I have a group of ladies who are beginner to intermediate level snow skiers that I teach each week for eight weeks during the winter. When we were sitting on the chairlift, we saw some of the little kids below who were fearlessly zipping down the slopes. These kids must have been anywhere from four to six years of age.

Some of the ladies remarked how they wished they had started snow skiing at the same age of these little kids. They claimed that the kids seem to have no fear unlike them, struggling adults. When the kids fall on the snow, they just get up again and laugh it off.

This is in total contrast to adults who often have a deep fear of falling and injuring themselves. Indeed, some of my ladies tend to tense up and ski very slowly when the slopes are a bit steeper or icier. The common objective they all have when I asked them what they wanted to achieve this winter is to have more confidence on the ski slopes.

What these ladies might not be realizing is that they are already setting great examples for other adults. Instead of choosing not to pursue a sport or activity like snow skiing because they think they are already too old, they signed up to take ski lessons from professional certified instructors.

Despite their fears, they are always willing to try out the various drills I show them or venture out with the class on steeper terrain that they otherwise might not have skied down on their own. I give them a lot of credit for this and their efforts slowly pay off as they continually surprise themselves each week with their skill improvements.

Don’t Compare To Others

Although it would have been nice to start a sport like snow skiing at an early age, that opportunity has past for us adults so it’s not even worth dwelling on. My adult students should not compare themselves to the kids speeding past. They should be proud enough to participate in an activity that many other adults consider too extreme to start.

My ladies need not reach the level of the kids to have fun out there. They can enjoy the ski slopes on their own level and they are doing the right thing by learning how to do it safely with expert supervision and coaching.

Progress On Your Own Terms

This should be the same with any new skills whether they are sports or foreign languages or computers. All adults should realize that it is never too late to learn new things. For example, it is great to see more and more seniors are now taking efforts to learn how to use computers and the internet so that they can communicate with their loved ones online or share photos.

In fact, learning new things is a good thing because new skills help exercise our bodies and our minds. This has proven to be one of the best anti-aging strategies out there.

So if you have ever wanted to learn a certain sport or some other skill, do not hesitate to take the initiative to sign up for a course or seminar that will help get you started. Although you might not become an expert, you can still benefit greatly from all the enjoyment that you will get when participating with those new skills.

The ladies in my ski classes should feel no shame because they are slower than the ski kids. Instead, they should feel proud to add yet another skill and activity to their lives.

Feel free to share below a new skill that you learned later in life as well as those that you have still yet to learn.

Clint Cora is a motivational speaker, author and Karate World Champion. See his FREE 3-part Personal Development Video Series to learn how to expand your comfort zone to conquer even your most daunting goals in life.

It’s easy to assume that learning ends when you’re in your early twenties. You finish university, and go into the “real world” of work. No more term papers, no more exams. A lot of people hardly ever pick up a book again – except perhaps to read on vacation.

But really, whether you want to or not, you’re going to carry on learning throughout your life. You’ll learn new skills at work. You might learn how to be a parent. You may take up DIY, or simply learn enough about your home to maintain it in good condition. You might well have a hobby which means mastering a new skill.

Some people never give learning much thought. They pick up bits and pieces in an unstructured way, learning just enough to get through the job at hand. Often, they just shrug and give up – calling out a handyman for every little thing, or asking a colleague at work to do something “difficult” for them.

If you ignore the important of continuous learning, you’ll find:

• You waste money. You keep needing to pay for professional help – when it’s a task that you could’ve learnt how to do yourself. Maybe you “can’t cook” so you always eat out.
• You miss opportunities. You get passed over for promotions, because you don’t show any interest in picking up new skills at work.
• You lose a great source of fun and fulfillment. There’s enormous satisfaction to be found in learning things and really getting a new concept or skill. Don’t let any bad memories of school put you off.

So how can you keep on learning throughout your adult life?

Find a Career Which Matches Your Interests

If you’re in a so-so job which doesn’t really engage you, you won’t be very motivated to keep growing your skills and knowledge. Look for a career which hooks into the stuff which interests you: it’ll be more rewarding in itself, but it’ll also be an easier, faster way for you to progress.

