Finding Your Element
Ken Robinson
Notable Ideas in the Book
In his book, Ken Robinson says that
everyone is unique in their own way and we should appreciate this uniqueness.
Everyone is different and special in
their own way, but it is not only our thoughts but also you biological
configuration and surrounding environment.
Throughout human evolution, billions of genetic
permutations have produced billions of different humans. What makes us unique
is our genetic make-up, which is ours alone and which we don’t share with
anyone else. We all are biologically unique.
A second factor which makes us unique is the environment we grow up in. Our environments (school, locality, groups, etc.) shape us tremendously, and only we have experienced the exact environment at an exact time which will never influence another person in the same way again.
Our life is unique, both socially and biologically. Our exact experience has never existed in human history, and will not exist again.
Forget long-term plans and accept the
unpredictability of life.
Society often encourages us to follow a certain path. We’re supposed to do everything by a certain age. This may work for some, but not for everyone.
We often start planning at a very young age.
Teenagers are expected to study a specified course and base their careers of
this. We commit to society’s plan from a very young.
Life is unexpected and planning from such a young age obviously doesn’t leave much time for these unexpected encounters. People fear unpredictability but what they should learn is to use it to their advantage.
When we start to accept that there are certain things which we can't predict or control, we'll start discovering new opportunities. As author puts it, In short, don't be afraid of the unknown, because everything is unknown.
We all have skills and abilities we are not aware
of, we should give ourselves opportunities to discover these hidden talents.
Human intelligence is extremely vast, and every one of us is born with aptitude
for different skills which may not know about – this is part of what makes each
of us unique.
Many times we don’t have enough avenues to find out
our aptitude or uncover it. And our environment plays a very crucial role in
this uncovering of aptitude. Our culture dictates our preferences and sometimes
we can’t find our correct aptitude due to this.
We need opportunities to discover our aptitudes, so
we should accordingly try to create as many new opportunities for ourselves as
possible.
Pushing ourselves out of your comfort zone,
learning subjects we’re curious about, meeting new people, travel, all these
can help us discover out hidden potential. More we expose ourselves to new
opportunities, the more we are likely to encounter new opportunities.
Institutional education often discourages us, but
don't assume you're bad at something just because you got poor grades in some
subject.
For most people the best way to determine someone's
intelligence is the IQ test. But this standardized test only measures one kind
of human intelligence, logical reasoning. There are many other ways to be
intelligent that most schools ignore.
Schools offer only a few learning styles. Schools
focus learning through texts, but some people learn better in more abstract
ways, such as through visual imagery. Schools also discourage children from
exploring challenging aspects by punishing their mistakes which results in
trying to avoid mistakes altogether. And as we grow up, we continue to avoid
mistakes, which only reduce our creativity.
Many things can hold us back from realizing our
true potential. Mostly our environment prevents it, but sometimes we limit
ourselves with our own attitude.
Firstly, you may have a pessimistic attitude about your abilities. This feeling is often fostered by society.
We are often encouraged to have a pessimistic
attitude about developing our abilities. A key determinant to your thinking is
whether you have a fixed mindset (which makes us believe our abilities are
inborn and can’t be improved) or a growth mindset (which is the belief that we
can improve our abilities).
To understand ourselves better, we often take personality assessment tests. They can never definitively describe your personality, but they can provide you with some new ideas to reorient yourself and your goals.
Having passion is an essential part of being human, and everybody is passionate about something. If you don’t have any passions, it is probably because you haven’t found them yet.
A person’s perception of time when they are doing
something they are passionate about.
The positive mental feeling we get when we're immersed in your passions affects your physical well-being too. Experiencing positive emotions reduce stress, reduce chronic pain and addictions, and it also improve sleep and concentration, etc.
Forget established preconceptions about happiness
and find out what it means to you.
Many would agree that happiness is very personal.
Despite this seemingly obvious fact, we are often dictated by society as to
what happiness is and how to pursue it.
We’re constantly told that happiness is dependent on making more money. This isn’t true. Money can’t bring fulfilment
It's also not always viable to turn your passions and talents into your profession. Instead, learning how to adjust your schedule to still allow time for them is a much better choice.
It's common to see people seek happiness through
short-term satisfactions. Long-term satisfaction is much more meaningful.
Instead of running behind, one should try to invest in more meaningful long-term
projects.
For many people, their greatest happiness comes
from helping others. Volunteering doesn't just benefit others – it may help you
find a deeper kind of happiness too.
Your passions are your own, but it’s often very beneficial to pursue them with other people. Finding people who share your passions can lead to new opportunities to fulfil your goals. Sometimes working with others is not only beneficial, it’s necessary. Some goals are difficult to achieve alone. Finding a correct group won’t only benefit you but society as a whole.
Ruchika Verma
I hope you appreciated the summary of the main
ideas in the book. In case you wish to read the amazing book you can purchase
it from Amazon
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