Some people hate school, and look forward to the day they never have to learn anything again- but you shouldn’t go that road. Find out the benefits of being a lifelong learner and easy steps to take to make sure you are one.
There are two ways to think about learning. First, you can see it as a drudge- a duty that you reluctantly pursue because you're forced to. On the other hand, you can see learning as a pleasure and a way to constantly improve yourself. Your attitude toward learning will help to decide how much you increase your knowledge base, have new experiences, and find out how many wonderful things there are in the world that you didn't know about yet. Join SpiritualBlossom to learn the benefits of being a lifelong learner. Find out the surprising drawbacks of it- yes there are some- and find out simple ways you can constantly learn new things. We weren’t built to go to school for a little while as kids and then just work a mind numbing job until we die. We are built to learn! Read on to find out how to become a lifelong learner.
What is Lifelong Learning?
Lifelong learning is something that some people dread, and something that other people live for. It just basically means that you are constantly learning new things no matter how old you get. Maybe you decide to learn some new job skills when you're middle-aged. Maybe you decide to take up a new hobby in your 20s or 30s after you get out of college. Maybe you decide when you're retired that you finally want to learn how to do watercolor painting, which you never felt like you had time for. Maybe when you're an empty nester, you and your spouse decide to go take those ballroom dancing classes you always meant to take.
Lifelong learners are people who are constantly learning something new. You can do that by reading new educational articles every week, adding to the skill set you already have in some area of expertise, or simply asking questions when you see something you didn't know about. It can be very difficult to do this though. When you are busy with work or family, and barely have enough time to rest or even catch your breath, the thought of taking on something else to learn might seem overwhelming. For other people, If they don't constantly have some type of new mental stimulation, they feel like they're not using their mind at all. One Zodiac sign that loves to learn new things and is constantly curious is Gemini, and you can read about them here: Gemini Zodiac Traits and Love Compatibility
The Benefits of Lifelong Education
The benefits of lifelong education are threefold. First off, the human mind is designed to constantly be used, and learning activates parts of the brain and benefits it immensely. When you're constantly learning new things, your personal world expands and grows and shows you how many wonderful things there are. Besides your mental functioning improving, your physical health improves also.
Your Mind Improves
Focus and memory improves as you learn. It also slows down cognitive decline- measurably. Adults, even older adults who engage the mind are less likely to suffer from mental decline and conditions like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Our overall mood and mental health is improved when your mind is engaged by learning as well. Duke University School of Learning shared surprising results for later life learning. Lack of mental stimulation in early life poses risks of dementia, but you can make up for that if you engage your mind with learning when you are older, Read more here: Preventing Dementia with Later-Life Learning
Your World Grows
If we only know a small amount of things and our knowledge base never improves, we will have no idea how many wonderful things there are in the world. The more you know, the larger your world is. You will have access to information about more things, and you will have more experiences. If you are constantly listening to things like new podcasts about different topics, you will be introduced to things you never knew existed. And you will see just how much more is out there.
Your Health Improves
A direct result of lifelong learning is not only mental improvement, but physical improvement. Your overall sense of mental well-being will improve, which will improve your physical health. It will give you a more positive outlook and your self-esteem will improve. These things will make you more likely to tend to your physical health. You will also be more aware of your physical health needs, the more knowledgeable you are, and better able to take care of yourself. You will have more of a sense of purpose, and basically have more to stay healthy for. You might find yourself more physically active, which improves your cardiovascular health, and you might find yourself more socially engaged, experience less loneliness, and have better relationships. Learning is great for your health, but is laughter even better? Find out here: Why the Best Medicine is Laughter- How Laughter Heals
Drawbacks of Lifelong learning
To be fair, there are some drawbacks to lifelong learning. It will consume time when you could be doing other things. Lifelong learning expands your mind so much, it might make you want more out of life. Learning changes you in ways you would never expect, and you might leave behind friends who haven't grown as much as you in hopes of finding new friends.
It’s Time Consuming
What do you do with your time when you're not doing the things you have to do? When you're not at work, taking care of your family, or sleeping, what do you do with yourself? Plenty of people like to engage in leisure pursuits or rest that they fail helps them to recharge their batteries. They might play video games, watch TV, or just sit on the couch doing nothing. Learning new things takes away time from doing nothing. Some people feel that this would be too exhausting and they don't want to bother with it. One thing you can take the time to do is push your personal boundaries. Find out how here: Testing Your Boundary Level- Taking Your Chances
It Makes You Want More
The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. It can make your mind hungry, and it can make you long for new experiences. Some people prefer to be satisfied with what they already have. As you learn more, this type of satisfaction diminishes. You will want to find out more about things, have more experiences, and grow more as an individual the more you learn. Some people find this frustrating and are afraid that they will never be satisfied with life again if they become a lifelong learner.
