Never deviate from learning

An individual can be a graduate or a post-graduate, but overall he may still be uneducated.  An uneducated person is one who is unwilling to learn, unlearn and e-learn. And when it comes to one’s career, a person should possess his important trait. Learning, unlearning and re-learning should be practised on a continual basis, day in and day out. Various facilitating initiatives in this context are:

• Set smart objectives & be happy when you attain them: You must set smart objectives - ones that are pragmatic and once attained, can be rejoiced in. Doing this will give a new meaning to your career. Your objectives should be modified to be in harmony with your new qualifications. Needless to state, you will have to continuously evaluate your objectives regularly and refine your working methodology to ensure a bump-free ride in your career journey. Remember that very new skill or expertise acquired is wisdom added. 
• Share your knowledge & experience: You should believe in sharing knowledge and putting your experience to good use. You may think that you know quite a lot, but the doubts that cross your mind while learning could well baffle you. It is not necessary that you open a learning centre where you take classes; you could well share your experience and knowledge during routine interactions or meetings of professional associations of whom you are a member. You may have awareness and understanding; and you could well be sharing them with others. But your knowledge is of no use if you do not apply it on ground. If you are not apprehensive of executing new ideas with your freshly-acquired skills, you will find that your life and career will stand transformed. 
• Have a mentor to guide you: Attempting to go alone may pose problems in your career journey. But if you have someone who you can bank upon for advice and encouragement, your task of learning becomes easy. You must identify a guru for yourself who can give a patient hearing to your problems and concerns; and guide you on the best course of action that you ought to to take. A mentor could be highly knowledgeable, but will not be of any utility if he does not have time to spare for you. He should be somebody who you hold in high esteem and whose principles you revere. 
• Cultivate reading habits & observation skills: Reading is crucial for career advancement; your reading preferences have to be balanced; and should include professional matters, general knowledge, current affairs and light reading material.  As a habit, reading will make you more adept at your work and hence you will be able to obtain additional meaning for your life and career. It will also help you to become reasonably conversant with aspects that do not fall within the gamut of your career. Since most skills are transferable, you will find them possible for absorption in your job sometime or the other. The knowledge that you gin from reading should also be shared and applied on ground. 
• Let your passion to learn grow: Being spoken to by experts is an enriching experience as it widens your horizon and broadens your perspectives. You must therefore, enrol for courses of instructions, work hard on them and participate in healthy discussions therein. You can also take up membership of professional clubs and attend conferences or seminars. You will find that participation in such activities will serve to recharge you and your fascinations; and make you better geared to face competition and brave challenges. The point to remember is that you should not be a dormant learner, but a proactive one, all brimming with positivity. You should not abandon learning activities midway. 

Wise men opine that this world is a place where we should conduct investigations, trials and inquiries with an inquisitive mind. And that calls for unlearning old things and learning new things. There is no denying the fact that all learning efforts should help in career advancement. As human beings, our mental faculties are active for more or less our entire lifespan and hence there should be np excuse to stay away from learning and development activities. If you can comprehend this important fact, you will realise that learning is a treasure trove that will follow you wherever you go.