Meta-learning: learning about learning, to learn better

Entrepreneurship, Startup founding and investing in Startups is the best way to inject yourself with a steroid for meta-learning and self discovery. If you want to learn about yourself then you should definitely become an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship and Startup Founding is a truth game. It shows what you are made of with all the warts and all. I am constantly asked why I continue to work on all the things that are related to Startups, Founding, Entrepreneurship and building a sustainable startup community in Iceland. I have not found a better Meta-Learning process of self-realization than the journey of building companies, investing in startups and creating value.

What is meta learning?

Meta learning is an awareness and understanding of the phenomenon of learning itself as opposed to subject knowledge. There is a whole study of Meta Learning (for example, you can check out the references on wikipedia).

I believe books are the ultimate tools of learning. You can literally understand and learn about anything as long as you have an open mind and some critical thinking. I want to talk about one book in particular, and how it helped me to learn better and ultimately grow as a person.

Breaking down the learning process

I got into Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge to do my Masters in Economics. I had always known, since I was 12 years old that I would do my graduate study in America. When I was about to leave for the U.S, a relative was very thoughtful and gave me a small cooking booklet that she wrote for me. I mean, it was brilliant: she had basically broken it down to make the base sauces for literally every dish and how to add layers to make each dish taste different.

I used the book without realizing that it was actually meta learning – uderstanding how to cook by breaking down the process to the bare necessities and then describing the process. I was a hero in my apartment for my first two weeks in the US, since my roommates so enjoyed my cooking.

I was, however, not particularly interested in cooking, so I pulled a Tom Sawyer on them. I cooked for 2 weeks and after that I did not cook for the rest of the 3 years I was in school. They all got so interested in cooking that I never had to cook. It was brilliant.

I believe what is true for startups is also true for everyone of us. Startups=Growth, if you are not growing then you are dying. All of us have to face death but I am more interested in learning and experiencing life. Life is short, so are you learning and growing?

This blog was originally posted on Startup Iceland.