Learning is the simplest function that can be carried out by the human brain in terms of input. The early signs of the brain starting to learn new things can be traced back to the time when an individual is born. At age 5, you start to acquire information and knowledge from various sources. BY the age of six, your parents enroll you in a school where the input of knowledge keeps coming in until the age of 18. That’s the average time period taken by an individual to finish schooling. This journey of acquiring knowledge continues until you are 22 when you finish college.
But education isn’t all about learning from the knowledge that the school or college has to offer. There are numerous ways to garner skills and knowledge. And for this, there should be a desire within you to learn more and more. Needless to say, an unshakable desire to learn is the reason behind the success of the notable present-day entrepreneurs.
World-renowned business magnate, speaker, investor and philanthropist of American origin, Warren Buffet dedicates a minimum of four to five hours on a daily basis in order to read six newspapers and multiple corporate reports. Bill Gates claims to read on an average, 50 books per year. Elon Musk in one of the interviews revealed that he is a self-taught engineer.
This brings us face to face with the unadorned truth that almost all the successful people in this world are dedicated to lifelong learning. They apprehend the fact that it’s mandatory for them to deepen their knowledge in order to keep growing.
In short, lifelong learning will infuse the following qualities into your life:
- It widens your horizons
- It helps you re-discover and understand yourself in a better way
- It helps you unfold your hidden natural talents
- It will make you more adaptable in nature
- It will definitely make your life purposeful
But fostering the appetency to learn is not at all an easy task. This is because learning doesn’t happen in a moment’s time and at the same time; it is not just limited to only a certain domain.
So, we will be taking you through the following smart steps which will help you make lifelong learning a daily habit:
- Determining your passion and the desired outcome.
- Setting up your goals in line with your objectives.
- Making use of multiple earning mediums.
- Incorporating learning into your daily schedule
- Enjoying the company of passionate learners.
1). Determining your passion and the desired outcome
Having a deep desire to learn is a really wonderful thing. But in order to channelize this passion into a lifelong habit, it’s mandatory that you have clarity about your point of focus. You should always identify what you would like to learn and the relevant outcome of your learning.
Before starting the intricate process of grasping knowledge, you should be asking yourself the purpose of your learning: What is it for? What is the thing that tops in your priority list? Is it leadership or foreign policies or any scientific progress?
Once you have determined what you would like to learn, it becomes easy for you to grasp and understand the related knowledge.
2). Setting up your goals in line with your objectives.
Once you have a proper clarity about your objectives, you will be able to easily visualize and establish a series of goals that will help you dive deeper into the subject of your interest. You can make this work by implementing any of the following methodologies:
- Joining discussion groups that focus on the issues related to the field that you are interested in learning about.
- Setting up a goal of reading a particular number of books per year.
- Inspiring others also to join your goals so that you can achieve them together
To sum it up, your desires are going to remain just desires without any goals.
3). Making use of multiple earning mediums.
We live in a digital era. And in this age, we have an abundant access to a variety of learning mediums. And you should always look forward to making optimum use of this opportunity. For example, if you are a frequent traveler, you always have the option to choose audio pod lectures. If you are more of a visual learner, you can opt for the thousands of tutorial videos available on Youtube.
Free On-line Individual Options:
- YouTube
- Ted Talks
- iTunes U
- iTunes Podcasts
You have an endless list of options available all around you. It all depends upon you that how exactly you are going to make use of these mediums in enhancing your knowledge base.
4). Incorporating learning into your daily schedule
It’s an acceptable fact that all of us are buying in various ways. And in this everyday busy schedule, it is always mandatory for you to carve out some dedicated time for learning. If you fail to do so, your daily routine tasks are bound to overshadow the learning agenda.
For example, if your work-related mail pops up in between your learning time, it might be a tempting task to look into it and attend it at the earliest. But this will certainly prove to be a short-term gain for a long-term loss
5). Enjoying the company of passionate learners.
Surrounding yourself with the company of passionate learners is an apt way to keep yourselves motivated to gain more and more knowledge. If you fail to spend enough time with a lifelong learner, the chances are more that you might end up failing to become one. This also means carefully evaluating your friends and peers to determine who is pushing you further towards accomplishing your objectives of lifelong learning.
Conclusion
As John F. Kennedy had once said: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”; the same principle can be applied for lifelong learning also.
Learning is undoubtedly imperative for growth and success. Those who perpetually learn over the pathway of their lives, tend to set themselves up for success. Those who rescind learning will always stagnate at some point in time. If you aspire to achieve success, you should always set yourself on the avenue of the lifelong learner.