Follow These Four Simple Steps to Become a Lifelong Learner

Are you still in the habit of learning new things?

Once you're out of school, it's easy to get out of practice with learning. If that's the case with you, it's time to accept that pushing yourself to learn new skills is critical to your long-term career success.

A lot of people say they're lifelong learners, but their actual behavior doesn't always meet the standard. Lifelong learning is the ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons.

Being a lifelong learner means having a growth mindset and an innate curiosity. You constantly push yourself to find more through new challenges, ideas, and experiences. You read books, learn new skills, and hone your expertise.

Lifelong learners are in a never-ending pursuit of being the best, most well-rounded versions of themselves, personally and professionally.

The Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learners don't just see better professional development. Lifelong learning has plenty of additional benefits, including personal fulfillment and general well-being.

Increase your employability

The world is changing at a speed we've never seen before. Before we know it, work will look and feel completely different than it does right now—and you won't be able to get by on just the skills you know now.

In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates that 6 in 10 workers will need significant upskilling before 2027, and 44% of the workforce will experience some skills disruption within the next five years. Adapting to this new world will require lifelong learners who are committed to developing their skills and gaining mastery of new technologies.

Employers are increasingly seeking business graduates who can prove they have flexibility and adaptability. Respondents to GMAC's 2023 Corporate Recruiter's Survey said that two of the biggest skills for graduates were communication and strategy; two skills that are hardly exclusive to the business world.

Developing a growth mindset—as opposed to getting stuck in one skill set—will offer you better career progression as you seek out new knowledge in an uncertain and changing business world. This will lead to greater success, more promotions, and a better salary as employers see your value.

Gain knowledge and perspective

Being a lifelong learner gives you perspective on the world and yourself, which can greatly benefit your professional and personal life.

It's important to remember that learning doesn't just come from higher education. There are lots of ways to be a lifelong learner, including by occasionally leaving your comfort zone.

Seeking out new perspectives and ways of doing things builds our resilience and helps us become more empathetic and understanding. This is an absolutely necessary skill set for managers.

The best managers use their empathy and knowledge of different perspectives to find the best way to harness their employees' varied skills. While this may seem like a challenge at first, the more you embrace different attitudes and ways of thinking, the easier it is to work with the huge diversity of people in any organization.

This applies to all kinds of industries. Wherever you're working alongside people, the ability to integrate yourself into different learning and working styles is a huge benefit.

Personal development

Lifelong learning will also help you lead a more fulfilling and multidimensional life for longer.

Research shows that the more you learn, the greater your cognitive abilities will be as you age. Being a lifelong learner will help prevent age-related memory loss, lower the risk of Alzheimer's, and equip you to face new challenges as you age.

This is down to something called 'neuroplasticity,' which is how well the brain can adapt to new experiences. Anything from learning a new language to acquiring new skills like coding or learning different management styles helps the neurons in your brain form stronger connections with each other.

Stronger connections between neurons improves memory and enables your brain to recover better from neurological decline—thus lowering risks of neurological conditions like Alzheimer's.

You don't even need to head back to university to strengthen these neural connections. Reading, traveling, and seeking opportunities to do something new (say, in a different department at your organization or a new organization altogether) will all help keep your brain healthy.

How Students Can Become Lifelong Learners

Fully dedicating yourself to becoming a lifelong learner can be a challenge at first. After all, who has the time to dedicate to learning with everything else going on?

To become a lifelong learner, follow these tips:

1. Make a commitment

Becoming a lifelong learner takes dedication and discipline. You'll need to accept that your professional and personal development depends on your ability to learn new things—and this is a lifelong process.

The first step to lifelong learning is committing to it. This happens both inside and outside the workplace.

Firstly, promise yourself you'll spend a portion of time learning and improving your knowledge and skills. It's a lot easier to stay committed to something when we make a habit out of it, but this requires patience. According to research, it takes 66 days to implement a new habit.

Organize your time so that learning and development become natural parts of your weekly or daily routine. This doesn't mean you need to set aside time every single day; try for the most achievable goal at first, like an hour every week.

