Walking the Walk on Learning

Learning new things is important to me. Always has been. I’m building my next phase of life around it, I've named my practice Old Dog Learning, and I'm designing the services I offer, e.g., Professional Learning Partnerships, to reflect that.

Learning also permeates the work we’ll be doing together, as these entries from the 100 + Life Manifesto show:

# 3. “Learning = Growth = Life” — Dr. Lee Thayer

# 4. Learn from your elders. Learn from your youngers. Nurture great relationships with both.

# 13. Regularly work on learning something you find hard.

# 14. Connect the dots! Incorporate your new learning into past lessons.

# 15. Seize opportunities to teach what you’ve learned and share the connections you’ve made.

So, if I’m encouraging you to invest your time, energy, and sometimes your money in learning, I thought I should give you a taste of how I’ve been approaching learning just in the past couple of years since “retiring” from the BlogPaws business Yvonne and I co-founded.

Here’s a sampling from the formal courses I’ve completed, nonfiction books I’ve read, and informational videos I’ve watched:

Online Course Certificates:

Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn, by Deep Teaching Solutions on Coursera. Instructors: Dr. Barbara Oakley, Beth Rogowsky, & Terrence Sejnowski. Certificate earned on August 27, 2021.

Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects, by University of California, San Diego on Coursera. Instructors: Dr. Barbara Oakley, Dr. Terrence Sejnowski & Linda Walker. Certificate earned on October 13, 2017.

Specialization in Positive Psychology (5 course sequence), by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera. Instructors: Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D, James Pawelski, Ph.D, Claire Robertson-Kraft, Ph.D, Angela Duckworth, Ph.D, and Karen Reivich, Ph.D.
Specialization Certificate earned on January 20, 2018.

Positive Psychology (Course 1): Martin E. P. Seligman’s Visionary Science, by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera.
Instructor: Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.
Certificate earned on November 23, 2017.

Positive Psychology (Course 2): Applications and Interventions, by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera.
Instructor: James Pawelski, Ph.D.
Certificate earned on December 16, 2017.

Positive Psychology (Course 3): Character, Grit and Research Methods, by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera.
Instructors: Claire Robertson-Kraft, Ph.D. & Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.
Certificate earned on December 27, 2017.

Positive Psychology (Course 4): Resilience Skills, by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera.
Instructor: Karen Reivich, Ph.D.
Certificate earned on January 11, 2018.

Positive Psychology (Course 5): Specialization Project - Design Your Life for Well-being, by University of Pennsylvania on Coursera.
Instructor: Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.
Certificate earned on January 18, 2018.

Books:

I’m going to break the book listing into categories around my PIERS Whole-Self Model for designing a meaningful, fulfilling life (yes, another shameless plug for my 5 Steps to Forever Young course!).

This is just a quick sampling of my recent years' reading, as of mid-2020. Have I mentioned how much Yvonne and I LOVE books? In the Books section, you can see more of what we've written, published, and gain access to many more books we recommend.

Physical Health – This includes your brain!

Footnotes: How Running Makes Us Human, by Vybarr Cregan-Reid (2017)

Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better, by Wendy Suzuki, Ph.D. (2016)

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, by Stuart Brown, M.D. (2010)

The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease, by Daniel Lieberman (2014)

Intellectual Growth – This category pulls in your Work, although for most of us work spills over into other categories, too.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein (2019)

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, by Barbara Oakley, Ph. D (2017)

Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New Paths, by Timothy Butler, Ph. D (2007)

It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond, by Julia Cameron and Emma Lively (2016)

A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman (2015)

The Person and the Situation, by Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett (2d ed. 2011)

Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, by Herminia Ibarra (2003)

The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior and Lead to Succeed, by Mark Divine and Ally Machate (Rev. ed. 2018)

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brene Brown (2012)

Creativity: the psychology of discovery and invention, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996)

Emotional Well-Being – Again, there’s going to be overlaps with other categories — but that’s inherent in the “whole-self” concept.

Life, incorporated: A Practical Guide to Wholehearted Living, by Halley Bock (2017)

Before Happiness: the 5 hidden keys to achieving success, spreading happiness, and sustaining positive change, by Shawn Achor (2013)

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, by Jonathan Haidt (2006)

Relationships – From your significant other, to family, to teams at work, to your community, to all humanity, to all . . .

Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection, by Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D (2013)

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, by Brene Brown (2017)

Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking with People Who Think Differently, by Dawna Markova, Ph.D and Angie McArthur (2015)

Co-Create: How Your Business Will Profit from Innovative and Strategic Collaboration, by David Nour (2017)

Strong Relationships, Strong Families, by National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families (2013)

Spiritual – Like the Dalai Lama, I’d describe my spirituality as non-theistic; but I recognize the importance of serving something bigger than myself and believe that’s a key to happiness (my own and others’), so I look forward to learning about yours!

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu (2016)

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert (10th-Anniversary ed. 2016)