You might already know what you’d love to do. What’s holding you back? If you’re not sure how to get from where you are to where you want to be, then a great starting point for your learning journey is to map out the path!

Look Into Training Courses at Work

Many larger employers offer formal training opportunities, ranging from in-house courses to financial support with a college degree. Talk to your HR department to find out what’s on offer, or mention to your manager that you’re interested in learning more about a specific area.
If you work for a small employer, don’t rule out the value of informal training. Perhaps you can get a colleague to teach you a new software package, or maybe you can get some books on expenses.

Attend Conferences and Seminars

It’s often hard to find time to sit down and read a book, work through a guide or practice a new skill: life just seems to get in the way. By heading to a conference or seminar, you’ve blocked out time on your schedule for learning and networking.

When you’re signing up to attend particular panels, don’t just go for familiar topics. Pick something which falls outside your comfort zone: even if some of it goes over your head, you’re almost certain to pick up some fresh new ideas.

Get Into a Habit of Regular Reading

One of the most powerful ways to learn is to read regularly. Ask friends or colleagues for recommendations, and buy or borrow some books. Get into the habit of reading at a particular time of day – perhaps on the train to work, during your lunch break, or before dinner in the evenings. This doesn’t need to cost you anything – use your local library, download free books onto your Kindle or ask to borrow from friends.

If you drive to work, how about getting audio books to listen to? These are a great way to fill up time where you’d otherwise be a bit bored but when you need your hands and eyes for what you’re doing. (A lot of people like to listen to audio content in the gym or while doing chores, too.) Again, you don’t have to spend money: try this list of free audio books for a good starting point.

Challenge Yourself

Finally, give yourself a challenge or two. Next time you say, “I can’t”, stop and think. Maybe you really can’t cook … yet. There’s nothing stopping you learning.

Sure, you might find that you just don’t enjoy cooking. But at least you’ll know that you could put together a meal if you had to.

We start at a zero skill level for everything in life. Just because you can’t currently play the piano doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to. With the internet, there’s a huge amount of content on every topic you can think of – and loads of it will be aimed at beginners.

What would you like to learn? What’s stopping you?

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Ever find yourself struggling to focus? Yep, me too. In a constantly-connected world, we always seem to have distractions at our fingertips. Sitting down and concentrating, whether it’s on a report for work or an essay for school, can be really tough.

And, all too often, we make it harder on ourselves.

Here are four simple ways to boost your chances of concentrating.

1.  Write Down What You’re Working On

This might sound like a silly tip, but it can be incredibly effective. When you start working on something, write down what you’re doing. For instance: “Finish report on widgets” or “Respond to all new emails”.

Whenever you get tempted to do something else, or when something “urgent” comes up, look down at your bit of paper and remind yourself of what you’re doing. If you do switch tasks, make a note of what you’ve changed to.

It’s surprising how often we end up working in a stimulus-response way, jumping to whatever grabs our attention or whatever happens to be on our mind.

(Quick bonus tip: You can also use your sheet of paper to jot down anything which you’re worried you’ll forget. If you suddenly think “I must send that check” then don’t stop and actually do it, just write yourself a reminder.)

2.  Find a Quiet Environment

It’s very hard to stay focused if you’re in a busy, loud room. Conversations, phone calls, other people’s music, even traffic noise can be very intrusive. Of course, most of us don’t have the luxury of working in monastic silence – but do what you can to improve your environment.
That might mean taking your books to the library, instead of studying in your home. It could mean putting headphones on and playing your own music to drown out background distractions.

A “quiet” environment is also one which doesn’t have too many distractions. If your desk is piled high with clutter, or if you’ve got the television with your line of sight, it’s very easy to let your focus slip away from your work.

3.  Make Yourself Physically Comfortable

If you’re tired, it’s hard to focus. I’m sometimes tempted to skip sleep in order to have an extra hour or two to get things done – but I know it’s a false economy. If I “save” an hour by not sleeping, I’ll end up losing more time than that because I’m slower and less productive during the day.

