Learning shouldn’t end when you’re done with high school or college. In fact, studies have shown that learning is crucial for our brains at all ages.
There are a few main types of learning to consider over your lifetime. The first is maintenance learning. This is the type of learning that keeps you current in your chosen field. For me, this means reading books about freelancing, honing my writing craft, and taking courses to stay relevant.
This is the type of learning that’s essential for anyone in any field. If you want to score that promotion, show your boss they can’t live without you, or better serve your clients, you’ll need to do plenty of maintenance learning. You can find these types of courses and learning opportunities on websites like Udemy and https://kaplan.co.uk/.
Another type of learning is growth learning. This involves adding skills and knowledge that you haven’t had before. This could be learning a new language, embracing a totally new skill set, picking up a hobby like knitting, or teaching yourself to code. There are many different apps, books, and online resources that can help you with all of the above.
If you haven’t yet heard of shock learning, you’re not alone. I came across this term in a recent book about innovation. The idea is that the biggest sources of innovation in any type of business are the unexpected failures or unexpected successes. This makes sense right? How often has something happened that was completely inconsistent with your ideas and expectations? And how often have these insights led to interesting ideas or a new breakthrough?
Unfortunately, most of us tend to be creatures of habit. This means that we tend to ignore the unexpected and instead rely on the information we’re more comfortable with. Sometimes, learning is about being open to new ideas and information- so you can constantly adapt and change.
We all know how tempting it can be to watch Netflix after a long day. But making the effort to learn is much more rewarding in the long run. That’s because humans need a path and a purpose to feel satisfied with life. It’s when we don’t have either of these things that we feel like we’re stuck in a rut. And it’s why so many companies are now making an effort to provide employees with the ability to make their own decisions and see how their efforts are impacting the company.
