3 Major Reasons Learning Should Be Lifelong

Life is busy, especially when you become a parent. Trying to juggle the needs of your kids, your partner, perhaps other loved ones, frequently alongside a career or trying to run a business can feel overwhelming from time to time. Sometimes it feels as if opportunities to try something new or learn a skill are things that you just don’t have time for. Learning new things is a gateway. Whether it’s being able to teach our kids new things, gaining a practical skill that can save us money on something like home repairs, or furthering our education to improve our career prospects, learning always results in a net gain.

Although it can be tough to build it into your schedule, it’s always worthwhile. In a world that is changing so rapidly due to constant new discoveries and technical innovations, if we don’t keep our skills up to date we run the very real risk of being left behind. But that isn’t the only reason to love learning…

Learners Are Earners

Of course, the primary motivation in a lot of cases is financial. It’s true that formal education opens up more career prospects for you at work and can lead to positions with higher salaries. Learning at work is continuous, and should be something your company supports. It might be asking to shadow people in different roles to increase your depth of knowledge about how the business works, or it could be taking short training courses on a platform like LinkedIn Learning.

Sometimes it pays to formalize knowledge you’ve already gained, through a route such as an online MBA or other qualification with an institution like Suffolk. The narrower your set of skills and experience, the harder you will find it to progress to senior and higher earning roles.

Improving Your Parenting

For most of us, the wellbeing of our children is the most important thing and ultimately the reason why we seek to change any circumstance in our lives. Not only does lifelong learning set an expectation, an example and a culture of learning in the house, it also benefits your children in a range of ways, both directly (for example, by you being able to secure a better paying job) and indirectly (by you modeling an aspiration for self-development).

There are also studies demonstrating that parents who place a high value on learning have children who tend to stay in school for longer, aspire to more senior job roles and even have lower rates of crime.

Enhancing Your Skills

When we commit to learning, it’s not just our direct knowledge of that particular subject that benefits, we also enhance our soft skills. Things like time management, communication skills, negotiation and professional behavior are all boosted by further study.

These skills are enormously useful in life – at work and outside of it – and can support you if you decide to start up a business or move on to other ventures. Learning provides a host of transferable skills that can enhance your life no matter where it takes you.

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