Why and how to become a life-long learner?

Lifelong learning is a requirement to thrive in the 21st century. Before, it was assumed that we go to university, get a degree, get a job and patiently wait for our employer to provide further training and education. Today there are new technologies and new applications to existing technologies every day, so it's easy to feel scared of becoming irrelevant. Learning new skills can sound scary. Let's think about it for a second: it requires that we first acknowledge that we don't know everything, our knowledge is continuously insufficient, and our assumptions may be wrong. For many of us, this is a humbling realization. However, as Carol Dweck said in her TED Talk , "we don't know something... yet." This shift in mindset is the first step towards committing to lifelong learning. 

"Many studies have confirmed that it is not intelligence that creates expertise but effort and practice -that is, hard work. The most successful people devote the most hours to deliberate practice, tackling tasks beyond their current level of competence and comfort, observing the results, and making adjustments." (Elevating Learning and Development )

A lot of times when we're learning something new or doing a task for the first time, the impostor syndrome kicks in: "What am I doing? I don't know how to do this." The key is to change this thought into "I can learn this, I can be great at this". And then it's really all about doing the work. Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to learn how to code? Are you puzzled every time people talk about Finance? Anything you don't know today and wish you knew, you can learn.

Throughout the years, it has stuck in my head that Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College, but stayed on campus learning about the subjects he was curious about. Whether we have a university degree or not, it's important to keep our curiosity alive and feel like an eternal college student roaming around the (virtual) campus of (online) resources and getting the skills we need or want to learn. 

A few tips to get you started in this journey are:

1. Envision your future self. What do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? Close your eyes and visualize this as realistically as possible. Imagine the environment, picture yourself there and even imagine how you're feeling. This technique is used by professional athletes and it can really help you shape your life.

2. Do an honest self-assessment. What do you know? What don't you know yet? Write down a list of your strengths and transferrable skills and also write down the areas where your skills are weaker than you'd like them to be. The idea is to assess your gaps and come up with a list of topics you want to learn about or tools you want to become familiar with.

3. Find resources. There's a plethora of resources: Online courses, books, podcasts, meet-ups, webinars, magazines, tutorials in YouTube, bootcamps, and many more. Most of these offer the flexibility of time and space. You can listen to a podcast while on the road, you can make progress towards your online course 10 minutes every day. For many people this may sound too informal, but with enough intention and time, this IS learning. You can tailor your learning journey to your desires and needs.

4. Invest the time and effort (and sometimes money). Once you know what you want to learn and you've found resources, now it's time to do the hard work: putting in the time. Start by devoting 30 minutes a week to learning. Put this in your calendar or designate a day of the week or a time of the day for learning. For me, I use Sunday evening, when everything is quiet, to catch up with an online course. I really like the phrase from Duolingo: "15 minutes a day can teach you a language. What can 15 minutes of social media do?" Time and money spent learning is one of the best investments you can make. Be patient with yourself. Learning takes time and true mastery takes years. Be consistent and take one step at a time. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Repeat! As we build habits, our brain develops new neural pathways and learning becomes easier. Continuous learning helps our brains stay younger and more flexible. If you're finding it hard to stay motivated, try and learn with a buddy, or find an online community or mentor. Be mindful of what works for you and what doesn't: Would you rather learn alone or with people? Are podcasts interesting to you or seem like a waste of time? We all have different learning styles and finding what works for you is important. The idea is to enjoy the learning journey and not dread it.

Cultivate your curiosity and develop the confidence that you can learn anything you want. While this may or may not result in you changing your career, everything you learn will contribute to changing your worldview. Try to connect the things you learn and develop a systems view. What lessons from gardening can you apply to team leadership? What are the parallels between cooking and developing a business strategy?

In my learning journey I use or have used: Coursera , Udemy , Udacity , PluralSight , openSAP , edX , Pirple , Duolingo , Seedlang , Lingoda , Khan Academy , among others. (No association with any of these) The skills I have acquired have helped me broaden my business, technology, and leadership knowledge, as well as my language skills in German. Sometimes I have been able to apply these skills right away and sometimes it took years for the knowledge to become relevant for my job. I have no doubt that it has all contributed to my development as a person and as a professional.

Your career is in your hands, you can make the difference in your future. Acquire those high-value skills or pursue that hobby you've been thinking about. You will be amazed how soon you start reaping the benefits. As you read this article, what topic popped up in your head as an itch to learn? What awakens your curiosity? That may be a good start.