You Change
Learning changes you. Your attitude changes, your beliefs change, and what you want changes. Aspects of your personality might shift. You might become more outspoken politically when you learn about the state of things in your community. You may become a more peaceful individual when you learn to go within instead of letting the things that go on around you control your emotions. The things that you do will change when you learn more. When you find out the benefits of meditation, you might change by spending more time doing that instead of going to the bars with friends. Everything that you learn changes your mind a little bit, which translates into physical change in your life. Belief shapes your whole life and is very important. Find out more here: What Happens When You Believe? Why it Matters
You Might Need New Friends
As you change and grow, your social needs might change. Maybe previously all you did was work and go out to eat. If you start cross country running you might feel the need to circle with other cross country runners instead of just your friends who went to restaurants with you. If you join a book club, even though you had never been a big reader before and you really enjoy it, you might want to spend time with more readers than you did. This doesn't necessarily mean that you won't have anything in common with the friends who you had before. It just means that your social and intellectual needs are going to change. As you learn more, who you are pending your time with will reflect that.
How To Be a Lifelong Learner
So, if being a lifelong learner is so great, what kind of things can you do to start? Simple things like shutting off social media and focusing on learning instead and staying curious as well as trying new things are just a few ways to jumpstart more learning. Read on to find some very simple ways that you can use every day to learn things for your whole life.
Turn Off the Media
How much time do you spend doom scrolling on the Internet, watching television, or movies? There's nothing wrong with some personal entertainment, but the amount of time that you spend on media can eat up time that you should be spending learning. For example, If you want to learn a new musical instrument but usually spend 3\three hours in the evening watching your shows after work, reduce the amount of time that you watch shows to two hours to begin with.The more you fall in love with studying music, the less time you're going to want to spend in front of media.
Stay Curious
A curious attitude will help you to automatically learn. Do you wonder how things work or what kind of things go on in the world that you're not aware of? Are you someone who wants to learn about new foods, new people, or do that you've never done before? When was the last time you listened to new music, wore a new type of clothing, or did something different with your hair? Small things like this can help you to learn in big ways. One Zodiac sign that loves beautiful things as Libra and you can read about them here: What is the Best Libra Flower?
Try New Things
Don’t be afraid to take a dare and try something new. Maybe you have never done scuba diving, but going for a day to check it out won’t hurt anything. When was the last time that you tried a different dish or a new type of cuisine? If you're great at cooking and baking, try a new recipe once a month. If you love to dance, learn some new dance moves. If you usually go for your walks in the morning, try a walk in the evening to see what's different. Every small thing you do that's different creates a change and teaches you something new.
Be Vulnerable
It’s embarrassing sometimes when you’re learning new things to admit that you really don’t know it all. Don't worry about who is watching when you're new to something and making mistakes. Learning things that your mind is not used to can be embarrassing, but more than this, it stimulates your mind, teaches you new skills, and helps to keep you learning. If you always wanted to learn magic but didn't know where to start, read here: Using Practical Magic in Everyday Life
Apply Yourself
When you start to learn something new, really give it your all. Show up for the new classes. Read everything you can on the new subject. Don't be afraid that you don't have what it takes to learn something new. There are plenty of people who felt intimidated when they started something new, but they went through with it anyways. Have confidence in your ability to succeed, and do your best when you're learning something new.
Start Small
Some people think they have to tackle a huge undertaking immediately, but it’s best to ease your way into things. If you start a new exercise regimen, don’t expect your body to perform to the maximum for two hours immediately. Starting at ten pushups and adding one a week is great. In less than a year you will be doing fifty pushups. Remember that when you're learning something new, it's usually something you don't know very much about. Each thing you learn about it will open the door to learning something else. Be patient, and take your time and before you know it, you might be an expert teaching other people. Is music something you want to learn about? Find out the spiritual benefits here: The Spirit Music Connection - How Music Moves Us
Pursue Your Passions
Is there something that you have always been passionate about, but you haven't taken the time to learn it yet? That's what you need to be learning. What did you dream about being when you grew up? Maybe you didn't live that dream yet, but that doesn't mean you can't start now. Learning is easier when it's something that you want to learn about, so learn what you're passionate about.
Study When You Don’t Want To
There will come times when you don’t want to study or practice new things you’re learning. Schedule time to study or practice anyways when you are not in the mood to do it. There is nothing wrong with taking a break every so often, but if learning becomes a regular part of your schedule, It will feel strange if you don't take the time out to do it. Study and practice regularly, instead of just when you feel like it.
Lifelong learning holds off mental decline and improves our sense of wellbeing. Easy ways to become a lifelong learner include pursuing your passions, really applying yourself, and not letting embarrassment about being new to something stop you. There are so many wonderful things to learn in life. So, get out there and soak up all the knowledge and have all the new experiences you can!
Would you like to know what new things the future holds for you? Ask a psychic today!
About the Author: Lady Saoirse has studied magic and lore for most of her life but started walking her own Magical Path after being spiritually reborn in the desert. Today she is a High Priestess for The Temple of the Goddess, she is a psychic advisor and spiritual counselor, she shares her gifts as a Psychic and Content Writer for Mysticsense and SpiritualBlossom, and she writes for PaganPages.Org emag and Green Egg Magazine.
