How to Be a Lifelong Learner

Do you consider yourself to be a lifelong learner? According to the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas, learning new things can help to foster a healthy brain and decrease the chances of cognitive decline.

This is great news if you want to start a new career, jump into entrepreneurship, or simply enjoy the golden years of life!?

Ideas for Embracing Lifelong Learning

Think about the last time you took a class or learned a new hobby. It was probably a long time ago, right? Even though lifelong learning is important, it isn’t something that is necessarily embraced in American culture.?

Here are some tips on how you can embrace lifelong learning and benefit from all of the new knowledge you’ll gain!

Start with Your Mindset

Embracing lifelong learning starts by changing your mindset. If you’re stuck in a fixed mindset, you probably won’t be able to overcome your fears and take advantage of the opportunities out there for you.

Instead, work on cultivating a growth mindset. When you train yourself to stay open-minded and ready to embrace new challenges, you’ll be more likely to open yourself up to new opportunities.

Set a Goal

The truth is, there is so much knowledge out there to learn. It’s practically unlimited! To help guide yourself through your lifelong learning journey, establish some goals.

What do you want to learn? Do you want it to be something for fun, like a new hobby? Or do you want it to be something you can monetize, like a new career?

Embrace Failure

Failure is a part of life, and it’s going to be a big part of lifelong learning. The only way to achieve the benefits of learning new things is to embrace the fact that you may not be good at your new activity right away. Instead of shying away from growth, embrace your failures and keep pushing forward.

Explore Local Offerings

One of the best ways to start your lifelong learning journey is to look into local community colleges, universities, and libraries for classes or courses about topics that are interesting to you.

Most colleges will allow you to audit a class, which means you’ll get all of the information, without needing the grade. Other colleges, like the University of Delaware, Harvard University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have adult learning centers with programs tailored specifically to retired learners ages 50+. Offered in person or online, options include everything from Recreational Folk Dancing to Constitutional Law classes.

Explore Online Options

Speaking of online classes, local colleges aren’t the only places where you can find courses that interest you. Other online opportunities include sites like MasterClass, The Great Course Plus, or Coursera. You can even take certain classes online for free!

Satisfy Your Curiosity and Keep Your Brain Strong

Lifelong learning is good for us for so many reasons. Whether you want to dive into a new career, learn more about a topic that’s always interested you, or take a class you didn’t get to take in school, taking a new class as an adult is a great way to meet people, satisfy your curiosity, and keep your brain strong.

Take a minute and think about it. What do you want to learn today?