---
title: My father's tactic to be a life-long inventor
 
description: >
  Some months ago, my father, a 60-year-old guy, started to learn the python programming language, bought some Arduino boards, and repurposed an old CNC machine into a 3d printer.

template: post
output: atomic-essays/my-father-s-tactic-to-be-a-life-long-inventor.html
date: "2021-07-22"
tags:
  - atomic-essays
---

<p>Some months ago, my father, a 60-year-old man, started to learn python programming language, bought some Arduino boards, and repurposed an old CNC machine into a 3D printer.</p>

<p>Some of my oldest memories with my father are the ones when he was showing me how to make something. <mark>His "show, don't tell" approach helped me discover my creative side when I was a kid.</mark> He taught me how to create projects and prototypes without saying these words.</p>

<p><mark>He's a life-long inventor. Although he has ideas and builds things with them all the time, he usually doesn't sit just to have ideas. I think his tactic is being a life-long learner first.</mark></p>

<p>Because he is always learning something new, he’s always looking at daily situations and ordinary objects with fresh perspectives, which helps create unexpected connections among them. Because he always has learnings and perspectives to share, family and friends talk to him when they need creative solutions.</p>

<p><strong>That creates a virtuous cycle:</strong></p>
<ul>
  <li>By learning, he acquires new perspectives and skills;</li>
  <li>Because of that, he always has something interesting to share;</li>
  <li>Because he shares what he’s learning and making, people bring him creative challenges (AKA problems);</li>
  <li>These challenges create the opportunity to invent new things, which helps him apply his skills and discover what to learn or improve next.</li>
</ul>