Today we live in the information age. The great thing is that information is infinite and keeps growing. You probably have heard the phrase “information is power”; it is more so now then it ever has been. With all of the information so readily available it is so easy to learn more and make progress in your life based on that knowledge. The downside to this is if you do not keep learning then you will fall behind in society.
Many people in previous generations lived in a system where you would take a job and you could work at that job until you retire. That is no longer the system. I cannot blame older generations that have fallen to the wayside because they have have been out placed by technology or outsourcing. They were operating in the system they understood. The sad fact is this is the place we are and if they wish to make progress they need to change their mentality and start learning and developing new skills so they do not get further behind. They can fight, argue, say they are owed, say it is not fair (I cannot say it is fair) but there is only one way out of it, learning.
The scariest thing to me is many people in my age group and younger that feel that they do not need to learn anything past school. They live in the system now and they see what lack of growth has done to previous generations. They still want that job that they can stay at forever. It scares me because they know the consequences of not learning more but choose to do nothing about it. They are very apathetic and my teacher friends are telling me it is getting worse.
I believe if we do not fix this problem then we are developing a class separation in our society but instead of the haves and the have-nots it will be the learning and the learning-nots. Notice I did not say anything about being smart; it is about continual learning. From the learning and the learning-nots we will then develop into the have and have-nots once again because the ones that are learning new skills are the ones that will able to command what happens in their lives, society, and their income.
The world is growing at a breakneck speed and in order for you to keep up you need to learn. When I say learn I mean learn something that will make you more affective. It does not need to be a college education, it can be a skill, it can be a seminar, from a coach, from the internet, from the library, from a trade school, from a mentor, or from a book. I have found so much information free on the internet that has helped me to become more affective I tend to question the validity of formal education for everyone.
How do you know what you should learn. You should learn what aligns with your passions and goals. You could study quantum physics but how is that going to make you a more affective person (I could argue the value in learning something unrelated to your goals could help you expand your mind but this is not as great a “bang for your buck”) unless you are a physicist. This goes back to knowing who you are. Trying to force yourself to learn something that does not align with your passions and goals will be like pushing a bolder up a hill. Find something you enjoy and it will come naturally and be enjoyable.
Please do not fall behind in this world and find something to learn.