How Capable Learners Stay Mentally Sharp

"Bree finished graduate school over 10 years ago. The first few years of her career were like drinking from a firehose. There was a whole new hidden curriculum to learn for professional success. Now, that phase of her life has started to fade away. She spends more time answering questions than asking them. But being a capable learner has always been part of her identity, and she wants to stay mentally sharp."

"Bree is right that seeing herself as a capable learner, and the act of ongoing learning (either formal or informal), is part of maintaining brain health, including mental health. It keeps her sense of self rooted in learning and growth. It provides self-efficacy; she can accomplish things. And it keeps her sense of self flexible; when she learns something new, it subtly changes who she is."

"Bree supervises graduate students at her workplace. These are smart, capable young people but they're also newbies who are still navigating the intense, overwhelming stage of learning Bree left behind long ago. As well as teaching them career-specific skills, Bree helps them manage their mental game, like handling their anxiety and understanding what's most important to focus on. Because she gives learning advice to others regularly, it's easier to give it to herself when she is in a learner role closer to their stage."

Bree completed graduate school over a decade ago and experienced an intense early learning period. That intensive learning phase has faded as she now answers more questions than asks them. Retaining a capable-learner identity supports brain and mental health by reinforcing learning, providing self-efficacy, and keeping identity flexible. Ongoing learning subtly changes who a person is. Supervising and teaching less-experienced colleagues lets a person practice advising on both skills and the mental aspects of learning, which in turn helps the teacher stay in a learner mindset. Expressing learning advice keeps mental messages salient and facilitates continued cognitive engagement.

Read at Psychology Today