The Benefits of Lifelong Learning: How to Stay Motivated

Learning is an ongoing process that never stops. From the moment we are born, we start learning and continue to do so throughout our lives. Learning new things not only makes us smarter, but it can also increase our income and make our lives easier. However, it can be hard to stay motivated to learn, especially when we are older. Here are three things that lifelong learners do differently to stay motivated and continue to learn.

Knowing why you are learning
The first step to staying motivated to learn is to know why you are learning. Your brain always needs a motive to learn something before it will actually do it. Learning has so many possible benefits that everyone should make it a top priority. You can learn how to be successful, you can learn from the mistakes of others, you can learn new useful skills, and you can learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. However, it’s not just about learning new things, but also continuing to learn and grow throughout your life. Many great men and women throughout history endorsed lifelong learning, including:

– Albert Einstein: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”
– Henry Ford: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
– Earl Nightingale: “The minute a man stops learning, our world will begin to pass him by. He will be left a lonely and disconsolate figure in its wake.”
– Abraham Lincoln: “All I have learned, I learned from books.”
– John Adams: “I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough…the more one reads the more one sees we have to read”,

The list goes on and includes influential names such as Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Winston Churchill, Bruce Lee, Mahatma Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinci, Confucius, and Socrates. Learning is how you move up in life and expand your awareness to new ideas.

Forming a habit of learning
The second crucial step to staying motivated to learn is to form a habit of learning. True lifelong learners know they have a lot to learn, and that the more time spent learning the better. They cut down on distractions such as television, radio, video games, and social media to free up more time for learning. They listen to audiobooks during their commutes, they read every day, and they take notes. You don’t have to go to the extreme with this, but imagine if you just made a habit of spending an hour a day reading. Over the course of a year that would add up to 365 hours spent reading! Don’t fall into the pessimistic trap of thinking you have to give up your life or spend hours every day reading for it to have any effect. Just make small changes, slightly adjust your habits in favor of learning, and watch how your life will start to change with all the new knowledge being poured into your brain.

As Mahatma Gandhi put it: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Surrounding yourself with like-minded people who support you
The third step to staying motivated to learn is to surround yourself with like-minded people who support you. Meet up with people who are experts in your topic of study. Go to classes, seminars, courses, live events, and network with the people there. Keep friends around who understand and see the benefit of lifelong learning. Tell your friends and family what you plan to learn and get them to run accountability checks on you. Life-long learners learn from a multitude of sources, especially when they want to master a subject. Books, audiobooks, courses, seminars, other people, and mentors are all fair game for self-education for a lifelong learner. Expect success and be confident that you will learn whatever it is you are trying to learn as this will make it easier for you to learn it! All of this will motivate you to stay focused on your goals and learn.

In conclusion, learning is truly a lifestyle. Anyone, regardless of their age or background, can benefit from learning. It doesn’t matter how fast or long it takes. Information is value. Overcome any limiting beliefs that you may have about learning, and start learning! Once you start seeing the benefits of learning, you will become addicted. Learning and absorbing valuable information can change your life. Follow the three steps outlined above, stay motivated, and watch your life transform through the power of lifelong learning.