Education is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself – it allows you to use your mind to its full potential, ensures that you’re mentally active and challenging yourself. As we get older, it can be easy to get stuck in our routines of eat, work, sleep and repeat, with little thought for continuing education or pursuing a more formal type of education. Additional certificates or qualifications can be a great way to improve your earning potential, but it can also be a window into a new career if that’s something you consider. Here are my top three reasons you should consider ongoing education.
1. Exploring Your Passions
There’s formal education which can often be quite expensive, but critical if you want to work in a specific field or want to move up the corporate ladder. However, you can also educate yourself in other fields you’re interested in, in a less formal way. I personally love watching Youtube tutorials on photography, which is a great and completely free way to learn about something new. You can read books on nutrition, time management, even social media management. There are a number of great learning resources available both online like https://kaplan.co.uk/ and offline that are both affordable and easy to get a hold of. I personally think we should always be exploring our interesting and learning about what excites us!
2. A Career Change
I like to think that we’re not a tree and thus able to change where we are and what we’re doing. If you’re not happy with your career, then you should consider changing it to something that would make you happy or fulfilled. Yes, it can be hard admitting what you have done for years or what you studied at university is no longer your passion, but when you consider how many hours a day, week, month, and year that you spend at work, it should hopefully be something that gives your life meaning or excites you. If it’s not, it may be worth looking into further education for a career change.
3. Great Way to Meet New People
If you decide to learn a new skill, such as joining a photography course, going on a surfing workshop, or even going back to university, chances are you’re going to meet a number of like minded people who will enrich your lives. Some of my favourite friends are the friends I made during various courses in my life. It can be a great way to expand your social group, while learning something new!
Education is really one of the greatest gifts, so no matter your age you should consider educating yourself in a way that feels right for you.