The 10 Rules of Continuous Learning
The Past is No Longer Prologue
There was a time — and not long ago — when the body of knowledge you acquired during your first few years of work was enough to carry you through. That world no longer exists.
Instead, we live in an era where job descriptions can change every few months. To survive, we have to continually adapt and change with them.
Continuous learning has now become a critical component of a successful career.
It’s important to note that continuous learning, in this context, differs significantly from the training and continuing education courses (CED) sponsored by your employer or industry association.
The latter, which is made available to all employees, is formally delivered and tracked, supported by standardized materials and study aids, and takes place either online or in a classroom where an instructor leads you through a preordained curriculum.
While this type of training keeps you up to date with the latest developments relevant to both your industry and specific job title, it does little to separate you from your peers who receive the same training.
Continuous learning has nothing to do with instructors or classrooms or standardized curriculum. Rather than being bound to a curriculum, continuous learning is completely open and self-directed.
Continuous Learners are Explorers
They venture out far beyond their own field of expertise, exposing themselves to a wider range of ideas. Some may be germane to their profession while others touch upon it only slightly.
What’s important is opening yourself to the new and the unexpected. When you do, you’ll quickly discover that many of your preconceived notions are either false or outdated.
Ready to become a continuous learner? Start by following these 10 rules:
1. Create a Skills Inventory: The first step is to take an inventory of your current skills. Not just the hard skills such as computer programming, project management or preparing a legal brief, but also the softer skills. Are you comfortable working in a team? Are you a good manager, an effective leader? Do you communicate easily with others? Create a competency scale then grade yourself for each item. Answer each question honestly and you’ll quickly find the holes you need to fill.
2. Analyze what’s going on around you. Understand how the world is changing politically, economically and socially. Will these changes impact your industry? Your job? If the answer is Yes, then decide what skills you’ll need to weather the storm.
3. Think about your interests. Not just hobbies or sports but all the things you’ve always wanted to do, places you’ve wanted to go, subjects you’ve wanted to study. Can mastering any of these help you in your career? You can’t do everything, so be realistic.
4. Understand how you learn best. Do you prefer reading, listening to audiobooks, watching videos, or a combination of the three? If your plan includes learning outside your current job or industry, will you need to meet experts in these fields? If so how will you approach them?
5. Decide on your goals. Once you’ve created your inventory and assessed your skills and interests, it’s time to establish your goals. Some can be short-term while others will take longer to achieve. All should be doable.
6. Build a Roadmap. How will you achieve these goals? Will you attack them sequentially, first this then that? Or will your approach be more holistic, studying multiple often disparate subjects at the same time. Whatever you decide, remember that focus is critical to success. When you’re just starting out, your enthusiasm will be at a high point. If you overwhelm yourself with too much too soon, all that energy you’ve built up will come to a crashing halt.
7. Establish a Timeline. It’s reasonable to accept that you can’t do everything at once. But you also don’t want things to drift. That’s why a timeline is important. For every goal, establish a numeric rating of importance, then prioritize your goals based on this ranking. After you’ve prioritized your goals by importance, rank them again, this time according to how long it will take to achieve each goal. Weeks usually works best. Now prioritize once more, balancing both time and importance in your rankings.
8. Assess Your Progress. Human beings need positive reinforcement. Goals that are too far out are easily abandoned. Better to create sub-goals that can be achieved in a shorter amount of time. When you achieve them, reward yourself for a job well done.
9. Always Remember: Continuous learning is never easy. It demands time and attention, often at the expense of friends and family. But if you embrace the process with enthusiasm, the rewards will be many.
