DO you want to grow your career, profession, or business? You need to continue learning.
But Chinkee: “I’m too old.” “People say I’m stupid…I’m a slow learner.” “I can’t afford education. It’s too expensive!”
These are just some of the many reasons why people give up on learning. They may think it is not for them.
They may think it is too late. They may think it is not worth it.
Did you know that: “An average CEO reads at least 60 books per year? This is because they know that they should keep on learning. Learning never stops.
“Warren Buffett spends 80 percent of his day reading. Bill Gates reads for an hour each night before going to bed. And Mark Cuban credits part of his success to the fact that he is willing to read more than anyone else.”
There are always new things to learn and new skills to harness. The most successful people in the world understand the value of continuously learning. In fact, for them one of the best things in life is that they never have to stop learning!
People like Buffet and Gates don’t act like they know everything. They know and understand that to be successful means they have to keep on learning.
Let me share a conversation I overheard on the plane. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop but the conversation was too loud not to ignore.
A young lady, maybe 17-years-old, was telling her much older lady seatmate, “Who needs college? I don’t need to learn anything now. I can work at McDonald’s and earn enough. I know of someone there who earns P20,000 per month!”
Older lady: “What’s your dream in life?” Young lady: “My dream is to own a house and a car, and buy all the things I want. I want to pay for my parent’s retirement!”
Older lady: “If you make P20,000 a month, that’s P240,000 a year. If you work for 40 years, that’s P9,600,000 will be your lifetime income? Can you buy your dream house, car, and support your aging parents with that income? If you said yes, that means you should not spend one peso the moment you work till you retire.” (End of conversation)
That’s the reason why education is important and learning should never stop, even when we have already received a diploma or a degree. Even after we graduate, to live life to the fullest, we need to keep on looking for ways to improve ourselves.
There is no more reason (excuse) to be ignorant or unlearned nowadays. Information is literally within reach – just a click away, as they say.
Someone once said: “At this day and age, if you are still ignorant, it’s your own fault.” Because really, you don’t even need to actually go to school, to a classroom, to get the information you want.
Why should we keep on learning?
- Learning gives us accomplishment in life
Learning is tough and can be frustrating. But although the task is hard, nothing is greater than reaching your accomplishment. Studies have shown that the more ambitious goals that we set, the happier we are. This is because we have a sense of accomplishment.
When we decide what our own goals are, our happiness does not become dependent on others. We are able to decide how many hours we practice, and we take ownership over what we achieve. Personal accomplishment is a way to guarantee us happiness from within.
- Learning makes us valuable
Are you part of a team? Then the more you need to keep on learning. When you continue to learn, you are more likely to be able to adapt to changes. The person who can adapt the most wins.
An Air Force pilot once shared to me that their advantage has nothing to do with the strength of the plane, but instead it’s the ability to react to different situations that makes a fighter jet. The best fighter pilots can adjust to more circumstances than the norm, making them much deadlier.
This same idea can be applied to your value to your workplace or business. If you can only sell your product, you are limited by your contribution. But if you can sell, build, and run operations, now you’ve become irreplaceable. So go ahead and learn new skills. Self-development is the key for us to live fulfilling lives and to have a successful career.
- Learning will make us wiser
When we are looking to learn as much as possible, there’s less of a chance you will make mistake. Since you know what you are doing, you will become more confident and be smarter. And when people see that you are wise you are going to be an expert at what you’re doing.
So remember, for us to succeed in life, we must continually look for ways to improve. Even in our own businesses and place of work, we should strive to learn and become an expert at our chosen field. Companies and people from all over the world are seeking for experts.
THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.
What is your attitude about learning? Do you feel you are too old to learn or that it’s too late? What have you learned from this article, so far?