Lesson 101: Why You Should Never Stop Learning

As anyone with a few years up their sleeve knows, learning never stops – and that applies to everyone from recent school leavers to retirees. Once we stop learning, we die – or at least we stop growing. Regardless of age, our status and our job title – we should all vow to keep our minds fresh with continuous learning.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” – Henry Ford

Need a little bit more of a push? Here are just a few top reasons why you should always be exercising your brain. 

Advance Your Career

Learning, development and upskilling is integral to taking your career to new levels. With new skills in your toolkit, you’ll enjoy more opportunities and choices – and probably more money (here’s hoping).

Are you a great administrator but need more accounting skills to do your job better? Keen to step up to management level but need some formal training to ensure you’re up to the task? Or are you taking on more responsibilities and need some project management skills to help you juggle everything?

The only real constant in life is change, and if you don’t change with it, you’ll get left behind. 

You’ve Been Out of Action for a While

Returning to the workforce after a break can be hard – really hard. You might feel your skills are outdated, you might have lost some confidence along the way and you might be feeling trepidation about getting back into the fray.

For anyone returning to work after taking time out to have kids, travel, deal with illness or care for a loved one, starting a course to get back into the swing of things, re-stimulate your brain and polish up your skills is one of the best things you can do. It will not only boost your skills but, most importantly, your confidence.

“Wisdom…. comes not from age, but from education and learning.” – Anton Chekhov

Fancy a Career Change

Career changers can find themselves in a difficult spot, as they lack the training and experience of those already working in their new field. If this is you, then you’ll definitely need some new skills and qualifications to convince employers to give you a chance in a completely new role and industry.

I know IT whizzes who have re-trained to become teachers and hospitality professionals who have studied to become counsellors. In every case, changing careers was the best thing they ever did – but they needed to go back to study and get the qualifications in order to start their new career. And they’ve never looked back! 

Learning is Fun

Don’t be fooled, learning isn’t just about your career and being serious – it’s fun! Taking a course and getting your grey matter buzzing is one of the best things you can do if you’re feeling brain-dead or striving to get ahead in the game.

So if you’ve always wanted to exercise your creativity with a writing course, take your photography skills to the next level, or try your hand in beauty therapy, Nike said it best: just do it!

Choose to study on-campus and participate in activates, make new friends and build your social network.

Opt to study at your own pace and in your own time online. With online learning choices readily available, education providers are making it easier than ever for people with busy schedules to study at their convenience. Flexible study options are all around us, which means it’s never been easier to keep learning and growing.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

Even the Most Successful People Never Stop Learning

While some of the most successful entrepreneurs and CEOs today may have graduated school many years ago, their learning continues forever.

“Successful people are outstanding performers. Outstanding performers remain outstanding performers by becoming lifelong learners. They continually expand their knowledge in order to get out in front of the pack and stay there.” 

Consider Benjamin Franklin’s five-hour rule where you dedicate atleast one-hour a day, Monday to Friday to learning. “Franklin’s five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners.”

“Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day, according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: “Books were my pass to personal freedom.” Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.”

These people are some of the busiest people around, so if they can find at least an hour to learn every day then so can YOU!

“Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents; nobody can tax it or take it away from you." – Warren Buffet