The biggest barrier to learning is always taking courage to say “I don’t know”. Often times, we do not want to let others know that because we keep a fear of judgement. “How could I not know that?” and “what will they think of me when I say that?” are common thoughts.
Interestingly, for kids, it is a very easy thing to do because they do not think much other than focusing on what they want to know, which is a pure intention. Adults tend to cover themselves by knowledge and degree so they put pressure on themselves to know things better than others. One of my teachers used to tell me: “the more you know, the more you realize you do not know”, which is very true in any case.
Ironically, if we are not willing to be vulnerable to share what we do not know, that hole of knowledge will not be filled. Sometimes, we need to let go the fear of being small to be a little bigger. Growing is an ever ongoing process through our entire life, there should never be a point where we feel that is enough. “We grow or we die”.
In fact, something we do not know others might know. Why not putting ourselves out there to learn. Worse, sometimes, we try to make up an answer or to delay finding out because we keep waiting till we know. There is no such thing as “you should know this” if we perceive that we are all here to learn, and to grow. As Steve Jobs said “Stay hungry, stay foolish”.
