The process of adopting lifelong learning is more than just going through the levels of formal education. For example, elementary school, high school, and tertiary school. It’s a practice that requires dedicating time for continued learning till you’re too old to go on.
For example, we know that Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk are billionaires. However, do you know one principle they all live by? It’s none other than life-long learning. Bill Gates, for instance, has read countless books. He still continues to read and even suggests titles on his personal blog.
Elon Musk is also a dedicated reader who consumed as many as 60 books every month as a teenager. He still continues to read widely on various subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Rocket Science, Physics, and so on. The benefits of this lifestyle are seen in his milestone achievements in various fields of science and technology.
Warren Buffet spends most of his work time reading books, newspapers, business reports, and other materials. You would think he should be using much of that time to work, but he prefers to read instead. That’s a great commitment to continued learning for you.
Lifelong Learning Definition
Now let’s understand the main concept of our lifelong learning essay better by giving a lifelong learning definition. This will come before discussing the importance of lifelong learning.
Lifelong Learning Definition: Life-long learning is an ongoing deliberate process that involves the endless search for knowledge throughout one’s lifetime. It can be for personal or professional development.
For example, you could be a regular reader of books or novels on various subjects and genres respectively. Your aim could be to read as widely as possible in order to improve your vocabulary, grammar, general knowledge, creativity, and so on. These objectives can fall under acquisition of new knowledge, skill development, and self-taught study as examples of continued learning.
What does it mean to be a lifelong learner?
The above question is crucial in trying to answer this other question: Why is it important to be a lifelong learner? Being a life-long learner involves the creation and maintenance of a positive attitude towards the ongoing acquisition of knowledge and skills for a lifetime. Whatever that’s acquired will be beneficial to one’s personal life and career.
Why Is It Important to Be a Lifelong Learner?
In a study, more than 85% of employees stated that it was necessary for employers to provide learning opportunities in the workplace. That high percentage should make you understand that most people know the importance of lifelong learning. Now let’s take a look at 6 points that will convince you.
- The Need to Acquire New Knowledge
- The Need to Develop New Skills
- Research Purposes
- To Learn about History and Culture
- To Add to Your Professional Qualifications
- For Continuous Relevance in the Workplace
1. The Need to Acquire New Knowledge
Being a philosopher can be your thing—just wanting to learn as much as you can about the world we live in. You could be focused on a particular area of life or field of study. You could read as many books as you can for this. Aim to do so for as long as you live, provided the biological changes or medical conditions that come with old age don’t hinder you from learning. The knowledge you gain can always be passed on.
2. The Need to Develop New Skills
It’s always a good idea to learn new skills from a young age till one gets too old to continue. The skills you acquire should be in line with your passion, hobbies, or job description—so that they’ll always prove to be useful. It’s no use learning skills that will most likely never be relevant in any area of life. For example, skills like graphic designing can be helpful in the workplace or at home.
3. Research Purposes
Research… This is a very good reason when thinking of adopting lifelong learning. You can conduct research on your own in order to solve various problems. Your work may yield groundbreaking results that may impact the world in ways you never imagined it could.
4. To Learn about History and Culture
Gaining knowledge about your ancestry and the culture of your people could be your goal. People tend to become interested in tracing their roots at certain points in their lives.
5. To Add to Your Professional Qualifications
The more your professional qualifications, the higher your chances of getting a job in a competitive market. The importance of lifelong learning to one’s career can’t be overemphasized.
6. For Continuous Relevance in the Workplace
We mentioned skill acquisition earlier… It’s advisable to seek to expand your skillset regularly as an employee in an organization. That’s the way to stay relevant to your employer in an ever-changing business world with factors like constant technological advancement. Opportunities for promotion may also be partially dependent on your skillset.
Benefits of Lifelong Learning
We’ve discussed the importance of lifelong learning… Now let’s see the benefits that may await you when you decide to make it a principle you live by. We’ve listed and explained 6 possible benefits below.
- Renewal of Motivation
- Boost in Intelligence and Creativity
- Self-Discovery
- Increase in Employability and Skill Set
- Improvement in Social awareness and Critical Thinking Skills
1. Renewal of Motivation
You’ll find constant inspiration as you learn new things. This is necessary for those who wish to escape from the monotony of their lives. The acquisition of new knowledge and skills will open doors to new opportunities.
2. Boost in Intelligence and Creativity
This is obvious, of course. Learning new things every day can transform your mind into a bank of ideas. You’ll also be knowledgeable about the subjects you read on—making you a great decision-maker, manager, conversationalist, and so on.
3. Self-Discovery
Self-discovery involves having self-confidence and recognizing your personal interests. As you discover yourself, you’ll also be able to know your passion and see how you can start working on it. Adopting lifelong learning will help you achieve peace of mind and overall wellness.
