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If you’re not learning, you’re dying

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Summer is here, and kids everywhere are bursting out of the classroom with glee. They can’t wait to jump into the pool, play ball with their friends, and forget about the Causes and Effects of World War II.

I remember that feeling well.

But I also remember a point, a few years after college, when I realized I could just decide to learn about something. For the pure joy of understanding something new. For the happiness of unexplored territories in my brain. For the Trivial Pursuit points.

We’re so lucky to live in a time when the world’s knowledge is literally in our laps. I can use my little MacBook Air to visit the Louvre, find out what cryptocurrency is, or learn Italian.

I actively seek out opportunities like that because it helps to punch through the comfort zone of the familiar.

Although there doesn’t have to be a reason for learning new things, it definitely helps me in my work life. A richer inner life leads to richer conversations, stronger relationships, and more empathy for the people I encounter day-to-day.

Last year, I participated in a book trade through Facebook, in which you were to send a favorite book to someone on a list, and you would receive several books back from others who were participating. It was thrilling to receive a stack of books that strangers found important in some way. There was fiction, non-fiction, and several books I never would have thought to pick up on my own (The Birth of the Modern, anyone?). It was fantastic.

I dearly hope someone starts a book trade again this year. And if you’re invited into one, say yes.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you are probably a lifelong learner already. Let’s enjoy the adventure of life together!

Online Resources for Lifelong Learning

Khan Academy – I’m currently doing “Pixar in a Box, the Art of Storytelling.” This site is free, but you can donate to support their work. Lots of subjects are offered, including math, science, and humanities.

MasterClass Online – Would you like to learn comedy from Steve Martin? (Yes I would.) For about $90, you can have at-will access to classes ranging from fashion (Diane Von Furstenberg) to novel writing (James Patterson). Students get video content, workbooks, a community, and tools specific to the course as well.

Duolingo – Abbondanza! There are so many languages available for free on this engaging site that you might have trouble deciding which one to pursue. I’ve brushed up my college Spanish, and learned enough bits of Irish to make my grandmother proud.

Codecademy – If you’d like to be a bit nerdier, Codecademy offers simple courses for various coding languages. I can vouch that it’s user-friendly; I did the HTML/CSS course a couple of years ago and it was a great foundation.

eHow – Escaping the bounds of traditional courses, eHow includes “how to make bacon jam,” and “how to make a round towel.” Each mini-tutorial is contributed by members of the site, so quality can vary, but in terms of browsing around to find something interesting to learn, it’s gold.

What are you learning right now? Please share your resources in the comments, too, so we can all learn along and live life to the fullest.

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Is More Education in the Works?

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aeduEducation is at the heart of personal betterment in the pursuit of a richer life. But does going back to school make sense as an investment in your career and your business?

For many business owners and employees alike, it just might.

Why Business Owners Go Back to School

An article in Entrepreneur detailed a few of the many reasons business owners go back to school, other than intellectual betterment.

The reasons are as diverse as the businesses they own.

Research shows that more than three quarters of small business owners are older than 45. Since they were in school, the business world has changed dramatically.

Business owners may feel that they’ve fallen behind or missed out on the skills it takes to survive in the digital age – even if their business has nothing to do with computers, software or information.

A baker, a plumber or a roofer could decide that:

  • A course in digital marketing could help them expand their business and learn skills like search-engine optimization and back-end analytics.
  • A course in social media may enable them to reach out to new customers on networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
  • A course in graphic design could help them gain control over their website’s layout.
  • A course in personal finance may help them plan for retirement.

Why Employees Get Educated

For people who collect paychecks, the reasons for advancing their education may be directly related to a desire to advance their career and their income.

Findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show irrefutable evidence that there is a direct and dramatic correlation between education and income.

There is also an undeniable connection between education and job security. Highly educated people command far higher salaries and are far less likely to be unemployed during times of economic turmoil.

But it’s not just money.

Research from Six Sigma Aveta Business Institute shows that education leads to career advancement across the board, as well. The higher the worker’s education, the more likely he or she is to get a promotion and achieve a position of authority.

The article “Is it Time to go Back to School?” outlines even more reasons to crack the books, such as networking, prepping for a new career and sharpening up old skills.

Tips for Going Back to School

School is hard when you’ve got nothing else going on.

For full-time workers and business owners, it can seem impossible – but it’s not. Remember that you don’t have to pursue a degree. Learning valuable new skills can be achieved with a single course.