As a short-term fix, caffeine can perk you up and help you focus – but don’t get reliant on it.

As well as getting enough sleep, you’ll want to make sure you’re drinking enough water. Getting dehydrated will sap your concentration and your energy levels. I keep a bottle of water on my desk, so that I don’t need to keep getting up to refill a glass … and so that if I knock it over, I won’t get water in my keyboard.

Hunger cuts into your focus – but so does too heavy a lunch. Make sure you’re eating enough to keep energized, but avoid huge meals which will just make you sleepy. Having a small snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and a smaller lunch, may do wonders for your concentration.

4.  Build Your Concentration Muscle

Okay, your ability to concentrate isn’t literally a muscle – but it can feel that way! Just like a muscle, your concentration gets stronger the more you use it. If you manage to maintain your focus despite feeling a bit distracted, you’ll find it that little bit easier to concentrate the next day. Conversely, if you always succumb to the temptation to check Facebook and Twitter and read web comics, you’ll find that it becomes a more and more ingrained habit.

How can you build up your ability to concentrate?

• Set a timer while you’re working, and try to make as much progress as you can before the timer goes off
• Turn off your internet connection, or install software to block certain websites (this can help break the habit of constantly multitasking)
• Keep a time log of exactly what you do during the day – writing down your actions makes you more self-aware
• Learn to watch your own thoughts – notice when you feel an impulse (like “I’ll check Twitter now”) and resist!

How good are you at concentrating? Do you have any tips to share – or any stories of times when an inability to concentrate gave you problems?

One of the best ways to make incremental progress during your other 8 hours is to learn. There are all sorts of newfangled websites that can teach you a thing or two — some with nifty videos and others with PowerPoint presentations. Call me old school, but I think one of the easiest and most economical ways to learn is by reading a book.

But I discovered something over the weekend that’s better than a bookstore and even better (gasp!) than Amazon.com. Stick with me because I’m going to introduce you to new terms and concepts that you won’t be familiar with. It might take some time to digest what I’m explaining, but hang in there — it will be well worth it.

A friend of mine told me about a place not far from my house that seemed too good to be true. Even after confirming it wasn’t April 1^st, I was still unconvinced. Always up for a challenge, I thought I’d run my own MythBusters experiment. So I buckled my three year-old daughter into her car seat and we set our sights on this mythical place.

About ten minutes later we arrived at a peculiar looking building. We parked and set off on foot. We reached the entrance and I started to have second thoughts. “Is this safe for a three year old? Is this some kind of trap?” My fearless daughter grabbed my hand and said, “Come on Daddy” as we crossed the entrance.

I smelled something. Something strangely familiar and comforting. And then I saw it. It was breathtaking. Row after row after row of books. They had every book I could want. And not just books but DVDs, magazines, newspapers, music CDs, and even (pinch me if I’m dreaming) audiobooks.

The story gets better. Much better. After filling my hands with books for my daughter and me, we went to buy them. The price tags were a little confusing, so I asked the checkout person what the deal was. He told me it was some new decimal pricing system or something. I didn’t understand much of what he said, but I had already decided I wanted the books so I threw down my credit card. “Fill this out,” he remarked, and handed me some sort of membership club form. “Is this like a Costco card,” I asked. “Yes, something like that Sir.”

He handed me a membership card and then told me to enjoy my books. “How much do I owe you?” I asked. “Nothing, just return them by July 5^th,” he shot back. I drove home in a daze. Questions raced through my mind. I decided to do some research. I googled “L-i-b-r-a-r-y” and got a few hits. The sites made it seem like these “libraries” are all over the place, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, you can’t trust everything you read on the Internet.

All I know, is that I’m never leaving home without my library card again. It is an amazing place with tons of free information. I can “checkout” (that’s their clever term for renting) books, audiobooks, CDs, movies, everything! My guess is that Netflix will sue them for some kind of patent infringement on the whole renting thing, but until then, I’m loving libraries and you should find out if you have a library in your town. You can even find the nearest library to carry a specific book, CD, or DVD.

