Guest post by Jonas Salzgeber

The minute a man ceases to grow, no matter what his years, that minute he begins to be old. – William James

Why would we want to keep on learning after years of school? That’s where we learn. When we finally finish school, we definitively don’t want to keep on learning, right? I mean school was all about learning. And school kind of sucked. So learning most certainly sucks too, and now that we don’t have to learn anymore, why would we do it voluntarily?

This is how many people end up after formal education. No more books. No more seminars. No more lectures. And no more exams. Hurray! “Most of our mental development and study discipline comes through formal education. But as soon as we leave the external discipline of school, many of us let our minds atrophy. We don’t do any more serious reading, we don’t explore new subjects … we don’t write … Instead, we spend our time watching TV.” That’s what Steven Covey stated in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People almost 30 years ago. But education doesn’t stop after we’ve finished formal education. That should just be the beginning. For many though, it’s the opposite, it’s the end of education.

In his book Talent Is Overrated Geoff Colvin states that extensive research has shown that “many people not only fail to become outstandingly good at what they do, no matter how many years they spend doing it, they frequently don’t even get any better than they were when they started.” People don’t improve. That’s called stagnation and in our fast-paced world that’s like going backwards. GOING BACKWARDS! We let our minds atrophy. If we just think about this for a minute, we know we don’t want to let that happen. So what’s the antidote?

Lifelong learning.

There are lots of reasons for being a lifelong learner. For now, let’s look at 5 reasons. And then you’ll learn about some strategies that’ll help you become a lifelong learner. Ready? Let’s jump right in.

5 Reasons Why You Want to Be a Lifelong Learner

 

1. Because that’s how you get better

It’s simple: Either you keep on learning and improving yourself, or you don’t. You grow or you shrink. This is true for all aspects of life. Your job, your relationships with others & yourself, and your body and your health.

Let’s look at the high-achievers in our world, the Kobe Bryants, the Oprah Winfreys, or the Albert Einsteins. They have certain things in common. One of which is that they always keep on improving. They want to be the best they can be. In order to get there they need to keep on learning. Simple as that.

In short, if you want to get better, you need to try to get better. You need to work on yourself. That’s how you grow as a person and how you get more interesting to others as well. I mean, you and I, we both only have this one life. One life. Now the cool thing is that we get to decide who we want to be. Either we try to become a better version of ourselves, or we don’t. Either we stay exactly who and how we are – which is completely fine – or we try to develop ourselves and get better. I choose the latter one. And I’m positive that if I always keep on working on myself I will eventually get better. “Step by step you get ahead,” as Charlie Munger used to say.

 

2. Because you’ll be more satisfied with your life

If you keep on learning and improving yourself, you get the feeling of moving forward. You’re not standing still, you’re getting ahead. You get better at things, this boosts your self-esteem, plus you get the feeling of accomplishment. You’re happier after you’ve acquired a new skill opposed to having watched an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The latter’s maybe fun and easy, but it won’t have a lasting positive effect on you.

Author Dan Pink argues in his book Drive that we need three things to feel satisfied with our life: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Now, as a lifelong learner you get all three of those psychological needs. You’re autonomous because you learn what you decide to learn. You’re not in school anymore where you have to learn what they tell you. You choose. You learn something you’re interested in. As you get better at certain things, you finally reach mastery. This makes you feel more fulfilled. Also, as a lifelong learner you have a new purpose in life, which is exactly that: lifelong learning. Maybe you can set yourself learning goals in order to strengthen that feeling of purpose.

Simply put, if you keep on improving yourself, you’ll be more satisfied with life.

 

3. Because lifelong learning is the fountain of youth

In their book Brain Power – Improve Your Mind as You Age, Michael J. Gelb and Kelly Howell named their second chapter “Be a Lifelong Learner.” They looked at scientific studies that show that your brain actually grows when you actively keep on learning. No matter your age.

For example, they cite a study that says that “playing chess or other challenging mental sports can lower the risk of developing dementia by as much as 74%.” (However, the researchers of the study concluded that “… our findings do not establish a causal relation between participation in leisure activities and dementia…”) Still, neuroscientists agree that learning something new is one of the best ways to strengthen your brain. So, lifelong learning keeps your brain healthy. And that makes total sense.

Education is the best provision for old age. – Aristotle

We’re living in a society where it’s widely accepted that you learn as a kid and it gets much harder to learn new things when you grow older. Many people accept that and decide for themselves that they won’t be able to learn new stuff. So they don’t. But is this even true? Michael J. Gelb and Kelly Howell state that “a growing body of research demonstrates that older people can learn new languages, and that adults may actually be better and faster language learners than children.” So, whatever your age, keep on learning. It’ll help you keep your brain young.

 

4. Because you’ll be more successful (and earn more)

Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. – Denis Waitley

Who do you think is better at what he does: the man who always tries to get better or the one who doesn’t (because he thinks he already knows it all)? In the long-run, it’ll definitively be the one who tries to improve himself. At the end of the day, the best are the most successful.

