Life of Becoming a Lifelong Learner and Why You Should Too

Embracing Learning at Every Age

Shireen Low
ILLUMINATION
4 min readMay 4, 2024

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Image credit to Canva Team

Life, in its essence, is a series of continuous changes and learning opportunities. Every experience, whether a professional milestone or a personal challenge, contributes to our evolving story. To me, the thrill of acquiring new skills and knowledge rejuvenates me, reaffirming that age is merely a number, not a barrier to learning.

Why Learn Continuously?

The world doesn’t stand still. Technologies evolve, industries transform, and knowledge expands. Staying updated is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. But more than that, continuous learning fuels our inner creativity and keeps our minds engaged and alive. It’s about pushing the boundaries of what we think we can achieve and then going a step further.

Navigate Learning Obstacles

The path to continuous improvement isn’t without its obstacles. There will be times of frustration and moments of doubt. The key is to view these challenges as part of the learning process. Each challenge is a question that, when answered, adds to your repository of knowledge and experience.

Organize Your Learning

One valuable resource I’d love to share is Notion, my go-to app for structuring my learning roadmap, tracking my progress, and documenting insights. This versatile tool is ideal for all types of learners, whether you prefer to visualize ideas or need structured lists to manage your courses.

The free account is sufficient for daily use. I highly recommend Notion to anyone looking to stay organized and productive — it’s essential for managing all personal and business matters effectively.

Master AI Before It Masters You

In the ever-evolving era of AI, studying Andrew Ng’s “AI for Everyone” course on Coursera was enlightening and transformative. Andrew’s ability to demystify complex concepts and engagingly present them made the course not just educational but a captivating exploration into the future of technology.

His humour and clarity brought the material to life, making advanced ideas accessible to both novices and experts. I highly encourage anyone interested in understanding AI to check out this course (not sponsored!).

Expand Expertise Across Fields

Following the completion of “AI for Everyone,” I pursued other topics such as “Prompt Engineering” and “Generative AI”. Just recently, I completed Google’s renowned Project Management Specialization course, which earned me a Professional Certificate, marking another significant milestone.

This series of six detailed courses, each with challenging graded assignments, tested my abilities and elevated my expertise. It reminded me that even seasoned professionals can continue to grow, and that true mastery comes from continuous practice and learning.

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Grow Personally Through Learning

Each new piece of knowledge enhances our capabilities and deepens our understanding of the world. Lifelong learning isn’t just about career advancement — it’s about personal fulfilment and maintaining mental agility. For me, learning is like mental yoga; it keeps me flexible and balanced.

Commit to Being Better

Ultimately, the commitment to lifelong learning is a personal choice —

A declaration that you are never done growing.

Whether you’re learning to keep up with technology, to enhance your career prospects, or simply for the joy of acquiring new knowledge, the key is that you are moving forward, always.

Live the Learning Journey

We are all students of life. By committing to lifelong learning, we commit to a life of curiosity, resilience, and continuous improvement.

We don’t learn to compete with others; we learn to compete with ourselves, striving to be better than we were yesterday.

Keep learning, keep growing, and let the journey of self-improvement lead us to unexpected and rewarding paths.

Key Takeaways

A lifelong journey of learning isn’t just about picking up random bits of knowledge here and there. It’s about setting deliberate goals, pursuing them with passion, and celebrating the milestones along the way.

It could be as simple as mastering a new skill every year or as ambitious as changing careers entirely. What matters is the setting of these goals and the persistence to achieve them.

No journey is meant to be walked alone. Surrounding yourself with a community of like-minded learners can transform the journey. Learning becomes more than self-improvement — it turns into a shared experience, enriched with diverse insights and mutual support.

Are you also on this path of lifelong learning, exploring a new hobby, enhancing professional skills, or discovering untapped talents? What’s capturing your curiosity today?

Share your thoughts and let’s connect — I’d love to hear about your learning adventures too!

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Shireen Low
ILLUMINATION

Positivity advocate | AI enthusiast | I help startups grow with affordable and efficient AI solutions. ➡️ thynkproductive.com