Why You Should Be a Lifelong Learner
- James Bowers III
- Nov 21
- 4 min read
Vocabulary Review
Generation (noun) – a group of people born around the same time.
Example: My parents’ generation grew up without smartphones.
Hone (verb) – to improve a skill through practice.
Example: She honed her writing skills by keeping a daily journal.
Voluntarily do something (verb phrase) – to choose to do something without being forced.
Example: He voluntarily stayed late at work to finish the project.
To pursue something (verb phrase) – to try to achieve or follow something over time.
Example: After college, she pursued her dream of becoming a photographer.
Formal education (noun) – learning that happens in schools, colleges, or universities.
Example: His formal education ended in high school, but he continued learning on his own.
To embrace something (verb phrase) – to accept something willingly or with a positive attitude.
Example: She embraced the challenge of moving to a new country.
On the fence (idiom) – not sure what decision to make.
Example: I’m on the fence about buying a new laptop because it’s expensive.
Sharp (adjective) – mentally quick and focused; able to think clearly.
Example: Even at 80 years old, my grandmother is still very sharp.
Run the risk of something (verb phrase) – to face the possibility of something bad happening.
Example: If you never save money, you run the risk of having no emergency funds.
Barrier (noun) – something that makes progress difficult.
Example: For many students, the biggest barrier to studying abroad is the cost.
Sacrifice (noun) – something important that you give up to achieve something else.
Example: Training for the marathon required a big sacrifice of his free time.
A burst (noun) – a short and sudden period of activity.
Example: She felt a burst of energy and cleaned her whole room in ten minutes.
Abundance (noun) – a large amount of something.
Example: The garden had an abundance of fresh vegetables this year.
In previous generations, studying ended after you graduated or got a decent paying job. However, in today's uncertain and rapidly changing job market, it is essential that you constantly educate yourself, hone your abilities, and learn new skills. In other words, you need to be a lifelong learner. To be a lifelong learner means to voluntarily continue pursuing education throughout your whole life, even after your formal education ends. It means accepting that you will never know everything, and instead, embracing that you will always be a student of life.
If you're on the fence about whether or not it's worth it to be a lifelong learner, you should know there are a ton of benefits. The first and possibly most obvious benefit is that being a lifelong learner will absolutely help your career by providing you with an ever-growing skillset and help you keep up with changes in your industry. But aside from the career benefits, being a lifelong learner will also help keep your brain sharp and avoid age related brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or dementia and improve your memory. And of course another huge benefit of embracing lifelong learning is that you will feel much more confident about yourself.
But although lifelong learning sounds great, it's not always so easy to fit it into our lives. Getting certificates, taking courses, and reading books requires time and money, which is a barrier for most people. And even if you do manage to find the time and money to do all these things, you run the risk of burning yourself out and becoming mentally exhausted. With these challenges, it can seem hard to even know where to begin.
Fortunately though, lifelong learning doesn't require going back to university or sacrificing all of your personal time. One popular way to embrace lifelong learning these days is microlearning. Microlearning allows you to study in short bursts of about 15 minutes, which is ideal for many working adults with busy schedules. There are several apps dedicated to microlearning, but to get started you can just put a short YouTube video on or read an informative article when you have a quick break during the day.
However, if you do have more time, there is an abundance of certifications and online courses that you can do in your own time, called Mass Online Open Courses (or “M.O.O.C.s”). You may have heard of some popular websites like Coursera, Udemy or Alison - these websites offer a variety of free, self-paced video courses, so there is no pressure to commit to a fixed schedule, you just sign up for the course, and study whenever you have the time.
Being a lifelong learner is not just about studying to get a promotion or to make a career change, it's about constantly honing your abilities and widening your skillset. And although there might be some challenges such as finding the time and fitting it into your budget, there are a variety of resources that can help you overcome these difficulties. So whether you want more confidence, better job options, or just want to keep your brain healthy, it seems like the best option is to be a lifelong learner.
Questions:
Do you think you would like to be a lifelong learner?
What could you say to convince someone to be a lifelong learner?
Have you ever been on the fence about something?
What is one skill that you would like to hone to refine? How will you do that?
What are 3 skills you would like to master in the next couple years and why?
There are many ways to learn things, reading books and articles, watching videos, taking courses, etc. What are your favorite ways to learn new things?
Do you think online courses are effective or are they a waste of money?
Today there is so much information available to learn online. Does it ever feel overwhelming?
Should companies pay for their employees to take courses? Should there be any limits to this?
Do you think you would like to take a course to learn how to use AI?
There is a common expression in English: "Ignorance is bliss." Do you think this is true?
Today we have more technology than ever before, but why do we feel so busy these days?
Should we still learn things that we can just have AI do?
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