There’s no denying the importance of lifelong education. To some degree, you can’t help but be learning at every age—after all, life always has something new to throw at you. Still, the conscious effort of learning and building skills can transform not only your skill set but your everyday life. Whether you’re learning how to be a CPA or you’re working through a self-study course that teaches you a brand-new passion, your personal and professional education can help you thrive over the course of a lifetime.
Study at your own pace.
As an adult, the top priority for your learning and skill-building efforts is that they fit in with all the responsibilities of adult life. Unlike our youngest peers, we don’t have the luxury of spending each day at a classroom desk! Instead, we need to find ways to fit education courses into our existing schedules or ensure our typical workloads can accommodate the addition of a new field of study. So, if you’re a CPA in need of CPE credit, for example, you might search for self-study CPE courses that allow you to work through these individual courses at your own pace, whatever that means where your unique schedule is concerned.
Play upon your passions.
In addition to your required adult learning, like that CPE course or another certification, you may find yourself interested in not-so professional subjects. For example, you might be studying for a professional exam, meeting CPE requirements, and otherwise studying as a grown-up for the sheer sake of your career. However, you also may find you love the artistry of special effects makeup! So, if you can make time in your schedule, you may very well take on a special effects make-up program as well, giving yourself a creative pastime to enjoy.
Build up to career success.
If you’re turning to skill-building opportunities in a professional sense, it’s important to remember that it won’t translate into promotions and other career success overnight. Instead, your continued learning will inevitably bring you closer to your ideal career path, whether that’s moving up the corporate ladder in your current field or migrating to an entirely different industry altogether. It may be frustrating to have to wait, but your patience will inevitably pay off—you may even find that you’re pleasantly surprised when your newfound success does show up.
Make change on a small scale.
If you’re like most people, you’ve inevitably heard the phrase, “learn something new every day.” However, do you apply that adage to your own life? Learning something every day, even if that’s something small, can take your lessons and skills to monumental levels. For instance, perhaps your goal is to learn a new language. You certainly won’t make that change overnight! At a minimum, though, you may try to learn one new word each day. That may seem as though it’s too minute a detail to make much of a difference but it can add up more quickly than you might realize. In no time at all, you could be having full conversations in your target language!
Whatever it is you’re hoping to learn, adulthood offers plenty of opportunities for new lessons and skills. The challenge, though, is in balancing your learning with the other responsibilities of your everyday life. To do so, you can opt for self-study courses, which give you the freedom to study as your schedule allows. It can also help to balance your personal interests with your professional goals, learning something each day that contributes to one or the other. It may not seem like you’re making massive progress with each lesson, but you’ll find there’s a sort of magic to learning even a little bit—it quickly adds up to new skills.