Think about it. For $10 or $20, you can learn from an expert. You can read the latest trends and learn the newest theories. An expert may charge $300+ and hour or $10,000 for a keynote address, but you can learn so much more by reading their book for free from a library. That’s time well spent.

For a limited time, you can download several free resources (assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth and Purpose.

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Image courtesy of Slorp@Flickr

This report and other recent studies show that online learning, distance learning, and self-learning in general, are not only more convenient, but, in fact, more effective than the classroom, for high school, college and adult learners. In the last decade, the Internet, the MP3 player, the iPhone, and other mobile devices,as well as social networking sites, language exchange communities, online learning systems, university courses online and more, have changed how we deal with knowledge. Independent programmer-entrepreneurs are constantly developing new learning applications. The language lab is already obsolete, can the college lecture hall be far behind? The walls of academia, and the costs of learning, are crumbling before our eyes and ears.

For those who are conditioned to think that learning only happens in a classroom, the world of self-learning can be a little daunting. How do we best take advantage these new opportunities.

1. Get interested

Make no mistake. Your interest in the subject is the essential driver of success. You can’t learn what you do not want to learn. Emotion is an important part of the learning process. If you are even moderately interested in a subject, give yourself  a chance. The key is to get started. If you can create some pleasurable routines, you may find that the subject grows on you. “L’appetit vient en mangeant” (the appetite comes with eating) as they say in French.

2. Expect problems and you won’t be disappointed.

Don’t expect to understand things, much less remember them, the first time you study them. Trust that things will get clearer as your brain comes to grips with new information. It is like a jig-saw puzzle or a cross-word puzzle. As you start to put the pieces together, or string the words together, the full picture becomes clearer. The brain learns all the time, but on its own schedule. Learning does not take place according to a schedule laid down by a curriculum or teacher. Some things are easier to learn than others. Some things just take longer to click in. Keep at it, and you will gradually find that things that seem difficult at first, will become second nature with time.

3. Cover the same ground from different angles.

Your brain is struggling to form patterns to cope with new input from your learning activities. Sometimes, no matter how long you focus on one subject, your brain is not going to pick it up. If you are stuck, move on. Then cover the same general information from a different source, a different book, or a podcast, or an online lecture or a video. Try to become a grazing learner, roaming the countryside, rather than a feedlot learner, just standing there in one spot, munching on the same bale of hay. The broader your base, the easier it is to learn. Just as the “rich get richer”, the more you know, the more you can learn.

4. Anytime is learning time.

Take full advantage of the Internet, iTunes, and various mobile devices, not to mention good old-fashioned books and magazines. Learn during “dead time”. Listen in your car, on the train, or while jogging. Have your learning with you while waiting in the doctor’s office, or listen while checking out at the supermarket. Anytime is learning time. Remember, you are learning through exposure, not by nailing things down. It is more like moisture accumulation in a cloud, rather than building a brick wall.

5. Be a multimedia learner.

The more varied your learning content, and the more varied the ways in which you learn, the clearer the puzzle will become. Different learning activities suit different people, at different times of the day. Vary your activities in order to keep your interest level up. Even if listening and reading work best for you, treat yourself to the odd video lecture, or get-together with other learners. This will renew your batteries.

6. Join learning communities.

The “loneliness of the distance learner” is a thing of the past. Join a learning community on the web, where members share their knowledge and experience. Search for the communities that suit your interests and learning style. You will find encouragement, advice and stimulus from fellow learners, as well as from tutors, teachers and coaches. In these communities, you can measure your progress against your own goals, or compare your experience with that of other learners. You can even teach and help others, which is a great way to learn.

Never has it been easier nor more exciting to be a learner. Let constant learning be a major part of your life-style. The rewards will be constant, personally, socially, and professionally.

