oh it may just be like a
waste of time
but if it’s a short period of time it
can just be for rest
or leisure and this can actually help
ourselves
and also define our identity
our identity is something that
represents us such as
who we are and what we do but it also
means to have the qualities
abilities personalities and
characteristics
that define us for most young adults and
teenagers
this is the time when we usually find
our own identity
however if social media is prevalent
among teens nowadays
instead of discovering our own talent or
interests some of us may be finding our
identity from social media
we want to fit in and to satisfy the
expectation of others
to gain recognition from our peers
however this is a false identity
because this is not truly expressing
ourselves
our true identity is to explore our
talents and interests
to share with others or use it to help
others
this is why our identity is so important
another thing that i found from a couple
of my friends is that
we are all so bounded by the exam
syllabus
we are only willing to learn the content
that would be only featured in
examinations
but not necessarily the things outside
the syllabus or something new
and for adults unless you’re a
professional most of them who already
stopped learning
because they’ve already learned
everything that they’ve needed to
most of the adults have already landed
on a decent job
and already have job security let’s
therefore sometimes make them sometimes
like a bit more complacent and therefore
blinding themselves from learning
something new
as herekls once said the only thing
that’s constant
is change there is always something new
to explore every day
and everything that we learn will define
who we are
this is why we should all start
continuous learning continuous learning
is a self-motivated persistence
in acquiring knowledge and competencies
it expands our skill sets
and develops them for future
opportunities
it can form part of our work it can form
part of our personal and professional
development
to reach our full potential it doesn’t
have to be anything that’s academic
related
it can just be reading a new book or
learning to play a new instrument
to look for something that interests you
to build our own self-identity
so there are a couple of benefits to why
we should start continuous learning
first of all it allows us to be relevant
to keep up to date with trends to expand
our skill set
in addition competence leads to
confidence
when we learn and understand something
new we
often have a feeling and a sense of
accomplishment in our capabilities
and therefore we are more confident in
taking on new challenges
another benefit that continuous learning
offers is that it sparks new ideas
new skills unveil new opportunities and
allow us to find innovative solutions
to problems continuous learning also
allows us to change our perspective
to see more points of view of the same
situation and to change our attitude by
building on what we’ve
learned so when we often talk about
continuous learning
we often hear we often have a similar
response
so it’s just that i don’t have the time
and a motivation to
actually learn continuously there are
actually a lot of ways to overcome this
problem
and one of the ways is to implement the
five-hour rule by michael d
simmons this rule simply states that we
should dedicate an hour to learning
five days per week firstly we have to
acknowledge the trade-off
the extra hour actually causes us to
accomplish less in terms of short-term
productivity
however over time the game that we’ve
made through constant learning will
accelerate
they will add up and propel us to
greater heights than the extra hour ever
could have
the fiverr rule is just an example it
doesn’t have to be an hour straight or
five days per week
but the main idea is that we learn
something new or something extra
every day as long as we keep this habit
it becomes a routine
people like barack obama opera winfrey
and bill gates
all commit to continuous learning
because it expands
the skill sets and the general knowledge
across the entirety of their careers
and by doing so they’re always opening
up themselves to new opportunity
and they’re never resting on their
laurels so as you can see
continuous learning improves our
identity by broadening our horizons
and enhancing in areas that we’re
fascinated by
so the obvious next question is where
can we start continuous learning
so just a bit more than 10 years ago
people still relied on teachers
and tutors and also their teaching
materials that they provide us
but there are some problems with it it’s
because the content is sometimes quite
limited
and that some of them have already been
outdated so therefore it may be
false or even be and wrong so
as most people have access to internet
nowadays
there are numerous learning online
platforms such as duolingo
addicts or brilliant these are all
these are our courses that are free and
we can attend whatever lessons that we
want
for example my mom learns swedish
from duolingo and also me who also
watches
some of the out of the service biology
biology topic for medics
or maybe just to simply learn how to
play piano or a guitar
most of the courses are free and they
and there are no
time and geographical limitations so we
can pretty much learn anywhere anytime
which makes learning much more flexible
than ever before
so after committing to continuous
learning we can think about how we can
absorb the knowledge
and use it or apply it in life
so for instance we can make use of
knowledge and
innovate something new innovation is not
limited
by how young you are how many resources
you have
or how good your learning environment is
for example a 14 year old girl from
india
remember jose actually made a
pedal-powered washing machine
she was asked to do laundry when her
mother became ill but she was less than
impressed with the amount of time and
energy needed to go to the nearby river
and to hand wash the clothes so she made
this
amazing appliance which has made a huge
impact in the world and made
countless applications in areas lacking
electricity
so a lot of times it’s the surroundings
that actually
define us and allows us to
inspire and to make innovative solutions
for the betterment of others
so another two students from hong kong
simon lee
and michael lee and simon wong they have
made a self-sanitizing door handle
just a few years ago inspired by the
outbreak of stars back in 2003
they’ve noticed that microbes can be
spread through contact
and they’ve made this handle that can
destroy most viruses and bacteria on the
surface
this has proven to be super useful
especially during this
covet-19 pandemic so without the
knowledge acquired
these amazing and sophisticated
appliances
just would not be possible it allows us
to innovate something new
and inspire us to do something or make
something out
of almost nothing and to
improve our identity so these are just a
few examples
of how young people innovated by
creating such
products that helped millions of people
around the world
so how does this lead to our identity
so both of them have contributed to
society and helped
millions of people around the planet
both of them didn’t have much resources
to begin with
but because of their commitment to their
ideas and innovation
they allowed their innovation to define
themselves
so being innovative doesn’t mean that
you have to just make a physical
product to help others it can come in
many different forms
maybe you can also use some of the
talent or interest
that you have and make something to
entertain others
or just to simply share it with others
so take billy alex as an example
most people recognize her by her unique
look and style of music
whether you like her music is
controversial but i’m sure that
like she has created this and innovated
a new kind of musical genre that is so
different from the rest
her alternative approach to music is
pulse apart from what we are used to
she allowed her singularity to express
herself to express herself through the
arts she made
so by being creative sensitive and
expressive
all of these define her identity
so as you can see innovation can come in
various distinct forms
and there is no one way to be innovative
no matter what you learn there is always
room for creativity
and to make something that truly define
ourselves
so all in all continuous learning and
innovation
are so beneficial to identity in so many
ways
the key is to make use of the knowledge
and make it yours
remember what you’ve learned will define
who you are
continuous learning is just a vector for
improving our identity
but if we keep on learning continuously
to try to learn something new every day
it exhibits
on a daily basis which stems largely
from my identity
what we learn will contribute largely to
what we’ll do next
not everyone can make products that are
revolutionary
or innovative we can always create ideas
that inspire others and to innovate for
the betterment of others
whatever you decide to learn the
important thing is that you commit to
continuous learning
and do something that truly define your
best self
thank you
[Music]