The Wisdom of Unlearning: Why Smart People Challenge Their Best Thinking Habits Make unlearning and relearning a life-long habit Meaningful and progressive change requires an open mind — the ability to challenge our assumptions and even our best thinking models. And when you are open to relearning, you are willing to reconsider what you’ve always believed to be true when you come across new or improved knowledge. The modern world of work demands an agile mind. We often have to unlearn conventional wisdom to embrace new knowledge, tools and ideas to make real progress. Even when we want personal change to become better versions of ourselves, we have to be willing to let go of old patterns and behaviours. “Unlearning is the process through which we break down the origins of our thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, feelings, and biases,” writes Mariana Plata of Psychology Today. In our rapidly evolving world, the wisdom of unlearning and embracing new thought patterns, habits, and perceptions is even more relevant than ever before. “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn,” Futurist Alvin Toffler once said. Many people hold on to the same mindset and habits for far too long. Sometimes when the same perspective or thought pattern is helpful, it’s still essential to reconsider their usefulness for the life you want in the future. To take an important step in the direction of your dreams, it pays to seek practical, intelligent and new approaches to solve old problems. Make unlearning and relearning a life-long habit “When any real progress is made, we unlearn and learn anew what we thought we knew before.” — Henry David Thoreau Unlearning and relearning is one of the best ways to move quickly, save time, do more great work and accelerate your growth. You could reassess your mental models twice a year. Ask yourself: where do my current beliefs about life and work come from, and do they still serve me today? Will my assumptions support my future self? Will my current skills support the person I want to become? Do my everyday habits and process of making a decision make me a better person? Are my problem-solving approaches still relevant today? Until you embrace a growth mindset, you will likely rely on the same outdated conventional rules of life and work. Unlearning can open up so many opportunities you didn’t notice before. Relearning can help you discover and use new perspectives in life. “The most important lessons lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn.” Jim Collins said. The rapidly-changing world around us demands that we cultivate our curiosities to move in a better lane, make rational judgments, learn better ways to do the same things. That’s how you can adapt, improve mental resilience and build the capacity to react to the many changes in almost all areas of life. The ability to unlearn and relearn will also equip you to create the outcomes, outputs, and results you want. Richard Rohr was right. “Transformation is often more about unlearning than learning.” Bright and ultra-successful people are always looking for opportunities to disrupt themselves, step outside their comfort bubbles. They deliberately challenge their existing mindsets to become better versions of themselves. They are not afraid to experiment, test their assumptions and iterate their attitudes and behaviours to accelerate their progress. Unlearning can help you understand yourself better, write your own life and work principles and rewrite your thinking models. It can also help you change your beliefs about money and investing, making money and rewrite the stories you tell yourself about who you are. “The mind is slow to unlearn what it learnt early,” Seneca said. So, make it a deliberate process. Invest quality time to relearn better ways to live your best life. The practice of acquiring new or better knowledge is not an end in itself but a process. Make it a habit to demand more of yourself every day.