With the arrival of the new school year, I often hear people say how lucky we older people are that we don’t have to study. How wrong that statement is. Nowadays, those who are not continuously recycling their knowledge run the serious risk of becoming outdated and even of being left out of the labor market.
Continuous learning is a process that involves acquiring knowledge, skills and competencies throughout life. In a constantly changing and evolving world, continuing to learn has become a necessity to stay up-to-date and relevant in the job market and in life in general. Sometimes, even a simple refreshment of knowledge is not enough, we must recycle it completely. Recycling knowledge can be seen as updating and deepening existing knowledge and skills as the environment changes. That is, adapting as new technologies, new processes and new ways of doing things are developed, implying an incursion into new knowledge niches that were not previously covered and even going as far as a change of discipline.
In today’s world, the speed of technological change and the increasing complexity of industries make continuous learning and knowledge recycling more important than ever. Companies need employees who can adapt to change and embrace innovation in order to compete in the global marketplace. The ability to unlearn and learn quickly and effectively is a highly valued skill in employees. People need to always be in learning mode to stay current and relevant in the job market.
It is very important for companies to keep their employees up to date with new knowledge so many of them offer training and development programs for their employees. In a symbiotic process where both the company and the employee are winners.
The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.
Henry Ford
All this is not only limited to the workplace as seen from the company as a whole, if we look at it individually, almost all people spend most of their lives working, and not giving up training helps them to improve their performance at work and increase their chances of promotion and career growth. Moreover, it has been shown that continuing to study also provides a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem, which can improve overall quality of life.
However, continuing education is not always easy, at best it requires continuous effort and a willingness to learn new things, and at worst, it may also require time (so scarce nowadays) and financial resources to join to specific education programs and certifications. However, the long-term benefits of continuous learning and retraining far outweigh the initial costs and efforts. It is also important to set learning goals and create an action plan to achieve them.
Learning platforms
Technology has made access to training and all types of knowledge more viable and convenient than ever before. A wide variety of online learning resources, such as courses, tutorials, e-books or instructional videos, are available to everybody. Online education programs are available in a wide variety of subjects and levels, allowing people to study and learn at their own time and pace regardless of age, schedule, or subject matter sought.
There are many platforms available (even free). Some examples could be:
- Coursera: is one of the most popular platforms for free online courses. They offer courses in a variety of subjects, from business and technology to social sciences and humanities.
- edX: is another free online course platform that offers a wide variety of courses from universities and organizations around the world.
- Khan Academy: is a free educational platform that offers online courses in math, science, programming, history, art and more.
- MIT OpenCourseWare: is an initiative of the University of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that offers free online courses in a wide variety of subjects.
- Udacity: is a free online course platform that focuses on technology, including courses in areas such as artificial intelligence, application development and programming.
- Codecademy: is a free online platform that offers programming courses in a variety of programming languages, including Python, Java, HTML, CSS and more.
Now more than ever, it is important to have a constant learning mindset, not to lose the restlessness of discovery inherent to young children, not to be afraid of the new. This implies being open to new ideas and ways of doing things, being willing to forget and learn again, and being willing to learn from mistakes and failures.
Continuous learning and knowledge recycling are essential for success in today’s world, both in personal life and at work. People who are committed to them have a competitive advantage in the job market and in life in general. Therefore, it is important to adopt a constant learning mindset and seek opportunities to learn and grow in all areas of life.