Steve Kaufmann is a former Canadian diplomat, who has had his own company in the international trade of forest products for over 20 years. Steve is the founder and CEO of LingQ.com an online language learning system and Web 2.0 community. Steve speaks eleven languages, having recently learned Russian at LingQ. Steve maintains a blog on language learning,and has written a book on language learning called The Linguist, A Language Learning Odyssey.

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Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about different approaches and methodologies for living especially with the recent publishing of my book, The Common Thread, on what living correctly means in our modern world. These approaches include anything from a belief system to the common proverb. How does one sort through all of these ideas to come up with something truthful? In The Common Thread I detail a methodology of understanding and pursuing what’s important to you, but I want to speak here about the rational approach for absorbing information.

Thinking rationally is not always easy and not always fun, but the results it yields are far greater than any alternative. The proverbs and approaches frequently quoted to me by people I encounter are often blindly adopted without considering what the person was actually saying. Did the person live a few hundred years ago? Have we made advancements since then? Is it necessary to update their thinking for the modern age? Are they even someone you should listen to in the first place? Is it a requirement to buy a product to achieve what they’re talking about? Did the thousands of people who achieved it before the product existed require that product?

It’s imperative to develop a rational foundation on which to build all other ideas. If you don’t have this foundation, then how could your opinion be worth anything? Would you trust a doctor who simply decided to walk into the hospital without any kind of medical training? We do that all the time in day to day life with our most valuable opinions on living itself. We adopt anything that anyone tells us in sources ranging from a self-help book to a guy on the street without any consideration for whether what they’re saying has any real merit. Someone’s opinion is taken into account without any consideration for whether anything stands behind it. A foundation of rational thinking and understanding is not developed to compare all other statements against.

It’s deemed necessary to gain a full foundation in math, science, history, language, and so on and so forth to even typically be allowed into the work world. However the requirement of learning to think isn’t even considered. Everyone learns how to do basic arithmetic in school, but does anyone get taught why it exists in the first place? Teachers are questioned as to why concepts exist, and many of them tell their students that it’s just “because.”

Why is it that you’re taught in elementary school the basics of nearly every field of thought known to man, but no one looks at the nature of questioning or thought in itself? In the United States children grow up knowing rhymes about Columbus. This is a guy who did nothing except accidentally stumble onto a landmass that Western Europe didn’t yet know was there. Does anyone grow up knowing about Socrates, Euclid, Pythagoras, or Aristotle? Thinking is so often discouraged that those names alone will inspire trepidation and feelings of inferiority in people who have never so much as investigated who they are or what they did.

So why is rational thinking and the teaching of thought so imperative? There were tribes in Africa who would spit their own urine at storms to make them go away and would run out with swords to swordfight dust devils because they believed the dust devils were possessed by attacking demons. This sounds ridiculous to us, but why did practices like this continue for so long? They were adopted by entire tribes and passed down from generation to generation. The simple answer is that not enough people questioned whether this was actually going to help anything.

The people sword fighting the dust devils did not wonder about the fact that none of their swordplay ever seemed to make so much as a mild impression, and the people who spit their own urine at coming storms were the same. The people who watched these customs take place observed them with blind belief. No one was taught to question if things worked the way leaders claimed they did. No one was taught to think for themselves, develop their own foundations, or formulate their own real opinions.

It’s easy to laugh at or scoff about it now, but are we really so different? Are we making changes so that people three hundred years from now are not going to laugh at and scoff about us in the same way? I’m not just talking about fringe cults that you hear about on the news, or the strange tribal customs existing on some island that no one from the outside worlds visits. I’m talking about in the every day lives of people living in modern civilizations. These are civilizations that often look on themselves as the pinnacles of human advancement.

These are civilizations where political debates are reduced to minor issues barely worth a footnote in the pages of history if they would show up at all. These are civilizations where the average education aims to teach mindless repetition rather than genuine thought. These are civilizations where the works of the greatest thinkers are reduced to the deepest nostalgia of dusty libraries. These are civilizations where Fun with Dick and Jane is re-imagined every five years, but no one ever re-imagines Plato. These are civilizations where there are problems without ideas, moral quandaries without value systems, where the average citizen has no idea what advancements in thinking are being made around the world, and where a dog escaping a burning building is considered more newsworthy than the latest advancements in teleportation. How many people reading this even knew they’ve made any?

