Why learning is good for you....

 

I don’t know what it is about learning something new, but it’s always a struggle at first.

In June last year, I decided to upgrade my desktop publishing software.

For years I’d used a programme called Page Plus, made by a company named Serif and it had always been perfectly good for what I’d been doing.

I’d produced a 64-page football programme with it quite comfortably back in the early 2000s even though I’d not had any technical training. I’d designed flyers for my disco and amusement business and I’d created menus for various restaurants over time.

And so I felt as though I had developed a level of competency which would be beneficial when I wanted to take a step forward. And with us all being in a lockdown, I thought I’d have a go at learning some new software.

Serif no longer developed new versions of Pageplus, but they had a new product, called ‘Affinity’ or rather a suite of products that I felt will allow me to take a step forward.

There was ‘Publisher’, which was a much-upgraded version of Page Plus, ‘Photo’ which is the equivalent to Adobe’s ‘Photoshop’ which is a very professional photo editing software, and ‘Designer’ which is ideal for producing flyers and promotional pieces and includes a plethora of drawing features, which I’d had on Page Plus on a smaller scale, but had not really used.

I figured that as I’d been using the other software for over 15 years, these new products would be a doddle to use.

And to a small extent, ‘Designer’ is, as it’s aimed at the kind of things I’ve been doing. But in truth, it’s far more technical and there are things that it can do, that I have no skillset for.

I bought the manuals for the books and started to read them and try out some of the tutorials. The first ones seemed fairly easy but very quickly I found myself out of my depth.

Youtube has loads of tutorials and I found myself watching them, and the company itself has plenty of tutorials on their website.

Since June, I’ve started designing flyers and to be honest, haven’t done too badly. I have come up with over 150 designs so far.

But in joining social media groups relating to the software, it’s made me realise that I have very little knowledge of the mass of things these programmes are capable of.

And so, I’m going back to school if you like and am going to try learning skills that will not only make my work better but also make it quicker to do.

This morning, I watched a video and on the tutorial it showed the way to do something in less than a minute, that’s been taking me 15 or so minutes to do in my trial and error ways of working.

It doesn’t look better than my earlier results but was so much easier to produce in a much shorter time.

I’m now going to start trying to practice and do things that up to now I haven’t been capable of doing. I’m going to try and move my proficiency forward.

I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone in order to move on.

While I’m happy with the quality of work I’ve been producing, I’ve not had to stretch in order to do it.

The problem is, I look at some other people’s work and realise how far behind them I am and I want to get to the stage I’m looking at their work and thinking that mine is as good.

It may be that they have been working and learning to be at the level they are now for years and I’ve realised that in starting to use this new software, I’m going back to being a beginner.

Luckily, I quite like starting something new and learning new skills. However, in trying to learn these new skills, I know I’m going to get frustrated and have times when nothing goes right.

But that’s always the case when you try something new. And I know that if I keep at it, at some stage, it will click into place and I’ll complete and action and realise that I did it easily. And when that happens, I’ll feel a real buzz of excitement that will wear off quite quickly as I move onto a new thing and I’ll be back at that ‘out of my comfort-zone’ stage again.

But isn’t it great that at 60, I’m still learning? Yes, it probably takes me longer to learn something that it would have when I was younger, but I'm happy that I still want to learn and grow.

For me, it’s a life-long thing. I get a real thrill when I realise I’ve got the basics of something new.

Four years ago it was Spanish I started. I do a bit every day, and I was chuffed this morning when something finally fell into place and what I’ve been getting wrong for weeks has suddenly started going right. And what’s more, it went right instinctively, and that’s because each time I failed, I was getting a step closer to getting it right.

It may have taken me longer than it would have someone else. But here’s the thing...I’m not in a race or a competition with anyone else. It doesn’t matter if it takes me a while longer. It doesn’t matter if someone else is further in front of me.

What’s important is that I’m better today than I was yesterday and the days and weeks before.

I get tremendous satisfaction when something I was struggling with suddenly becomes something I can do. And even better when I realise that I did it without thinking too hard about it. All the mistakes, all the errors and all the frustration were just steps toward this new realisation that I can do it.

So here I go again, on my quest to get better at my designing. I know that the next few weeks will have me swearing to myself when I’ve cocked up again and can’t seem to get the hang of it. And then, all of a sudden I’ll realise I’ve sussed it.

We’ve still got time in front of us to learn to do more. I hope I never become complacent about learning. The challenge is exhilaration when you reach each new stage.

Why am I telling you this? Well, let me ask you a question which goes to the crux of what I’ve been trying to get at.

Have you got anything you’d like to learn but haven’t got around to? I can assure you, it’s never too late.

And what’s more, you not only learn something new but your self-worth improves as well.

And that in itself has got to be worth it don’t you think?

There’s no time like the present. Have a think about what you’d like to do, and then go and do it.

Let me know and I’ll be happy to be your cheerleader as you embark on your new journey.

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