Steven Bartlett’s Post

I’m not sure you can ever unlearn - what we have learnt in the past and our thoughts, feelings and behaviours we experience as a result of the learning, is always with us - we can’t erase it. Our past learning is often the catalyst for change (after awareness and a conscious choice to change of course). Then new learning come if we chose to do the deeper work. It’s more complex and nauanced than unlearning but psychology and neuroscience shows us we can learn from the past.

I attest that society champions children to try, fall and keep going yet as you say so well the less risks you take as an adult to keep you safe is also the path most take. That’s why personal development is crucial to take accountability to unlearn certain conditioning and thought patterns. It’s never too late and it’s so important to keep being curious and always a student in life.

I think it also depends on your education and your experiences growing up - some people suffer a far more rigid/inflexible upbringing than others. If your ideas get ridiculed you learn to be careful who & when you share them … that forms part of your safety & survival mode which is very hard (although not impossible) to overcome. But first step is to recognise you need to!

Personally I see it more as a spiral. What you are taught in school gives a base/structure from which to test and build your ideas. And this happens in schools too as best practice changes. Any good teacher recognises that in any subject there are 30 ways to do something - just look at children’s art or ask them to explain how they solved a maths problem. But to teach 30 different ways to solve a problem is tricky and so one method is chosen which will hopefully give them a start as adult to build a good healthy life.

You can only learn from mistakes and anticipating reasonably foreseeable failure modes and designing suitable countermeasures

Our schooling system is obsolete. It doesn’t teach us creative thinking or how to develop our EQ, but rather rote memorization and conformity. People who don’t conform, drop out. When we get to College, we are once again forced to memorise theories and formulas. We are assessed and fitted into a ‘bell curve’. No university course teaches us Emotional Intelligence and the soft skills we’ll need to succeed in a complex and uncertain world. Maybe now that A.I is going mainstream schools & universities will re-think their curriculum & teaching methods, and incorporate relevant material for the benefit of future generations. One can only hope.

Having spent 15 years in education, I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is to embrace unlearning as we transition into adulthood. While the structured environment of schools teaches obedience and conformity, it’s essential to recognize that true growth happens when we challenge those norms. Now, as I embark on a new journey in real estate, I appreciate the value of taking risks and stepping outside my comfort zone. It’s about redefining success on our own terms, embracing creativity, and cultivating a mindset that prioritizes learning over compliance.

Here's something for you to learn. The new screw caps on your Huel Product are the last straw. It's bad enough having to buy health products distributed in plastic containers but the convenience of not losing your screw cap compared to the inconvenience of spilling drink over yourself whilst the cap tickles your nose or, worse still, the cut you get on your face from the plastic debris when you forcibly detach the screw cap from the rest of the container completely ruins the experience of drinking your product. If the aim of these screw tops that have started appearing everywhere from bottled water to milk products was to encourage people to boycott products distributed in plastic, they could not be doing a better job. Tell your marketing team to remember the meaning of your communication is the response you get.

To truly grow, we must “empty our cup” by letting go of old beliefs and embracing new knowledge, creating space for continuous personal and professional development. 🌟

For sure un-learning is a key skill we must embrace...its so easy for us to get locked into 'how' we should be / meant to be....where the truth is we are the masters of our own destiny! Once you take control of your ship....you can choose to sail it wherever you want it to go....sure you will encounter rough weather at times....but hey....as the saying goes, 'a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor' 😀 👊 take command, cast of the lines and go create your incredible life! 👊 ❤️ 🚀