Why I learn for fun :)

Learning is hard. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. This post is more of a reminder to myself about why challenging yourself is important.

Learning a new language

I’m learning Portuguese. My working vocabulary is ~300 words. I started learning Portuguese over a year ago in my free time between college, a job, and side-projects.

I know I probably won’t be fluent anytime soon at this rate, but I hear I can do well at around 2k of the most common words. The point isn’t for me to become fluent. The point is for me to learn to learn even faster.

Most of the time, the answer is to put more time towards it. There isn’t a way around hard work, if you want to see results anytime soon.

Anecdotes

Some people ask me why I “work more than I have to”. And the answer is that I enjoy it. I didn’t always, and not at first, but what I’ve done is find ways to thoroughly enjoy doing what I do. The fun isn’t in the work itself, it’s how you feel about yourself afterwards that’s important.

Rational I’ve heard goes like this. Who’s going to win: The person who works when they have to, or the guy who does it for fun? It’s not a hard rule, but generally the latter wins.

Takeaways

The best skill I have is being able to look past the difficulties of learning and fully appreciate the other feelings that come with it.

Like everything, this too needs a balance. Some things are better not learned, some partially learned, and others fully learned. The important thing is to learn to know the difference. More of the time a broader picture is better, not deeper.