Think back to your days at school. You were learning new things every week and this gave you new knowledge and helped you to develop new skills. You had teachers who worked with you to teach you various subjects and your learning was directed by your teachers.
But what happens after you finish school? Now you are on your own and you don’t have any teachers directing your education. Instead, it is now up to you to take action if you want to learn something new.
I believe in the value of continued education after school. It is important to develop our knowledge and learn new skills. This makes us more versatile and can open up new career opportunities.
If you learn new skills, you can then use those skills at work. This will make you more valuable to your employer and could even lead to a promotion if your new knowledge and new skills add value for your employer.
Why not embrace the idea of continuous learning? Continuous learning means that you commit to always striving to build your knowledge and your skills over time. You don’t have to do this every day, but you can schedule some time every week for actively learning and developing your skill set.
One way that I embrace continuous learning is by working on personal software projects. As a computer programmer it is important that I learn new ways to do things so that I can find new approaches to tackle programming problems. By working on personal software projects I can experiment with new ways of doing things in a safe environment because if I break a piece of software I am working on it does not affect anyone but me because it is my own software project I am working on, not someone else’s.
Working on software projects outside of work means I can try out ideas before I use them at work. I can experiment with coding techniques on my own projects to see if they work. When I do find a coding technique that works on one of my own projects, I have now learned a new technique I can use at work. This expands my skillset as a programmer and makes me more valuable to my employer because I am actively learning new ways to do things that I can then apply at work.
Another way that I embrace continuous learning is by trying new programming languages. For example, I learned how to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript by taking online courses provided by LinkedIn Learning. These courses were videos that I watched that showed me how to code websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. By watching these videos and trying out the code examples provided by these videos I learned how to code a website. I also went further and created my own test website on my computer and I played with the different features of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript so I could see how they worked.
This is an example of how you can learn from others while still being a self-directed learned. You can take advantage of online courses you can find on the internet. You may have to pay for online courses, but the learning will be definitely be worth the money. LinkedIn Learning is the service I used to learn web development, but it is only one example of a provider of online courses. Do a Google search and you are bound to find many other online learning opportunities.
Another way that I embrace continuous learning is by reading books. There are several different books I have read that have taught me about being a better computer programmer. One of these books is Clean Code by Robert C. Martin. Reading this book taught me how to write cleaner code. What is clean code? It is code that is easy to read, which makes it easier for other programmers to understand and change. Reading this book, and applying the principles it teaches, has made me a better programmer.
Public speaking is another skill I have developed over time. The primary way that I have developed this skill is by being a member of Toastmasters International. To learn how to give speeches and to overcome my fear of public speaking I had to actually write speeches and then deliver them in front of my fellow Toastmasters club members. By actively writing and delivering speeches I learned how to structure a speech and I learned about the different aspects of speaking, including vocal variety and body language. I now consider myself to be skilled at public speaking, but I have not fully mastered this skill. I still work at it by continuing to be a member of my Toastmasters club, which gives me opportunities to keep practicing my public speaking skills.
As a Toastmaster I also take on club leadership roles. This challenges me to learn new roles and develop new skills as I conduct business for my Toastmasters club. For example, I have served as both president and secretary for my Toastmasters club. As president I learned how to run a business meeting. As secretary I learned how to take the minutes for a business meeting. I also learned about Robert’s Rules of Order and how to use Robert’s Rules of Order to run a business meeting,
So how can you embrace continuous learning? I recommend that you commit to doing something every week that expands your knowledge and helps you to master your existing skills and to learn new skills. Read books that teach you something new. Take online courses. Start a new hobby or keep working on an existing hobby. You could also join a community club, such as a Toastmasters, or any other club or organization that interests you.
Another way to learn is to volunteer. If you belong to a community club you could volunteer to be on the board of directors for that club. For example, you could volunteer to be the president or secretary for your club. Other places you could volunteer could be on the condo board if you live in a condo. You could also do some searches on the internet to find volunteer opportunities.
Conclusion
By embracing continuous learning you are committing to actively develop your knowledge base and to actively learn new skills. This will be a lifelong project and it will help you in your career because new knowledge and new skills will make you more versatile. You will open up new career opportunities for yourself because you will always be growing your skill set.
By embracing continuous learning you will stand out from the crowd. You will be actively developing new skills and mastering your existing skills. You will be a valuable resource for your employer because you will be expanding what you are capable of and your new skills and knowledge will benefit both you and those who depend on you.