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I’m Too Old To Learn New Things – 07/06/2021

No you’re not! I’m 34 with a 12 year old daughter, I thought that I would be a “cool and hip young mum” – how wrong was I? Whilst I sit there watching her learn the new “Fortnite” emotes, I realise that I in fact, know nothing about this world they’re growing up in. For a moment, it made me feel old, like I was too old to now learn about their lives and how different it will be to my teenage years. It got me thinking about how actually, that’s an excuse and it’s very easy for us to all use that excuse in our work and home life.

I’ve spoken to so many people who say they are too old to learn how to use a computer, a smartphone, a social media platform or to do things in a different way like their accounts. Actually, its all just in our heads……….the actual reason we say it is because we don’t want to. Without realising it, we are continuously learning daily (at whatever age). If you’re one of those people who feel that you’re too old to learn, stop for a moment and think about this;

We are born into the world nothing nothing. Every word we now say (cool or not), every action we do, we have learnt from somewhere. Learning is as simple as using your sat nav for a journey but next time remembering the route without it. Going into Tesco’s and remembering that the eggs are in aisle 7, next to the flour and sugar. Even asking Jane in the office how she has her coffee but next time just making her one, remembering it was white with 1 sugar. We are learning every single day, we have the ability to learn constantly, it’s just whether we allow ourselves to.

Next time you hear yourself saying “no, I’m too old for all that”, remember that you aren’t. You can do it, you can learn any skill. Granted it might take a little longer and a little more practice than the current youthful generation (I’m certainly finding that) but you can get there. I’ve had to learn how to do so much in the last 6 months with the Forest Traders website rebuild. Now I can go in, update it, change things around, add and remove things but some of the bits I do daily now come naturally to me and I could probably do them with my eyes closed. The bits I don’t do so often, I have to think a little harder about and recheck my notes, but ultimately I still get there in the end.

So if you have the opportunity to learn a new skill, go for it! On that note, I’ve promised to learn one of these Fortnite dances…………wish me luck.