The Learning Model of a Budding Mind.

Jia Yu - testament to the power of an inquisitive mind and self-awareness in shaping one’s growth.

Over dinner with Lee Jia Yu, a bright young lady, I witnessed a very interesting approach to learning - a model unique to Jia Yu.

Young Lady didn’t come armed with personal dilemmas or problems to dissect.

Instead, she turned the spotlight on me with a cascade of thought-provoking questions:

❓ Why did you choose to become a coach?
❓ What was life like for you at my age?
❓ What did you study in university? Did you make good use of it? (Spoiler: I said no.) Why not? Did you see that as a loss (of time, of effort)?
⁉️ Etc etc.

The questions kept coming, seemingly random yet profoundly intentional.

As I responded to each question, I noticed something interesting:

Jia Yu would pause, retreat into a space of quiet reflection, and seemingly map my experiences onto her own. I saw in her expression a flurry of thoughts - drawing parallels, extracting insights, and distilling takeaways for her journey ahead. (Gotcha, Jia Yu! 😜 )

Learning at its finest, I call this.

It’s not always about unloading troubles or seeking solutions.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕.

Wouldn’t you agree that some of the greatest lessons often come from simply being inquisitive, actively listening, questioning, and reflecting? 😊

Jia Yu embodies this beautifully - a testament to the power of an inquisitive mind and self-awareness in shaping one’s growth.

And so I’d say it’s always enlightening to spend time with budding minds!