Consider online education.

Once a marginal niche that was frowned upon by the academic community, distance learning is now mainstream.

Offered by most colleges and universities, online education – or hybrid courses, which require some on-campus instruction – can be tailored to your schedule, it can provide more individualized attention and it can be significantly cheaper.

Education is worth pursuing for anyone who may benefit from the professional boost it can give.

It is not easy to work and go to school at the same time, but education can boost a career and a business.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Pong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Andrew Lisa is a freelance business writer. He covers small-business planning and career advancement.

Learning By Doing

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By Jeannie Walters

It’s sad to me how many people think they can’t do it. Whatever it is, they truly believe they cannot do it because they don’t have a rule book.

I remember interviewing a young woman who told me, in a job interview, that she could do whatever I outlined for her on a list and trained her carefully to do. “What if it’s not on the list?” I asked. Her answer was if it wasn’t on the list, she didn’t see it as one of her duties.

“It must be on the list.”

She didn’t get the job. Not because she wasn’t capable, because I believe she probably was, but because she was scared of the unknown. She was scared of trying new things. She felt she had to be taught every little thing before she would attempt it.

Baptism by fire is not a bad way to learn. It’s uncomfortable and scary, sure, but if you can survive, you can really make things happen.

There is no degree for customer experience. And yet that’s the focus of my career. Every day I’m doing something that scares me a little bit. And why not? Humans are awesomely unpredictable. What worked last time will not necessarily work this time.

How do you learn by doing?

Jump in, the water’s fine.

Next time you find yourself saying, “But I’ve never done that before” as an excuse to NOT do it – stop yourself. Rephrasing helps me. “I get to do this for the first time!”

Learn from the masters.

Since the dawn of time, humans have been learning from one another. If you’ve never hosted a webinar before, be sure to attend a few to see what works and what doesn’t. If you’re scared to start that kickboxing class, go to the gym the day before and scope it out a little. It’s ok to do research and recon.

Ask for help.

While this seems to be an issue for many of us, it’s a critical part of learning. Ask for support and help, even if it’s just having a few friends there to cheer you on.

Keep up.

The best people I know are perpetual students. With so much information so readily available out there, it’s easy to keep learning. If you are in a role that is about marketing, make sure you read and follow and watch what’s out there about that role. Do your homework, but don’t let that be a crutch, either. Sometimes you have to stop the surfing and get stuff done.

Forgive your missteps.

Have you ever noticed we are often kinder and more forgiving to others than we are to ourselves? Doing things we haven’t necessarily been taught how to do means we will learn from our inevitable mistakes. If something doesn’t work, examine what didn’t work about it so you can improve the next time. Cut yourself some slack. Forgive and move on.

Give it your all.

Creating something from nothing requires brain power, stamina and determination. There will be times you want to give up, mostly because it’s outside your comfort zone. Don’t do it. Set a small goal and accomplish it. Then set a loftier one and accomplish that. You can do this.

The world is such a cool place these days. We can connect with like-minded people all over the world and create our very own dream jobs. Don’t let a lack of “a list” prevent you from accomplishing great things. Do it. The learning will happen.

Author’s Bio: Jeannie Walters is the Chief Customer Experience Investigator™ and founder of 360Connext, a customer experience consulting firm. Walters has been focused on customer experience issues for more than 15 years and works with organizations all over the world.

Walters now speaks, writes, consults and generally thinks about how the small experiences we have each day – going to the bank, ordering online, tweeting – create the greater experience of our lives. Walters lives outside of Chicago with her husband Mike and their two young sons. As such, her current hobbies include cheering on distracted t-ball players and building impressive Lego villages.

The Difference Between Wrong and Different

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Learning, Innovation, Collaboration

They Weren’t Wrong

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When I first became an editorial manager, it took me a while to realize that if I asked 25 people to revise a paragraph I would get back 25 versions, each version uniquely worded by the unique editor who did the work. I even did a test.

Not one of the edited paragraphs were exactly as I would’ve done it.

They weren’t wrong. They were different.

Difference Between Wrong and Different

Ask 4 people how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and you might be surprised to find that three of them make a pbj quite differently from the way you do. It’s true. People have at least four ways to make something as simple as that.

Even more interesting is that most people have never considered another way to do it.
And when you suggest a different way, you might hear, “That’s just wrong!”
But every way works. Every way brings about a positive outcome — something great to eat.

