Learning is primarily about achieving your full potential and helps you in reaching self-actualization, the highest need as specified by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Nonetheless, the traditional education system typically has a beginning and an end, concluding by taking tests and examinations.
Lifelong learning maintains a person’s desire to gain new knowledge that transcends beyond the formal education system. Developing a continuously learning attitude is the primary way to succeed n the ever-changing environment where we live today.
To maintain the success you have achieved because of all the untiring efforts, you require sustainable fuel manifested in the form of lifelong learning. This is the only way to stay well-informed with the innovations and understand how to leverage them efficiently. Therefore, you need to be curious and expand your knowledge base. Furthermore, there is a sea of technology at your fingertips that can be highly beneficial to your learning throughout your life. This suggests you can follow your passion for languages, enhance your craft skills, and even make your very own mobile app using the resources you can discover online.
Some of the valuable strategies to cultivate your thirst for knowledge and help you become a lifelong learner are described below:
Commit to Regular Learning
When you are committed to learning, you make it an ultimate goal that you need to achieve. Therefore, write your goals and plans and stick to them. You need to allot specific times for your learning goals and avoid distractions by getting involved in random activities. After each week, allot specific time to review the matter you have already learned and the concepts you have understood. This way, you’ll know your vital areas and weak zones where you’ll need more effort and time.
Read More Often and Make It a Habit To Read Challenging Material
Purchase newspapers, search for new concepts and things online that you wish to know more about, borrow books from your friends, discover new ways to get motivated and stay curious. If you are interested in researching a specific topic, you can use Google Scholar to find authentic academic research.
Learning, however, does not mean that you select a material and start reading about it. You need to dig and find the sources which are inspiring and thought-provoking. One of the ways to get you started is to choose the field you are interested in and eventually find the material you find interesting to read. Get the key takeaways from the source and think of ways you can apply them in real life.
Stay Organized
Discipline is the key to learning so it is best to stay focus and keep track of time when you are reading new material. Likewise, set aside time for complex yet challenging topics; this will open new horizons for you. Make a habit of writing important notes in a specific journal. Avoid writing all the points all over the place. Keeping things in each separate section will help you organize your learning materials.
Keep Company of Smart People
Reach out to people that you admire and revere. Contact some prominent influencers on Twitter and arrange a meeting to explore interesting ideas and learning topics. Make sure to stay in touch with these intelligent people to stay inspired throughout your learning process.
Review and Repeat What You Have Read
You can never become a master until you have practiced it sufficiently. The same case applies to your learning. If you truly want to master a subject area or a skill, you need to read often, repeat after some time, and then comprehend how to apply it efficiently.
Teach Others to Keep the Learned Material Afresh
You are not required to join the teaching profession to teach others. However, teaching others what you have learned helps ensure you understood everything; it’s a real challenge to your knowledge and skills.
Keep Track of Things You Want to Explore
It is an excellent way to help you get started on your lifetime learning journey. Before jumping into an area, spend sufficient time researching topics and keeping important notes. Then, after developing a list, you can select the best option to follow.
Try To Keep a Balance
Learning and reading effectively does not imply that you forget about your wellness and health. Properly treat your body and mind. Get sufficient sleep of seven to eight hours as it will ensure your brain functions properly. It will have a significant impact on your cognitive skills and help you become an effective learner.
Don’t Learn in Stressful Environments
While learning, you need to relax your mind entirely. When your mind is relaxed, it will be able to absorb the information more effectively. In addition, when you are relaxed and have a stress-free mind, it can improve your long-term memory.
Don’t Give in The Temptation of Multi-Tasking
Overload of information can be highly damaging to your effective learning. Hence, assess the topics which are valuable to you and learn accordingly. Attaining loads of information will prove to be a waste of your time and shift your concentration from necessary things to learn.
Start Your Project
If you are an educator, encourage your students to plan their studies and design their projects by incorporating their objectives and goals. It will help them cultivate the concept to follow through with their process in the future, which can later be applied to different scenarios.
Use a Personal Learning Environment
Understanding your learning attitude is an invaluable skill. Using personal learning environments like GoConqr.com can assist you in acquiring proven learning techniques that students can use throughout their learning journey to discover new skills and knowledge.
Experiment With New Ways of Learning
Experimenting with various ways of learning will help you find the perfect way that works for you. For example, draw diagrams, watch documentaries, create mind maps, and use music and mnemonics to study, as these are some alternative ways that can help you retain new knowledge.
Join a Study Group
When you are interested in learning a new skill, if you go off by yourself and try to figure everything out on your own, then you might be spending too much time. In addition, it is much easy to work things on your own. Therefore, it will yield a higher return on your time investment. Virtual study groups or online groups can provide a platform to collaborate and learn from people with varying experiences. Take insights of different people on board and from various sources, and then apply it to your knowledge.
The collective action of shared thinking with successful people enhances your knowledge and makes it easy and fast. Listening to others’ views on different topics helps you gain insights from different perspectives. It also increases curiosity and excitement as the interaction between different people can help make learning a fun and adventurous activity.
Find a Profession that Encourages Continual Learning and Collaboration
The majority of the professional roles include some extent of learning. It may be in the form of on-the-job training, seminars, workshop, or other educational encouragement. Pursuing a position in an ever-evolving field will require their employers to learn and improve their skillset constantly. It helps you stay at the top of your game, not only in the office but also on your goal of becoming a life-long learner.
Prioritise Learning Whenever and Wherever Possible
Don’t dilly-dally by procrastinating. Avoid saying ‘one day, make today that one day. Whether you are a teacher, student, professional, or any other position—make learning a priority in your life. If you keep waiting for it to find you, you will limit yourself to the amount of information you know and your ability to achieve the knowledge over the long term.
It will also develop more characteristics of lifelong learning, like curiosity, innovation, initiative, creativity, perfectionism, and other healthy habits.
Conclusion
Lifelong learning is a valuable skill and beneficial to everyone, not only professionally but also personally. A lifelong learning mindset requires curiosity about the world. A curious mind wants to know more—it will want more challenges, experiences, ideas, and it is not satisfied with the status quo. People with this mindset would want to grow, learn, and develop beyond comprehension. The lifelong learning mindset is always open to new possibilities, and you realize the ultimate success potential is to be open to new knowledge from wherever it comes. Lifelong learning is perceived life from a place of gratitude, where nothing is taken for granted. Sharing knowledge and perspectives of different people can help improve your curiosity and creativity. Curiosity and inquisitive nature are the right attitudes to becoming a lifelong learner. Knowledge encourages to master success again and again, both professionally and personally. If you attain the habit of reading and learning every day, it will make success easy and be on your lifelong learning journey.