Making Learning a Lifelong Activity
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
I am not an education expert. In fact, every day as I seek knowledge and wisdom, I am reminded of just how little I know. Yet on I march because continuous learning is a way of life for me. When I am learning – reading, taking courses, and observing what’s going on around me – I am able to make connections that I would not have been able to make. It allows me to place things into context. And it is very useful that I have over 20 years of research and analysis experience. I know that I will not be able to make as much dent in the universe with my knowledge as I would like, but I will make a big dent in my world and in the world of those within my sphere of influence.
There are times when I feel as if I am whistling in the dark, and want to throw in the towel, then I get an email from someone telling me how much she appreciates what I am doing. But I won't throw in the towel and surrender because writing these blog posts makes me a better writer. Although I am not an expert, anyone who has been reading this blog for a while, will say that I know a thing or two about making learning a lifelong activity. I spent the last year taking courses because I am pursuing an informal liberal arts education, and this year, I am reading the books, which will include classic literature to complete this personal project (Read why I am working on an informal liberal arts education). I constantly find ways to stretch myself. When I developed my program, I was simply taking courses that I thought would be interesting to take, but because of the time commitment, I switched, and the bulk of the courses was centered on me being a better writer and interviewer. When I became more intentional with learning, I started to reap bigger benefits from my learning intervention. If I were starting my informal liberal arts education today, I would approach it differently because of what I now know. For a few courses, I had a learning partner, and it made such a difference when I could discuss course content with another person.
I spent a lot of time planning and selecting courses, but my learning goals weren't as well thought out as they could have been. I knew that there was a skill gap, yet the initial courses I selected wouldn't bridge the gap.
Steps to Making Learning a Lifelong Activity
- Set learning goals: This step was not as well thought out as it should have been, so I had to drop courses and choose others.
- Anticipate the challenges you will face and devise a way to resolve or get around them. I wanted to take an anthropology course, so I chose one taught by a top professor in India. The problem was the course would have been twice as long because it was taught in both English and Urdu, so the lecturer spoke in Urdu, then repeated what he said in English. This technique would have been amazing if I wanted to learn Urdu. I dropped the course after the first lecture.
- Decide how much time you can realistically commit to learning. Micro-learning is big these days. I decided that I would dedicate from 6 to 9 am, Monday to Friday to pursue my liberal arts education. Although I was committed, I had a difficult time focusing on any video that was more than an hour-long. I slogged through the two-hour video courses, but it was mentally taxing.
- Schedule the time to make it a habit. I could devote the first three hours each day to learn, but not everyone can do that. Do what works for you. Thirty minutes a day committed to learning is better than no time.
- Determine your learning style. Are you visual (seeing and reading), auditory (listening and speaking), or kinesthetic (touching and doing)? I am visual, but I do not like watching long videos. After an hour of viewing I get very antsy.
- Choose your courses based on learning goals. My learning goals were not very strong, so I had to change some of my courses and the direction I was going.
- Identify a buddy to take courses with. For three courses I had a buddy and it was fantastic to have someone to discuss the content, and between the two of us, we generated many new ideas.
- Teach what you learn. I use my blog to teach what I learn.
In another blog post I will expand on the steps to making learning a lifelong activity based on my experiences, and emphasize why ongoing learning is a must these days. By way of MakeUseOf, I learned about Highbrow, a site specializing in bite-sized learning. On Highbrow, there are many topic areas to choose from, and for 10 days you will get an email with an article that takes five minutes to read. Who cannot find five minutes a day? I immediately signed up and I am learning about scientific theories.
Get Started Here – I want to help you get started on your learning journey. Join The Invisible Mentor 2015 Reading Challenge today, connecting the ideas from the books you read!
In the meantime, THANK YOU for your time… Thank you for sharing this post, and thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! What was your biggest takeaway from today?
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