My wife and I are in the process of establishing her second holistic veterinary practice in Penang.
And, like all new ventures, there is a tremendous amount of work that is going into it.
There have been lots of travelling up north, weekly, to get the practice ready, and also to set up our second home in Penang. So, you can imagine the cumbersome lugging of equipment, furniture, etc.
A few days ago, as I was lifting a heavy box full both conventional and holistic veterinary books up to our new place, its weight made me ask my wife why she needed so many "textbooks" even after being in practice for more than 25 years.
She replied that her work involved constant study and the acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, she needed the tools to help her with continuous learning.
She added that this was also the reason she went to Singapore recently to attend an international veterinary conference. For her, it was all about learning.
Key traits that successful people have is their commitment to life-long learning.
One of the biggest challenges in life is to remain relevant in our careers and areas of expertise. Continuous learning and re-training become vital, especially as our life expectancy increases.
Cultivating the habit of developing your mind through persistent learning will guarantee that you get results. When you dedicate yourself to continuous learning, you will progress in all areas of life.
Even when choosing an employer, people who are successful will investigate how much learning opportunities a company may offer. They will check if their potential employer has a track record of training its staff, and their decision to join will be based on this.
The most effective people I know also read a lot. They attend conferences and conventions. And they go to numerous talks and forums. They are interested in anything and everything that can help them become more effective and get results.
You must realise that learning also has deep intrinsic advantages. It helps with your self-esteem.
As you learn, you gain competence. And, as you become competent at what you do, your confidence increases. I ask all the people I coach in my executive leadership coaching sessions to remember this.
Your confidence will boost your self-efficacy and you become more adaptable to change when it happens. Learning will challenge your entrenched beliefs. This allows you to be receptive to new ideas.
On the whole, learning helps you achieve a more satisfying personal life.
I have understood that there are two primary motivators for continuous learning. The first is learning for personal satisfaction and the second is learning for professional development.
The start point is to cultivate lifelong learning for personal satisfaction. It is a core habit that everyone needs to nurture.
In fact, it is a prerequisite for long-lasting mental health.
Groundbreaking research published by the National Institutes of Health in the United States indicates that those who continue learning new things throughout life, while challenging their brains, are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
There are other advantages why people learn for personal growth.
I have a friend who took up deep sea diving at the age of 45. This precipitated his early retirement and he now spends a great deal of time diving in some of the most beautiful and exotic locations around the world. Life truly began for him after 50!
The second reason for continuous learning is for your professional or career development.
Having good qualifications alone will not ensure that you get a rewarding job. In the modern context, the people who hire you are very interested in whether you have "transferable skills".
These are skills or abilities that are relevant and helpful across various disciplines. For this, you need to demonstrate that you are keen to learn and develop multiple skillsets.
Lifelong learning also makes sense from a financial stand-point. The more skills and knowledge you amass, the more you become an asset to your company. This will accelerate the chances of you getting promoted, and earning more.
And this is not something that applies only for young executives.
For instance, having been a "conventional" educator and professor of education for his entire work-life until mandatory retirement, my father in his later years embraced technology as a teaching tool.
At the age of 69, he became the dean of the education faculty at a local online university.
Now, this was an amazing feat for him, considering that in my family, we used to refer to him as at the "technology inept department". But if you are invested in lifelong learning, evolving and growing, you add value to yourself by valuable to others.
So, if you want growth, don't stop learning.
