Mastering Self Learning: The Key to Getting Ahead
The hallmark of the modern world is progress and evolution. Each day, people wake up to new inventions and discoveries that hurtle the global population to a new way of living. This phenomenon has highlighted the importance of human adaptation as well. In short, if you want to remain relevant, you have to be knowledgeable.
Of course, as an adult, you won’t always have time to learn new things. Now that school is out and you have a job, you need to find other ways of staying up-to-date and ahead of the game. Fortunately, this isn’t a difficult task to undertake. To ensure that you master the concept of self learning, here is what you need to do:
Find a Mentor to Supervise Your Self Learning
If you thought that self learning was a solo mission, think again. With self learning, you are in charge of your education. At the same time, you will need to reach out to people who are more knowledgeable than you in various aspects of your career and industry. This is why it is so important to find a mentor.
At the end of the day, the one thing that you can’t gain from the classroom or a book is experience. Naturally, you don’t want to waste the next few decades learning from your own mistakes and encounters. Thus, you must find someone who has already lived that life.
Now, finding a mentor is a lot more complex than you might imagine. It isn’t enough to simply walk up to the most learned person in your profession and ask for their help. In fact, you may want to look for several mentors who are each well-versed in different elements of your career or industry. This way, you can gain even more first-hand knowledge.
You should also find someone who is a good fit for you. This is an individual who should spark interest or passion in you. After all, you are unlikely to learn much from a person you find dull or boring. Finally, mentorship isn’t a one-way street – you must be as of much value to your mentor as they are to you.
Attend Industry Events
Industry events are actually a great learning opportunity for you to continue your self learning journey. In many instances, you will discover that these conferences have sessions where you can be updated about the latest goings-on in the industry. Since these are events where numerous companies gather, it is often a simple way to gain a large amount of knowledge, at once.
As you can imagine, though, not all of these conferences or sessions will be equally as useful to you. Thus, you do need to be selective about the ones that you attend. Make it a point to go through the talking points or agenda to get a better idea of what you can expect.
Furthermore, keep in mind that there is a limit to how much information you can absorb at any given moment. Thus, you should stick to topics that are most important to you right now. You can then keep an ear out for any other developments and brush up on these later on.
Industry conferences are also an excellent place to meet other individuals within your industry. As such, you will be able to catch up with one another in a social setting and pass on knowledge in a more interesting manner.
Subscribe to Relevant Materials
It is now easier than ever to get your hands on educational material to support your self learning. These days, books, magazines, journals, and other resources are readily available. Therefore, you don’t have any excuse not to read up on them. This is especially true since many of these articles are available for free. If you wish to subscribe to paid services, opt for leading publications in your industry.
Clearly, signing up for all these materials will leave your inbox overflowing. Thus, it can be overwhelming to try and tackle the accumulated articles. To cut down on your workload, make it a point to read through the articles at the beginning or end of your day. If you make this a habit, you will find it a great deal easier to stay on top of things.
It is also a good idea to set up alerts on search engines. This can be done rather easily and you can keep track of a wide variety of topics within your industry. The benefit of this is that you can easily remain up-to-date on the latest trends taking place.
Consider Online Courses
There is no denying that the sheer volume of information available can feel rather intimidating at times. What’s more, it can often be difficult to determine what details are important and which ones you should ignore. To put things into perspective and structure your self learning, it can be helpful to take a few online courses.
In case you really are pressed for time and can’t take online courses, try another tactic instead. Look for online study materials or prep materials that can help you to absorb what you are learning a little better. This way, you will not have to spend hours revising, and you will still be able to organise your learning.
Watch and Learn
There is more to learning than having your head buried in a book or your computer. In many instances, the world around you is one of the greatest learning tools that you will have. In many instances, simply watching how people conduct themselves can be a great lesson.
Additionally, monitoring people can help you pinpoint mistakes and errors that they may be making. As a result, you will be able to avoid your own as you can learn from that. Examining the work ethics, tactics, and behaviour of your colleagues and superiors may be more informative than you ever realised. Thus, you should take full advantage of this opportunity.
Of course, you don’t need to limit your observations to your work environment alone. Social media and the news, in general, can help you to keep track of how industry leaders are conducting their business. Thus, you can learn a number of dos and don’ts by keeping an eye on them as well.
Final Thoughts
These are all the ways you can master the art of self learning. The main thing to do is to focus on acquiring knowledge for the rest of your career. This will prove to be the best way for you to get and stay ahead.
