There are three things you need to constantly do in life. These three things are:

1. Learn
2. Unlearn
3. Relearn

Let me explain these.

1. Learn

You aspire to be someone better than you are now or somewhere better than you are now. That’s great but do you know what? If your current level of knowledge and understanding could take you there, you wouldn’t be where you are at the moment.

All the people you aspire to be like in life, know something or have experienced something that you haven’t yet. They probably have learned some lessons which are guiding them and have led them to get to where they are now.

If you also want to reach there, then you would have to start learning every day to get to know what they know and do what they do. That’s one guarantee that you will also get there pretty soon.

Therefore, apply yourself to learning every day. Your lack of knowledge and experience will always keep you less accomplished than you want to become. You can also learn fast by surrounding yourself with smart people, especially those who have similar aspirations.

Remember “He who walks with the wise shall also be wise”.

2. Unlearn

Unfortunately for most of us, we were taught things or even picked up some lessons or experiences which were totally wrong. Do you remember the popular African adage:

“A person cutting the path doesn’t know that it is crooked.”

Popular African Proverb

Yes! It is very true. It is very difficult for the one who carves the path to know that his/her back is crooked. For that matter, it isn’t easy for you to know that what you were taught is the wrong thing.

You usually get to appreciate the right things when you see others do it and see the difference it makes in their lives. You have to unlearn all the things you were taught wrongly.

Note that what you hear for a long, usually ends up becoming the truth you believe in. But the fact that you have heard it for so long a time doesn’t necessarily make it the truth.

Most times, you were taught by people who taught they knew what they were talking about and wanted the best for you. Unfortunately, most of such people also didn’t know the truth or the right thing. They only taught you what they were also taught.

Let me give you an example here. Growing up, I was taught that self-promotion was a bad thing. In fact, there is a popular adage that goes:

“Salt does not praise itself”

Popular African Proverb

This is what I was taught and I believed it so much until I started working on building my personal brand.

What I realized especially with most of my role models, is that when you begin building a brand, the first thing you have to do is to promote yourself, your business, or your capabilities.

No one else will do it for you or with you if you don’t start it on your own. The good thing is that when you start self-promoting the things you can do by showcasing and talking about the things you are doing, some people will give you their attention.

The more they hear or see you do it, the easier it is for them to accept that reality. When I came to the knowledge of this truth, I had to unlearn what I was taught.

Self-promotion done with integrity is a good thing, let no man lie to you. So, each day of your life, find out what you need to unlearn and unlearn them quickly.

To make this practical for you, the moment you begin to hear yourself say “this is how I have always done it” or “this is how I was taught” then it’s probably time to find out whether you need to unlearn that thing or learn a new way

3. Relearn

There are some things that you were taught very well. But unfortunately, you have forgotten about them because you might not have needed them at the time you were taught.

As you grow and yearn to become better than you are now, you will need to go back and relearn some of these things.

In summary, strive to learn new things, unlearn some old and unhelpful things whiles relearning old but helpful things if you want to become better than you are now.

Learn new things, unlearn some old and unhelpful things whiles relearning old but helpful things if you want to become better than you are now

Dr. Ehoneah Obed