Becoming a Life Long Learner

Seeing my grandson here paying attention to the fire fighter

while on a field trip makes me proud!  

Paying Attention helps one be a Successful Learner!

 Hands-on participation in a subject is another way to learn.

(I can't wait to hear what he learned in this experience.)

Look at the pride he shows!

Being a life long learner brings pleasure to life.

I'm pleased that my grandkids LIKE to learn! 

Being a life long learner is a goal that I have for myself. 

I found most of these suggestions for helping to make that happen here.

I've tweaked them just a bit...: 

1) Always have a book with you  My husband is GREAT at this one!  It doesn’t matter if it takes you a year or a week to read a book. Always  have a book that you are reading through, and take it with you so you can read it when you have time.

2) Keep a “To-Learn” List  In addition to a "to-do" list,  have a “to-learn” list. Write ideas for new areas of study.

3) Get More Intellectual Friends Start spending more time with people who think. Not just people who are smart. But people who actually invest much of their time in learning new skills. Their habits will rub off on you AND  they will probably share some of their knowledge with you.

4) Contemplate.  Think.  Albert Einstein once said, “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” Simply studying the wisdom of others isn’t enough, you have to think through ideas yourself. Spend time journaling and contemplating ideas you have learned.

5) Put it Into Practice Skill based learning is useless if it isn’t applied.   If your knowledge can be applied, put it into practice.

6) Teach Others You learn what you teach, so find an outlet of communicating ideas to others! Start a blog, mentor someone or even discuss ideas with a friend.

7) Clean Your Input Some forms of learning are easy to digest, but often lack substance. Regularly clean out your feed reader for blogs you subscribe to. Great blogs can be a powerful source of new ideas, but every few months, purify your input to save time and focus on what counts.  Don't get bogged down in information.

8 ) Learn in Groups Lifelong learning doesn’t mean condemning yourself to a stack of dusty textbooks. Join organizations that teach skills. Workshops and group learning events turn educating yourself into a fun, social experience.

9) Unlearn Assumptions You can’t add water to a full cup. Try to maintain a distance away from any idea. Too many convictions simply mean too few paths for new ideas.

10) Find Jobs that Encourage Learning Pick a career (or volunteer opportunity) that encourages continual learning. If possible, don’t spend forty hours of your week in a job that doesn’t challenge you.

11) Start a Project Set out to do something you don’t know how to do.  For instance, if you consider yourself a horrible artist, try a painting.

12) Follow Your Intuition Lifelong learning is like wandering through the wilderness. You can’t be sure what to expect and there isn’t always an end goal in mind. Letting your intuition guide you can make self-education more enjoyable. 

13) The Morning Fifteen Use the first fifteen minutes of your morning as a period for education. If you find yourself too groggy, you might want to wait a short time. Just don’t put it off later in the day where urgent activities will push it out of the way.
14) Reap the Rewards Learn information you can use. Meeting a situation that makes use of your educational efforts can be a source of pride.
15) Make it a Priority Few external forces are going to persuade you to learn. The desire has to come from within. Once you decide you want to make lifelong learning a habit, it is up to you to make it a priority in your life.

16)  Pick your Subjects Wisely  I added this one.  With so much information at my fingertips, I find it important to weigh the value of the subjects I choose to study AND to select sources wisely.   Life is short.  Eternity is long.  

What would YOU add to this list?