My 7 ½ Habits for Life-Long Learning

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind

·         I am usually pretty good at this. I like setting goals and reaching them. For me it is better to have something I am aiming for than nothing. I would rather aim high and miss than not aim at all. I try to budget my time and resources to reach the end result that I want. Sometimes everything doesn’t work out exactly as I expect it will, so I have to slightly modify or significantly change my goal.

Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning

·         I feel like I am pretty good at this one. I love learning new skills and gaining more knowledge. I especially love learning new things about libraries and music. Although I do have to work harder with other topics that I am not so passionate about, I can usually find the self control to put in the necessary time. In order to learn anything, I know that I have to budget my time and put in the effort. No one else can do it for me.

Habit 3: View problems as challenges

·         Life isn’t always easy. Problems arise. Sometimes these problems are really hard. I see each problem as just one more hurdle to cross. I go at it and overcome the problems to achieve.

Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner

·         Learning is life-long. Because school is hard for me, I have had to learn that with the appropriate help, more time, and extra effort I can learn. I have more confidence than I used to have, but I could use more confidence in my ability to learn. I need to work on this one, because I know I will need to continue learning for the rest of my life to be successful.

Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox

·         Here are a few items that I would include in my learning toolbox: study materials organized in a way to help me to better be able to study, computers, piano/keyboard, books, and music books. I would say that adding tools is an ongoing process. I think I will always look for and hope to find new tools for my learning toolbox, and if it starts to get too cluttered, I can clean it out as well.

Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage

·         As part of my learning, I rely on technology. Without technology, such as computers, I would not have the tools I need so I can learn. Word processors and printers have become especially helpful. As time goes on, more and more technologies are becoming available for library use and learning. These technologies include e-readers, blogs, Google Docs, etc. I need to become better acquainted with some of these technologies.

Habit 7: Teach/mentor others

·         I’ve taught voice lessons a little (about a year and a half), but that is all. As a librarian, I need to obtain the skills so that I can be a good teacher and mentor. I know that I need work in this area.

 Habit 7 ½: Play

·         I am a busy person, but I like to squeeze in time to play, so I would say I am pretty good at this one. I enjoy many different types of activities, including reading, singing, watching movies—particularly musicals, going to musical performances, attending basketball games, getting together with friends, ballroom dancing, and ice skating.