3 Benefits of Continous Learning

We are always taking in new information but the question is WHAT are we learning? As human beings we are always growing, but we need to ask ourselves “in what direction”? Are we choosing the direction that we want to go?

Many people are committed to their "stories" which really are excuses for not taking action. They live their life by them. I used to be one of the people committed to my stories/excuses. Believe me, it was learned behavior. I learned it from many different sources such as family, school, friends and work environments. For example, because of the influence of others at work, I always believed that it was best for me to stay home 4 work nights each week and only be out late on a work night once a week. As a result there are many things I have not done because of that limiting belief that it was “not good for me to go out too many times during the week”. One of the things I missed out on was learning Spanish, something I have wanted to do for years.

So why is it that we should be making conscious choices about which information we take in so that we are Continuously Learning?

3 Benefits of Continuous Learning:

1) Protect your future for you and your family...

We can protect ourselves by learning new skills. With these new skills we can protect ourselves from being laid off or downsized. For example, if you were to go to school once a week and learn something that makes you a more valuable commodity in the marketplace or learned a new skill in a different arena, you could be prepared for downsizing or layoff when it happens. We know in this changing world that there is no escape from change, it surrounds us daily and the pace of change is accelerating.

Are you sitting around waiting for change or are you directing the change that happens to you? We know that we do not get a promotion without a test. Have you ever applied for a job that you really wanted? Did you study, do research on the company and their visions and goals. Prepare yourself for that interview/test? If you really wanted the job, then I am sure you did. Learning something new, preparing for that opportunity protects us and allows us to get out of our “comfort zone”. Nothing ever happens in the comfort zone, we stay right where we are, even though the world is changing around us. Do you want to get left behind?

2) Learning can change your life…

I have just completed a learning event with Live Out Loud and Loral Langemeier in Lake Tahoe. Believe me, it was a stretch and really assisted me in getting outside of my comfort zone. My life has changed for the better because of that experience and I am preparing myself for the future!

The events that have happened in my life where I have had to get out of my comfort zone have all in some way, big or small, improved my life. There are still times where I want to wallow in my comfort zone. However, now I know the perils of staying there, so I do not stay there very long.

When I first started on my journey of building my home based business, our dream was to be able to sponsor 10 children with "The Plan". As we have learned and grown through the process our focus is now to sponsor 100 children. The learning has changed our attitude about life and money, which of course has resulted in changing our lives. The focus of our life has changed for the better.

3) Learning can keep you young…

Learning assists us in adapting to change. Think of a time when you dreaded having to learn something new. Why were you dreading it? Was it because you are not in the habit of learning? Did you believe it would be too hard? Did you not see any benefit for the learning? Getting back into the habit of learning is just like starting out on a bicycle, it takes a lot more effort to get going than it does once you have attained the desired speed. When we are learning we are involved with life, we are out with our peers or a whole new group of people.

What are new information are you feeding yourself? I realized that the fiction books I was feeding myself were simply a form of escape. Very similar to the young boy we met on the streets of Le Ciba in Honduras. He was one of the kids who were abandoned to the streets as young as the age of two. What he did to escape the reality of his own life was to sniff gasoline. After meeting him I realized that I was doing the same thing by reading too many fiction books.

After that I started feeding myself with more positive material. If this is one of your escape mechanisms and you desire to change it, you may want to switch the type of books that you read. Biographies are a great way to switch from fiction because they are stories too.

Once we have begun to change our learning habits by making conscious decisions about the information we feed ourselves on, the next step is to teach what we have learned. Teaching others is the best way to learn it even better. One of my great desires is for my family and friends to learn how not to get left behind. That is the reason I choose to write these articles, because assisting you in your learning also assists me in understanding better myself.

I thank you very much for reading this article and welcome comments. Please send me an email, I would love to hear your stories about how learning has affected your life.

The next step is to teach what we have learned. Teaching others is the best way to learn it even better. One of my great desires is for my family and friends to learn how not to get left behind. That is the reason I choose to write these articles, because assisting you in your learning also assists me in understanding better myself.

I thank you very much for reading this article and welcome comments. Please send me an email to Carla@RetireWithCarla.com, I would love to hear your stories about how learning has affected your life.