One of the main aspects of my 40×40 list, my Kettle List, this website and indeed my entire life plan is my passion for life long learning.
A number of the items on my list involve some aspect of continuous learning, whether it be learning to drive, gaining a degree, developing craft skills or mastering a new language.
It may be many years since you were at school, but that does not mean you have to stop learning.
Every day is a school day when you are willing to be taught new skills. As long as we are able to accept that no matter how old you are, there are always things we have yet to learn.
By striving for more, you will develop resilience
Failure is the best teacher. In the same way that a child who is never told no is unable to develop boundaries, if we never fail we are never made to pick ourselves up and try again.
That experience is a lesson all of its own. When we are forced to rethink our ideas and consider new ones we develop resilience.
Learning is good for your mental health
Learning can come in many forms; you can develop skills you already have, or learn new ones you had perhaps never considered before.
There are a number of studies that confirm that programmes of education are a great way of reducing mild to moderate anxiety and depression, particularly if you opt to learn within your community.
What you learn is never wasted
It is often said that you only regret the things you never do.
There are so many skills that take relatively little in terms of initial cost or time to start, that can potentially go on to become an important part of your life.
Time that you have spend learning something new is never wasted; even if you never get to use a second language, or your ability to juggle, it is something no one can take from you.
It helps you develop a sense of purpose
Research has proven that life long learning and expanding your knowledge is likely to increase your feeling of hope; it can give you a purpose.
We can increase our feeling of well being by setting and achieving goals, and this is an important aspect of learning any kind of skill.
Once we have achieved a certain level within our field of study – be that a sport, a craft skill or an academic one – we often want to stretch ourselves and strive for more.
This sense of wanting to progress can give us a purpose.
Learning opportunities are everywhere
Life long learning doesn’t have to mean signing up for a course or paying for lessons. Every day is a school day. Each day we are afforded opportunities to learn from everyone around us.
Sometimes we learn how not to behave. Sometimes we find out a more efficient way of carrying out a task we have been doing for years.
All we need to do is keep our eyes open to the potential learning opportunities that are all around us.
Having said that, I am a sucker for online courses, and I am currently working my way through several. I’ll let you know how my ‘Certificate in Life Coaching goes…
You learn to focus your time on what is important
Often we take on too much; there are so many calls on our time and energy. One thing I learned when I returned to studying was that I needed to be able to focus on one thing at a time.
Multitasking is a myth, you will always get much better results when you can devote time to one project at a time, and learning can help you do this.
Learning is the best use of your time
We are all given the same 24 hours each day. More or less, we are able to choose what we do with at least a few of these hours – once you take out sleep, work and ‘must-dos’.
You have a choice to spend a free hour a day watching TV or reading a book; mindlessly scrolling your Twitter feed or learning a new language. Whatever you choose to do, the time will pass. You need to decide what you want to spend that time doing.
You will never run out of things to learn
Knowledge is infinite; no one knows everything and there are always new things to be learned.
If you decide to take on the mantle of life long learning you are giving yourself a gift that keeps on giving! The sheer volume of things you can potentially learn about is inexhaustible.
You can recapture the feeling of accomplishment over and over again
Can you remember the first time you rode a bike or swam a width?
Perhaps you cherish the memory of receiving great GCSE grades or the day you graduated.
Maybe, you fondly reminisce about the day you finally achieved a personal sporting best or finally completed a particularly challenging task.
These feelings of accomplishment are wonderful but often fleeting. If we continue to learn and to develop new skills these emotions can become recurring feelings as we are able to emulate them each time we achieve new goals and complete new challenges.
I am currently on my own life-long learning journey. You can read about my ‘mature student’ experience here. Also, check out the menu header called ‘The Things I Want To Learn’.
Over to you
What would you like to learn? How will you go about it? Why not start investigating it today?
Let us know in the comments about any skills you would like to develop – maybe we can locate some online courses or make some suggestions for you.