For the record, I like my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches grilled.

Rules of how we learned tend to tell us that another way — an other way — is wrong.

Check the etymology, wrong comes from words that mean …
“not right, bad, immoral, unjust”
“crooked, twisted, ”
“that which is improper or unjust.”

The sandwich making method that’s not mine results in the desired outcome without being bad, immoral, unjust. It’s not really crooked or twisted in the true sense of the words. So, other methods aren’t really wrong — they are just different from how I do it.

What about the Rules?

I suppose you could argue that a sandwich “rules” dictate bread and filling.
I have trouble with dictates and the dictators who dictate them.
It’s easy to close our minds and our thinking by sticking too tightly to traditional rules.

Every creative person, every jazz musician understands the value of tradition, but also understands when to stretch to innovate or invent something new.

Then would an ice-cream sandwich — cookies with ice-cream between — be wrong?

I don’t mind if you say it is.
But I won’t agree with that premise.
To me, it’s just different.

Wrong needs more than different to be wrong.
Different isn’t wrong.
It’s just not the same.

Learning, Innovation, Collaboration Thrive on Different

In fact, different is where learning, innovation and collaboration begin. Learning, innovation, and collaboration, thrive on different. They wither when held to the binary judgment of right or wrong. When we begin to see different as neither good or bad, we can get to seeing new ideas, trying new ways of doing what we’ve always done, finding new ways that old things fit together to make new things.

What makes us valuable is our differences — the different ways we think and do things. Celebrate, welcome, and explore the differences we bring to the table. Bring your differences gently and with respect, but please bring your differences. We need them.

Different can be irresistible in the way it pushes us to rethink, rebuild, and grow.
Without different, an ice cream sandwich would never have happened.

We’re all the same in the fact that we’re all different. Don’t hide your difference. Different is not the same as wrong. Different is a value of it’s own. Find the thoughts behind different and get the learning, innovation, and collaboration going. Make a sandwich in a new way.

What’s the most innovative sandwich you’ve ever made?

Be different. Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

An Extravagant Cure for Disappointment That’s Totally Free

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Yesterday won’t be remembered as the best day in this life. Color it blue or call it Mars in retrograde. Nothing about it felt real and right.

No disaster occurred. The server didn’t eat my blog. My favorite social site was up all day. No one flamed my friends, and my traffic didn’t go on vacation all at once.

People acted like people. Two avoided the truth when they didn’t need to. That was disappointing.

Words don’t explain the way that disappointment can hang and pull at a person. It does that from the inside out. It can make you older than when you got up that same morning. It can make you sorry you are a grown up. It can bring a good day down. Sometimes all of the social media can’t do a thing for that.

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Lucky for me, last night I had a meeting — face-to-face with a man who wanted to learn about what people do on the Internet. We spent a hours talking about tools, frontiers, and possibilities. I told him about what we do and the conversations we have. Finally we dropped by a site and I asked some friends to say a word.

People acted like people. They were encouragment. That was inspiring.

In those few hours, we both caught that extravagant feeling of learning — the one that everyone gets when discovering is the priority. It’s the feeling that happens when we chance to wonder not just look. The feeling showed in how we sat. The more we felt the learning, the more we leaned toward the computer. We were plants leaning toward the light.

Walking home I realized that extravagant learning feeling is the best cure for disappointment. It’s easy to create, and it’s totally free.

Have you experienced that extravagant feeling of learning lately?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Image: sxc.hu

What Makes Us Wise?

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I've been thinking . . .

about wisdom. What does it mean to be wise?

Liz-Strauss-September-2007-Sunrise-Lake-Michigan

Am I wise because I’ve known me for a long time? I know what knocked me down and what it took to get back up again. I can’t fool me. I’d have to do some serious choreography to avoid seeing the part I play in each. When I rise it’s because other people help me and when I fall it’s because I ignore them.

Is that wisdom or learning?

Am I wise because I’ll always reaching for my prime? I keep it out there on the horizon with the morning sunrise on the lake. It grounds me. I’ve realized that I’ve got one life to mold into a decent human being. It’s a big job to attend to with a universe of possibilities.

Is that wisdom or learning?

Am I wise because I know that incredible people are the only kind that I meet? Every person is wonder. Everyone brings something I can learn or make my own. It’s amazing — We are a university of humanity.

Is that wisdom or learning?

What makes us wise? Is wisdom something we only see in other people?

Does wisdom fade when we get closer?

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