12 Important Reasons To Never Stop Learning
If I was to give one piece of advice to someone, it would be to never stop learning. I love learning new things and new skills more than anything. Not only is it fun, but it’s so fulfilling. Whether you want to expand your knowledge on a topic you are already familiar with or start something you have no clue about, it’s good for your health and your mind.
Why do people stop (actively) learning?
Most people, after they finish school or university, just stop learning new things. They become solely interested in working to earn money and then spend that money over the weekends or on luxuries they can’t afford.
The biggest reason, most people stop learning is because they hate being beginners. They don’t like being at the bottom. But you can’t get good at something and reach the top without starting at the bottom. Everyone has to start somewhere.
If you are consistent, you will see improvement. That’s true for anything. Grow and adapt is the key to any situation.
The second reason, most individuals stop learning is because they think it is boring. But learning is exactly the opposite of that (but more on that later).
Why you should never stop learning?
Okay, no one technically stops learning because life teaches you at every step of the way. However, most stop actively learning. This means they stop going out of their way to gain new knowledge. But I feel like that’s just a life wasted. When you stop learning, you stop living.
So here are 12 reasons that will motivate you to become your own student:
01. Good for your brain
It keeps the mind young and sharp. Depending on what you decide to learn, you could be improving your memory, your perception, or something else. While doing push-ups exercises your muscles, learning exercises your brain. There more you make it work, the better it will become.
Not exercising your brain can have a big impact on your health so make it a habit to learn new things every day. It could just be reading 10 pages out of a book or it could be learning origami. Just as long as you keep your brain active.
It doesn’t matter if you 18 or 80, the brain seeks to learn more so don’t deprive it.
02. Learn valuable skills
By learning new skills you are investing in yourself and your future. Being a lifelong learner can open so many opportunities for you.
Knowledge is the one thing that no one can take away from you. So rather than spending your money on a new fancy watch, how about using that money to buy a couple of books or an online course? Your future self will thank you.
Keep improving yourself and pick up new hobbies or interests. If you just stick to what you learned at university, you are limiting yourself to a few specific career paths. Don’t obstruct yourself to greatness.
Or perhaps you start learning a skill and in a few years, you could sell that newfound knowledge through a side hustle. In either case, life becomes exciting once again.
03. Become more interesting
If you know various different things, it automatically makes you a more interesting person. Therefore, you will talk to a bigger range of people from different backgrounds and increase your social network.
People will want to talk to you and even learn from you so they can do the same.
Don’t settle for being average. Get hobbies, uncover your passion and you will become wiser. People want to talk and learn from people who are doing big things in their lives, not by those who sit at home doing nothing all day.
This is just another good way to become more sociable if that’s something you’re struggling with. I can assure you, you will never run out of things to talk about. Stop talking about the weather and start talking about more interesting topics and you will attract the kind of people you want in your life.
04. Gain new perspectives
If you start reading more books or learning completely new things in general, you will start appreciating and understanding the world on a different level.
Being open-minded in a society where there is so much diversity is a must. For example, learning a new language can make you see the world through a different lens. Once you learn something new, the world becomes slightly different.
It will also help you connect with other people more easily since you will appreciate and understand other people’s opinions and perspectives.
05. More creative
The more you expose yourself to, the more ideas you will get. They say that originality doesn’t exist. All ideas are just a combination of things that already exist. With that thinking, the more you learn and see, the more likely new creative ideas will come to you.
You could even join two hobbies you recently discovered and create something amazing out of it. Maybe a unique business idea.
So if want to be creative, always keep your mind sharp by learning and engaging your brain every single day.
Don’t underestimate the power of knowledge.
06. More confidence, more happiness
Not many say they want to learn something new because they want to gain more confidence but it’s certainly something that happens when you become more knowledgable.
And with that confidence, you gain intrinsic happiness. While most people look for external validation to feel good about themselves, you can find happiness through personal self-growth and improvement,
07. It’s fun
Learning is fun. The reason people think it’s boring is that they associate it with school. Learning new skills on your own is quite a different experience. Firstly, you enjoy it more because you choose what to learn. You’re not forced to learn about things you hate. When you do something because you want to rather than because someone is making you do it, it becomes so much more fun.
Secondly, the way most teachers teach is highly inefficient. Each person learns in a different way. But teachers use the same teaching methods on every student. No wonder so many people hate school.
Find something you are genuinely interested in, and I promise you, you will fall in love with learning.
09. Learn to be humble
When you start learning more stuff, you become aware of how much you still don’t know. The more you dig deeper into a subject, the more you realize how little you know about the subject.
When you come to this realization, you become more humble. While you become confident, you don’t become overconfident because you know you still have a long way to go and you will never know everything.
Those who refuse to learn have quite a different perspective. They believe they know everything and that’s why they don’t want to take the time to expand their mind.
10. Good for your career
Whether you work in a company or if you want to become an entrepreneur, having various valuable skills, is crucial. It makes you stand out.
You become an irreplaceable member of the workforce and might even get paid more.
And when it comes to entrepreneurship, well learning isn’t an option. You will learn new things every day whether you like it or not.
In either case, your life can become better by knowing more.
11. Gain respect
If you start working hard and learning new skills, you will gain the respect of others too.
When you dive into the world of self-improvement, saying no to going out all the time, becomes common. While your friends might get annoyed at you for staying at home or working on personal projects, you will gain their respect.
Being strong enough to say no and being self-disciplined to learn new skills, is admirable and quite rare in this society.
12. Become adaptable
The world keeps changing which means you must be good at adapting to new situations. Sadly, not many people are adaptable because they are too comfortable and too used to their usual habits.
Starting at the bottom is uncomfortable. We don’t like being bad at something. However, that’s something you get more used to as you put yourself through more uncomfortable situations.
So when life does throw something at you, you will be able to adapt quickly. Become ok with being uncomfortable and you’ll become unstoppable. Soon, you will be able to solve any problem that comes your way.
Conclusion
Botton line, keeping on learning throughout your life has countless benefits. It improves your mental health and your social skills.
Whether you call yourself a designer, a waiter, or unemployed, there is always an opportunity to learn something new.
If you are reading this, then I’m guessing you have a phone or a computer and an internet connection. And that means you have no excuse to not learn. There are so many amazing skills you can learn for free on the internet through YouTube videos, online courses, and ebooks.
Never stop learning.
PS- Read books every day. Even fiction books. It will expand your mind and make you think deeper about the world.
Originally published at https://www.terramovement.com on December 15, 2020.
