Ongoing education has huge benefits. Taking time to grow and learn creates a positive energy that’s difficult to get from any other sector of life. The feeling of moving towards something better, and the growth you experience from learning, is an incredible feeling. Studying gets a pretty bad rap sometimes, though. Many of us tend to think of it in terms of something we ‘have’ to do – a chore that we rush to finish, or a boring task.
Studying can definitely be boring – if the subject has no conceptual grounding in your interests or your strengths. Until I went to university, I definitely didn’t love learning. A few things piqued my interest here and there during school, and I loved dance, singing and drama classes, but it wasn’t until I started studying some alternative ways of thinking at university that my eyes really began to open. I realised that life doesn’t have any set direction or rules. We don’t have to function or think a certain way. I realised that people can be good at specific things and not worry about the others, and that’s cool. Studying alternative ways of thinking and different ideologies and theories was truly exciting.
Just like most things that are valuable in life, studying is definitely hard work. Learning new concepts and applying them to your life is even harder. The rewards, however, are greater than you could imagine.
I like to think of life in four key elements: Career, health and wellbeing, spirituality, and relationships. Ongoing learning can sit across all of these elements, depending on the subject and context.
Here’s three ways ongoing learning can have huge benefits in your life and help to keep you inspired:
- Learning provides new energy and skills to take into your life. This can have a positive impact on some or all of the four key elements: career, health and wellbeing, spirituality, and relationships
- Gaining new skills and honing existing ones enables you to know that you’re growing and moving towards something better – it provides a platform for you to have more in life
- Implementing new skills in your life enables you to not only personally grow and flourish, but to also potentially extend these learnings to other people. This can be the ultimate satisfaction in life – helping other people! (It’s what I hope to do with Daily Inspiration Board, and with my life as a whole).
The best part about education is that much of it is available online now, due to the internet. Courses and teachings that might have been previously inaccessible to most people are now readily available – and usually affordable and accessible. You just have to be picky and know what you’re looking for. Learning that’s done in person is always valuable – when you’re attending classes, seeing and meeting people face to face, it’s excellent not only for your own learning but also for growth and relationships. However, if there’s no way you can do it face to face or you can’t afford the time or resources to attend, it’s now getting easier to access courses online.
The trick is to balance learning new things and using these skills in an outlet that you enjoy – whether creative, skilled, social or academic. It’s not just about learning new skills. It’s all about how you use them in your day-to-day life.
What are your ideas or experiences about education and learning?
