Why Being An Adult Learner Improves Your Quality Of Life
Why Being An Adult Learner Improves Your Quality Of Life
Lifelong learners enjoy a better quality of life and a plethora of other benefits. This piece of wisdom has been shared many times by all different sorts of philosophies over the years. Just because it’s a bit of a cliche, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Being a lifelong learner definitely has its advantages. Here is why being an adult learner improves your quality of life.
New Knowledge and Skills
The first and most obvious advantage of embracing adult education is the chance to gain new skills and knowledge. The capacity for our brains to learn and retain new information really is endless, no matter at what stage of life. And gaining new skills and knowledge has a flow on effect for other areas of your life.
Opportunity to Change or Enhance Career Paths
Everybody feels the itch from time to time and wants to look into a new career. This desire for change and challenge never really goes away.
Pursuing adult learning and education gives you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge on your current career path or retrain for a whole new field.
Learning something that you are interested in means that you are more likely to devote time to it and therefore build these new skills while you are still maintaining your current career responsibilities.
You could essentially be setting yourself up to move into a new role, without the stress of doing so without existing employment.
Overall Health – Physical & Mental
Our mental and physical wellbeing is greatly impacted by continued education. Studies have shown that lifelong learning for seniors has resulted in reduced instances of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Marny Lishman is a health and wellbeing psychologist. She advocates for lifelong learning as a way to enhance our quality of life.
“Lifelong learning helps with cognitive decline, and improves memory,” she says. “Research has also shown that keeping the mind actively learning new things can decrease the symptoms of anxiety and depression.”
Become More Understanding of Other Cultures
Engaging in adult learning exposes you to new people and more diverse groups than you might encounter in your regular day-to-day life.
Being in one workplace or industry for a long period of time can sometimes see us become too used to the people we work with.
Adult learning allows us to experience cultures and people outside of our day-to-day and we can become more understanding of differences – that we may not have considered before.
Increased Focus
When you’ve been working for a long time, and you haven’t studied in a while it can be difficult to remember how. One of the best side effects of studying as an adult learner is learning how to learn again. Regaining your focus and finding new ways to absorb information are just some of the great benefits of returning to study as an adult.
Professional Development
Taking a course, even if it’s not within your field of expertise, can be a great way to further your career. By taking on adult education you can make connections with other professionals in different fields, engage in networking and hone your soft skills as well as adding new skills to your resume.
Soft Skills
Engaging in adult education helps you to hone your soft skills, it improves your communication skills, your writing skills and problem solving skills. These soft skills are essential to your career development, building on these skills can only help you.
Reignite your passion for work
Often when adults return to study, they are ready for a challenge and a change. Once they engage with a new subject and begin studying, they often find their passion for work is reignited. They think differently about work issues they encounter, and they find more innovative ways of fixing the problem.
There’s more money
Taking on additional study as an adult learner is likely to earn you extra money. According to a study completed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there is an established link between education and earning potential. Adults who embark on a Diploma earn on average 20% more than adults who have only completed high school.
Mastering your Work / Life Balance
It can be easy when you’ve been working a long time to fall into unhealthy habits with your work schedules. Coming in early and staying late, not making time for other interests or hobbies.
But enrolling for a course can help you break that cycle and establish a healthier work / life balance. Because you need to focus on studying for a specific amount of time or at prescribed times, it can help you reset your attitudes to work. Giving you more time to allocate to other areas of your life once your course is done.
Make New Friends
Being an adult, we often don’t make new friends, it can be difficult to take the plunge and make new connections. But making new friends is one of the easiest and best side effects of entering adult education.
Even completing online studies allows you to contact new people through digital technologies being implemented in training organisations. Zoom, Skype, Facebook groups and many other kinds of digital technologies allow you to meet new people – even on other sides of the country!
Increased Confidence
Stepping outside your comfort zone and learning something new is always challenging. But, with a challenge comes great rewards and an increased confidence in our abilities not only professionally but personally as well.
How do you know if you are ready to study again
There are so many signs that could indicate you are ready for the challenge of studying again.
Perhaps you’re looking to level up your career? Or maybe you need a change and you’re looking for a new career, perhaps you’re wanting to follow a passion and learn for the sake of it. These are all good signs that you’re ready for the challenge of studying again.
Are you ready for your next challenge?
Browse our range of online and face to face courses or talk to one of our Course Advisors today about your options and improving your quality of life through adult learning.
Alternatively, review your existing skills and experience and with Recognition of Prior Learning.