OPINION: Learning all life long

In the last few years, the term “lifelong learner” has become more popular. Described as the “ongoing, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons,” lifelong learning can be a variety of things.

While the idea of continuing personal education past school has been around for a long time, the popularity of the term “lifelong learning” in recent years has been helpful for me. In my mind, it’s a more professional way of saying I’m a nerd.

However, you don’t have to watch history videos for fun or be obsessed with reading to be a lifelong learner. Earlier today, I found an article called “10 Habits of a Lifelong Learner” from Point Loma Nazarene University (interesting it came from PLNU, since this way my dream college for years).

The college says there are three types of learning: formal, non-formal and informal. Formal is generally in a school setting or in-company training. Non-formal learning “consists of learning embedded in planned activities that are not explicitly designed as learning, but which contain an important learning element such as vocational skills acquired at the workplace.” Informal learning is when daily life activities educate you, so seemingly accidental education.

While this is interesting, the meat of the article is, as the title would suggest, 10 habits often practiced by lifelong learners. In no particular order, these habits are: nurture a growth mindset, don’t be afraid to welcome new challenges, take ownership of your future, incorporate reading into your daily routine, develop your time management skills, nurture your passions, embrace your curiosity, understand the need for rest and self-care, understand that learning must be pursued with intention and take courses regularly.

For me, the easier habits are the ones that are more formal or non-formal. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I enjoy seeking out new information and learning the classic way. It’s the everyday, learning-from-life-experiences habits that I’m not so good at - not because I can’t look at my mistakes and change, but because going into something knowing there’s a good chance I could fail is hard.

My anxiety immediately stops me at the door and reminds me all the ways something could go wrong. Sometimes it’s not even cognizant thoughts that tell me no, but simply a feeling in my gut that stops me in my tracks. Evolutionarily, anxiety was made to help humans with real threats, like predators. However, since we no longer have to worry daily about bears attacking, many of us get anxiety over non-life-threatening issues.

As part of my lifelong learning journey, I am attempting to slowly override this evolutionary oopsie. While medications certainly help in this, I also need to go out of my way to make decisions my anxiety might disagree with. And while sometimes things may not work out the way I want them to and my anxiety is proved right, I’ll be able to learn from these experiences. You can’t improve your life if you’re afraid of change.

Some of the recent changes I’ve made are small, like being willing to verbally disagree with my friends. This may sound silly, but I was really proud of myself the first time I did that. A bit bigger, but my ride on the hot air balloon in September was a huge step too.

I feel like the majority of people have more issues with my favorite part of learning rather than the learning from daily life. If you want somewhere to start for your formal learning, I can certainly help you with that!

For basically any topic, there’s always nonfiction books. If you’re like me and sometimes have difficulties reading a physical nonfiction book, audiobooks are perfect! I’ve found that some of the more factual stories are more engaging via audio. Plus, then you can read a book while also working out or getting chores done around the house. Even historical fiction can help in this, because while the people are usually fictional, the events aren’t.

If you’re more of a visual person, there are plenty of documentaries or YouTube channels that can help. While documentaries are more professional, sometimes a science or history video on YouTube where an expert is casual is more helpful.

There are various apps you can use for language learning and coding. You can also take extra classes at the college, your gym or with local businesses. Learning doesn’t have to be about the same things you learn in school (though that’s what I enjoy), it can be about any topic, like working out or art. No matter how you work to expand your brain and learn new things, it’s doing good things for you.