The Oxford English Dictionary defines knowledge as (i) expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education or (ii) the awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

Simply speaking, knowledge is the assured insight of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose. Do you learn something new every day?

A human being’s quest to gain knowledge or information is insatiable. The pursuit can go beyond one’s professional training or education. A child can teach an adult something profound and easily adaptable. One good exercise to keep your brain cells active all through life is to learn something new every day. After all, if our responsibilities in life continue, so should our learning.

So, how do you learn something new every day? Here are some tips:

Read: It’s a good way to learn something new. With the advent of the Internet, you have access to infinite information on the A-Zs of practically everything under the sun. If reading online isn’t your cup of tea, choose an interesting book, encyclopedia, etc, from your local library or just devour your local newspaper. You can even learn how your favorite chips are packed.

As a child, you asked your parents infinite number of questions each day. Over the years, you lost this habit somewhere. Now, start asking questions once again. There is nothing demeaning about asking questions because it’s the starting place of learning something new, just as children do.

Learn to listen: Being a good listener will help you learn new things. Listen to what your spouse, child, colleague or boss say. Contemplate and process the information mentally for the future.

Learn to slow down: Notice your surroundings and discover new things. If you take a relaxing walk, you will learn to absorb the beauty of Nature, and perhaps learn a thing or two about new friends you make while taking walks, etc.

Watch something meaningful on a regular basis: Informative channels like Nat Geo, Discovery, Animal Planet, etc are informative in their content. Get into the habit of watching educative information to increase your and your child’s knowledge. Surely, TV will never be called the ‘idiot box’ in your home.

The appetite for learning is ravenous. To gain knowledge, one does not need formal education or training.

Do share your thoughts on the same.