4. Increase in Skill Set and Employability
This is obvious and self-explanatory. We’ve discussed something similar earlier. You’ll have a higher chance of getting employed due to what you can bring to the table—your knowledge, qualifications, and skills.
5. Improvement in Social awareness and Critical Thinking Skills
Most people become life-long learners because of this particular reason only. It’s alright as long as you’re acquiring knowledge that will make you become a better member of society. Critical thinking skills are also relevant in every area of life, especially your career.
How to Become a Lifelong Learner
You need to make some adjustments in your life in this quest. This will span various attitudinal changes. The following tips will help you in adopting lifelong learning skills:
- Be Progressive
- Take Charge of Your Life
- Start Finding Your Life’s Purpose
- Try to Aim Higher than Your Expectations
- Transform Yourself into an Invaluable Person
1. Be Progressive
You have to change any negative mindset you have about your life for the better. Having a positive attitude will make you growth-oriented. This will keep you motivated to learn new things regularly.
2. Take Charge of Your Life
This should have been the first tip. Taking charge of your life means refusing to let the system, society, circumstances, and so on stop you from following your passion. It’s no use blaming those factors for the delays and struggles you’re experiencing. Rather, look for ways to overcome them. You’ll be driven to learn as you take charge of your life.
3. Start Finding Your Life’s Purpose
You need to discover your passion on time and use it to steer yourself towards the direction of fulfilling your life’s purpose. In finding and attaining your life’s purpose, lifelong learning is inevitable. You may have to quit your job or business in order to follow this path.
4. Try to Aim Higher than Your Expectations
Contentment with your knowledge, skillset, and achievements can be a limitation. Think of what else you can learn and new goals you can set at each stage of your life. This way, you’ll always set yourself up with more reasons to keep learning.
5. Transform Yourself into an Invaluable Person
There’s always that one person that seems indispensable in an organization due to the individual’s unique knowledge and skill set. You should strive to be that person and more—one who causes a great transformation with his or her ideas.
Watch this YouTube video to learn more about adopting lifelong learning:
Best Ways of Adopting Lifelong Learning
Use the Teachable.com courses suggested in this lifelong learning essay to start your new lifestyle. Firstly, we’ll describe the mindset that you need to have in the process of adopting lifelong learning practices. See the points below.
- Be curious when you see an opportunity to acquire new knowledge.
- Be determined to acquire more knowledge and skills regularly.
- Have an open mind to new knowledge and use critical thinking to create balance.
- Be ready to go through the cycle of learning, unlearning, and re-learning.
- Maintain a positive attitude towards each subject you want to learn about.
- Be growth-oriented by embracing new challenges, believing in hard work, daring to face obstacles, accepting constructive criticism, and seeking room for improvement.
Away from the talk about a life-long learner’s mindset, let’s take a look at few courses that you can start with on your quest…
Description: If you’re looking for an online class to EMPOWER and ENRICH your life and career, you’re in the right place!
Description: Students will be able to easily converse in a new language in 7 days.
Description: courses on distance learning and other support materials
Habits of a Lifelong Learner
The following are important habits that you could adopt as part of your new lifestyle:
- Be a bookworm. Read every day and widely, but with objectives in mind. Thankfully, e-books will make this easier.
- Take courses like the ones suggested earlier. There are many things you can learn about various fields of study and many areas of life. Once you’re done with one course, move to the next. This shouldn’t be limited to online courses, of course.
- Seek opportunities actively. You should always try to discover relevant things that you can learn to improve your personal life and career.
- Engage in wellness programs to better your physical and spiritual wellbeing.
- Set goals and objectives regularly
- Find new challenges to conquer
FAQs
This has been explained earlier under “Lifelong Learning Definition”. Scroll up to see it.
Based on the importance of lifelong learning and the benefits discussed earlier, it’s clear that continued learning is necessary for one’s personal life and career.
You can improve learning by making the attitudinal and mindset changes described earlier in this guide.
You could describe yourself as a lifelong learner if you do a combination of the following:
– Regular reading
– Take courses
– Seek opportunities actively
– Try to discover yourself
– Engage in wellness programs
– Set goals and objectives regularly
Some of the core characteristics of life-long learners are given below.
– Motivated
– Dedicated
– Positive
Yes, continued learning is a skill. It’s a broad skill that involves skills like critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, communication skills, and more.
Conclusion
The lifelong learning definition, answers to FAQs, and the various points given on the importance of lifelong learning should be enough for you to understand the main concept in our lifelong learning essay. You could try to match the reading culture of famous people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk or you could have a unique timetable!
2 responses to “How to Become a Lifelong Learner – The Importance & Habits”