Learning isn’t something that you stop doing when the school doors swing shut behind you. It’s a powerful skill that smart people harness and make use of throughout their lives. What is lifelong learning good for? As Valamis reports, there are several benefits. Learning a new skill helps you polish other personal and professional skills. It also reduces boredom and opens the door to the discovery of new outlets and new interests. This push into novel territory can help renew our sense of motivation, freeing us from the rut of routine. At the same time, gaining new skills helps build our confidence so that we can face our next challenge with greater poise and assurance.
What Is Lifelong Learning?
What’s in a name? In the case of a concept like lifelong learning, the meaning is spelled out in its name. The basic idea is that learning should be an ongoing process that continues throughout a person’s lifetime. For some people, this seems perfectly natural. After all, it’s a big world, and things are continually evolving, so there’s always something new to discover and explore. According to Lifehack, lifelong learners share certain habits:
Lifelong Learners Read Regularly
Reading makes it easy to explore new ideas, cultures, viewpoints, and philosophies. It puts information on anything and everything at your fingertips and allows you to train your mind to weigh the pros and cons and consider multiple angles before moving forward. Lifelong learners know that if you want to learn how to think outside the box, you should pick up a book – or two, or three . . .
Lifelong Learners Look for Opportunities to Learn
Formal education programs are valuable resources, but they are far from your only option. Lifelong learners look for learning opportunities. Whether it’s a book club, online courses, programs offered by a local community college or art gallery, or shows airing on public television, they’ll find places to stretch their intellectual wings and let their minds soar.
Lifelong Learners Like Reaching Goals
Marking milestones brings a sense of achievement, so lifelong learners often make it a point to set goals. These goals may be a series of small or large targets. Here, size doesn’t matter. What is important is that the challenge provides a sense of motivation that keeps you engaged and striving to learn more so that you can reach your target. Achieving the goal and setting new ones provides a sense of propulsion that drives your continuing education.
Lifelong Learners Are Curious About Many Things
A lifelong learner may fixate on the intricacies of jewelry making for a while. Then, the way luminescence is used in the animal kingdom may capture their imagination. The next time that you speak to them, they may be teaching themselves a bit of Norwegian to learn more about their family history. A few months later, they may be exploring crochet, delving into the history of the catapult, or taking classes in tai chi. Curiosity is a driving force for lifelong learners, and it sends them down many fascinating, varied avenues.
Lifelong Learners Welcome Change
What is lifelong learning without change? It’s impossible to embrace new ideas, new patterns, and new behaviors without welcoming change. Lifelong learners may find comfort in the familiar, but they also welcome innovation. They aren’t afraid to switch things up and try a new approach.
Lifelong Learners Worry About Wellness
Lifelong learners often have a sense of a connection between the mind and body. Nourishing the mind comes naturally to them, so they make an effort to care for the body. They may not be athletic, but many lifelong learners do try to be active, eat right, and take good care of their physical, mental, and emotional health.
Lifelong Learners Believe It’s Never Too Late
In the eyes of lifelong learners, age shouldn’t stand in the way of invention. As far as they’re concerned, you’re never too old to learn something new, launch a new venture, or start a new hobby, so why hesitate? They believe that it’s never too late, and that people of all ages should take the chance to step outside of their comfort zones and into the adventure that captures their imagination.
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Anyone can become a lifelong learner. Identify some free time in your schedule, and let your curiosity take the reins.
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