Quick strategies for putting your lifelong learning plan in place.

According to Gallup, only 30% of people are truly engaged in what they do at work. Another poll conducted by Right Associates in 2015 revealed that only 18% feel their manager actively supports their career development. These are disappointingly low numbers for the place where most people spend the majority of their waking hours.

Now more than ever, taking ownership for your career journey and generating new experiences is critically important. By investing just minutes per day in putting your plan into action, you can take an active role in making sure you stay increasingly relevant and happy.

Sounds good.…so how do you get started?

Let’s dive in on some simple and quick strategies for designing a lifelong learning plan:

1. Identify goals AND design a plan to keep you engaged.

Where do you do see yourself in 5 to 10 years? What kind of life do you want to be living? Many people take the first step in creating goals, however they fail to manage them. Need convincing? Consider that only 8% of people keep their New Year’s resolutions. So make sure you don’t fall into the trap of creating goals without a structure to keep them top of mind.

For more tips on managing your goals, check out Career Journey’s lesson on how to create and manage goals and Career Realism’s article on “5 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast”.

2. Take a snapshot of your skills, talents and experience.

Take time to identify your top five skills and get feedback on how to hone them. Gallup’s StrengthsFinder is a great tool to help you with this. After you have done the work discovering what you love and where your innate talents lie, you are ready to design a lifelong learning plan that brings clarity to what you need to know in order to excel on your career journey.

Here are some points to consider as you develop a lifelong learning plan:

• Have you taken the time to outline your learning goals?
• What new knowledge or skills do you need to learn to excel on your path? Add those to your lifelong learning plan.

Consider voluntarily embedding learning goals in your performance appraisal process to set up a tangible and collaborative process with your immediate supervisor at work.

Another useful resource is Open College @ Kaplan University’s “Documenting Your Experiences for College Credit” course. It is a free resource which will help you to showcase your learning from your workplace, volunteering and military training experiences.

3. Create the right perspective. Be ready to embrace a non-linear path.

Many more doors open to us when we are willing to think creatively and work collaboratively. A new strategy for career development involves more lateral moves from job to job or even internships, rather than attempting to climb up the corporate ladder. Read more about that here.

Embrace change—it’s positive feedback from your environment saying, “I know you thought you were going here, but you’re really headed this way.”

4. Dedicate at least 15 minutes to learning something new…EVERYDAY

It only takes a few minutes to read an article in your field or follow a new influencer on LinkedIn. Just schedule it. According to Gallup, people who take the time to learn just one new thing a day are setting themselves up for success not only in their career but also in their overall wellbeing. Read their article here.

5. Create learning support structures—Networks, Educational Courses, and on-the-job experiences.

So much learning occurs outside of the classroom. Your network is an amazing source of insight on what you need to learn next. Leverage LinkedIn as a resource to catch up with a former classmate, professor or contact who is now an expert in your chosen field.  Ask the following questions:

• What is important for you to learn? What's the fastest path to get to where you want?
• How do they keep current with trends? What conferences, paid courses, degrees, certifications, free MOOCs should I review?
• What job experiences should you be creating to gain the most traction?

6. Measure your progress

There is power in clarity. Track your progress, stay grounded in reality and your goals.

• Are you achieving income in alignment with effort/career development path?
• Are you learning something new everyday?
• Are you documenting it?