Learning goals will also aid the habit-adoption process. Countless online courses are available in all kinds of skills, and many of them use weekly check-ins to keep you on track. The promise of an official certification can also spur you to continue the learning process.

2. Organize your learning

It's hard to learn if you don't know what you plan on focusing on. When you're following a new course, create a loose plan for each study session so you know which materials you need.

If you're following an online course, you'll find organizing your time easier, as each learning session will come with key talking points and learning goals. However, if you're following a course of self-study, it's even more important to organize each study session efficiently so you stay committed to skill acquisition.

You can use particular apps and software to keep your learning on track. For example, Notion can help you keep all your notes for your classes in one place, and productivity apps like Forest can help you focus during your sessions.

3. Be efficient

You probably learned this in college, but it's worth saying again: cramming is not the way to learn.

Studies show that the best learning occurs in periods of shorter intense focus followed by periods of rest and 'mind-wandering.' It may sound counterintuitive, but incorporating relaxation into learning improves cognitive function and increases the chances of retaining all that new information.

A popular learning technique that incorporates rests is the Pomodoro technique, which recommends 25-minute bursts of work followed by five-minute breaks. During this burst of learning, remember to focus on small amounts of information at once to avoid overloading your brain.

Another efficient way to learn is the blurting method. With this process, you set aside time for 'active recall': writing down everything you remember about a particular subject. This can help impart the knowledge in your long-term memory, enabling you to recall it more easily later when needed.

4. Focus

Though it's easier said than done, avoid the urge to multitask when learning. Don't take on too many subjects at once; instead, focus on one topic at a time.

Although you might think it's more efficient to take on multiple skills at once, multitasking actually makes you less productive. Make sure your learning space is tidy and limited by distractions. Keep your phone in another room while you're working, for example, or create a login profile on your computer that's dedicated to skill development.

Focus also applies to your choice of topic. Although a key factor in adopting a lifelong learning mindset is exploring subjects outside your comfort zone, it's also going to be easy to commit to studies if you choose something you're passionate about.

Maybe you've always wanted to learn a particular instrument, or have set a goal to travel to a new country and want to pick up the language. The skill might be related to professional development—maybe you've developed a new interest in a particular industry or area of business and want to see where those skills take you in your career.

Whatever it is, try not to overload or pressure yourself with too many topics at once.

Ways to Prioritize Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning varies from person to person. There are many ways to pursue lifelong learning; the trick is finding the best one for you.

For example, you don't need to take a paid-for online course if you don't want to. Lifelong learning can look like self-directed learning through attending workshops or reading books on your chosen subject.

Professionally, lifelong learning includes attending conferences, networking, and staying up-to-date on industry news. You might take classes on a platform like LinkedIn or Coursera to ensure your skills match the way your industry is heading.

However, lifelong learning can also manifest via formal education. So, you might earn a degree or other professional certification.

Read more: Are You a Good Candidate for an Executive MBA?

Lifelong Learning with an MBA

One particularly effective pathway to becoming a lifelong learner is to return to graduate school and earn an MBA degree. Formal education, such as an MBA, can set you up for lifelong learning by acquiring important skills like critical thinking and problem-solving.

The generalist nature of an MBA program also encourages students to acquire varied skills across many business areas. Stepping out of your preferred business area for a time and exploring new ways of doing things will prepare you for a career that is more flexible and ever-changing.

Plus, during an MBA, you'll learn in a highly diverse environment. This will open your brain up to new ways of thinking—a skill you'll carry through your professional and personal life in the future.

During an MBA program, you also become part of a community that supports lifelong learning. MBA programs know your education shouldn't end when you earn your degree, and many are committed to supporting your educational journey after you leave the classroom.

MBA programs often make online coursework available to their alumni network for in-demand subjects, host in-live learning events, and even offer one-on-one counseling with the career services staff. These options vary by program, so make sure you do your research when making the next step in your journey as a lifelong learner.

Are you ready to take the first step toward becoming a lifelong learner? Explore the many ways that business school can jump-start your pursuit of bettering yourself.