“I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.

Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.” – Charlie Munger

 

5. Because it’ll keep your ego at bay and make you humble

I’ve been reading Ryan Holidays book Ego Is the Enemy (fantastic read!) in which he advises to become a student. As the name of the books reveals, our ego is our enemy, in this case because it prevents us from getting any better. Think about it this way: Our ego doesn’t like to learn from others, because that would mean that others know more than us. And we don’t like that. To keep the ego at bay, we need to be a student. Holiday states that “[a] true student is like a sponge. Absorbing what goes on around him, filtering it, latching on to what he can hold. A student is self-critical and self-motivated, always trying to improve his understanding so that he can move on to the next topic, the next challenge. A real student is also his own teacher and his own critic. There is no room for ego there.” And being an eternal student keeps us humble.

It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows. – Epictetus

There you have it, 5 reasons why you want to be a lifelong learner. Now, let’s look at some practical tips on how you can be an eternal student. (By the way, you’re already doing much right as you’re reading this J.)

 

How You Can Be a Lifelong Learner

First of all, what holds you back (except for your ego)?

Time? Look, I know you’re busy. You’re working all day and want to spend the free time with your family and friends rather than learning. But as a lifelong learner you need to make time for improving yourself. You don’t need to read a book a day, or attend formal classes that cost a ton of money. I’m sure you’ve got 15 minutes here and there.

You can listen to audiobooks while you commute to work instead of the best hits of Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Bob Dylan. Success coach Brian Tracy suggests to “[t]urn your car into a learning machine, into a university on wheels. Never let your car running without an educational audio program playing.” Or you can bring a good book to wherever you go. Read that book when you’re waiting to see your dentist instead of thumbing through an outdated magazine. You can read on your cell phone instead of scrolling through the latest Facebook posts (I like the pocket app where you can save articles for later). You could also combine spending time with your kids and learning a new skill. Learn how to juggle with them. Who will learn it faster? The point is, if you want to, you’ll find the time to learn something. (I found out for myself that I used to waste huge amounts of time on activities like playing online games and watching TV series. I still do those things, but just much less. I prefer working on myself instead.)

What about money? Here’s the cool thing, you get free education online. You can attend official classes online for free and at your own pace. You can visit a local library and read books for free. Or you can order used books on amazon, they often cost less than a dollar (plus shipping). The money excuse isn’t valid anymore. Education doesn’t cost much.

This is all about investing in yourself. One of the most successful investors in the world, Warren Buffet, said that “[t]he best investment you can make is in yourself.” So stay open-minded and invest time and money in yourself. It’s worth it.

You can do it in uncountable ways. Listen to audio programs, attend online classes, write a journal, create a learning group where you discuss interesting things, learn a new sport (ever tried squash?), learn to dance salsa, or learn a new language (as we’ve learned earlier, it’s never too late to learn a new language).

I love reading books. It’s just a brilliant way to learn from the greatest thinkers of all time. I like how Stephen Covey put it: “It is so valuable to read broadly and to expose yourself to great minds. There’s no better way to inform and expand your mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature. … ‘The person who doesn’t read is no better off than the person who can’t read.’”

I’m sure you know a person who says “I just can’t remember names.” Well, this doesn’t make sense. Anybody can remember names, it’s just a matter of effort, which starts with the introduction: Listen to the freakin’ name! And repeat it. And try to memorize it right off the bat. It’s not so hard. This is a really good way to use your brain and keep it healthy.

Also, ask questions. This forces you to actively participate and think about what you learn. I stumbled upon this Art of Manliness article that shows you how to ask questions. And then teaching, or simply sharing what you learn, will make sure you truly understand the subject. This will also help you consolidate what you’ve learned and strengthen your memory. Finally, you can also test yourself. As you’re not attending formal education anymore, there will be no tests. But still, testing yourself will give you feedback that’ll help you get better. For example when you’re learning a new language, try to use it. Learning mandarin? Go to Chinatown and order your food in mandarin (if you get what you wanted you pass the test).

When I learn something interesting, I try to share it with my brother Nils. Often I realize that I haven’t understood it well enough to actually explain it. This feedback tells me to go back and learn more about it so I actually could explain it.

So you may experience difficulties learning new things, but it’s like with everything else: You’ll get better at it if you keep doing it. Brian Tracy puts it this way: “The good news is that the more you learn, the more you can learn. Just like the more you play a sport, the better you get at the sport. The more you dedicate yourself to lifelong learning, the easier it is for you to learn even more.”

Cool. That’s it. You know why you want to be a lifelong learner, and how you’ll get there. It’s super easy: Just keep on working on yourself. Let me know in the comments, what do you do in order to keep improving?

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong learning attempt to acquire it. – Albert Einstein

How to Get Started Right Now?

Want to be a lifelong learner? Awesome, then get the new Easy Entry to Lifelong Learning: 5 Books to Get You Started. It’s free and completely worth it. Cheers. (Click the link below.)

http://www.njlifehacks.com/lp/5-books-lifelong-learning/