In my life, in my writing, and in my interactions with others, I aim to encourage the development of thought and subsequently the development of humanity beyond mindless beliefs and customs. The Common Thread was written with precisely that intention for the personal reader to discover something of themselves and what’s important to them in their own lives regardless of what others think. However one book or internet blog posting is not going to do it. What is necessary is a call to arms. Not the physical arms and weaponry of which there are plenty already. The mental faculties and abilities that each of us have available to us. They are our greatest assets, our greatest weapons, and our greatest achievements, and they have been far too much forgotten.

Avi Love is the author of The Common Thread, an investigation into what living “correctly” means in today’s modern world. You can view or purchase The Common Thread here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7494

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Image courtesy of Isadore Weiner/Illinois State Museum

Written by Vincent Kovar

We’ve all had that sensation of reading a selection of text then, only moments later, not remember anything we’ve just read. Sometimes we can read something over and over but never really feel like we “get it.”

Reading comprehension is crucial for every profession and lifestyle. Whether you’re reading a repair manual or the latest business best-seller, comprehension tools add value to the time spent over the page.

Here are 5 quick strategies for increasing your reading comprehension, remembering material and sparking new ideas.

Pre-reading predictions

Before reading the article or chapter, create a three column chart.

In the left-hand column, write down everything you think that the reading will cover and what conclusions it will arrive at. Look at the title, the abstract or summary (if included) and the chapter or section headings. Do some quick online research about the writer and try to get a picture of the shape of his or her ideas. Make your list of predictions as detailed as you can including what topics the writer will introduce and what evidence they might present.

Read the text over once and make notations of what the writer actually included in the middle column.

Compare and contrast the predictions in the first two columns of your chart. What was new, different or unexpected? Try to explain the differences between the first two columns in the third column.

Chunk summaries

As you read, try to boil each paragraph down to 1-2 sentences (grammar doesn’t count here) written in your own words. Once you have finished a section or sub-section, summarize your summaries for that entire chunk before going on to the next.

Compare your summaries with those of a classmate. As the old saying goes, “four eyes are better than two.” Do you agree or disagree on the meaning of each paragraph?

Make notes of unanswered questions and either bring them to class or post them in the class forum for discussion and further study.

3-step post reading review

After you’ve read the entire chapter or article, create a 3-step review.

• step one: write a summary of 100-150 words that describes what the author said in the selection. What was his or her thesis? Use the short paragraph-by-paragraph chunk-summaries to guide you. In other words, make an abstract of what the writer set out to tell you.
• step two: jot down another 100-150 words that describes why this material is important. Think about why it was important to the author. Also write down why it was important to you personally. Is it important to the planet or a specific community? What are the consequences of ignoring this information? What are the risks of adopting the author’s viewpoint?
• step three: determine how the author structured their writing. What type of reasoning did he or she use: cause-effect, model building, induction/deduction, or deconstruction? What types of rhetorical techniques did the writer use to convince you the thesis is correct? Which parts rely on ethos (ethics)? Which parts are mostly pathos (emotional appeal) and which parts are logos (logical)?

Describe the reading to someone else

Using your own words, describe what you’ve been reading to a family member, friend or classmate. Use all the materials you created so far to help you but use language and ideas that you think your listener will best understand.

Include any thoughts that start popping into your mind and discuss how the information has an impact on your life. Or, if the information does not affect you in any way, theorize why not and what it would take for that subject to have benefits or consequences in your life.

Make a mind-map

One of the best ways to cement a set of ideas and thoughts in your mind is to translate it into a different medium or shape. Pour all your summaries, thoughts and reactions into a graphical map. You don’t need to write everything down in detail, just include enough notes so that you understand the relationship that each piece of information has to other pieces. There are many shapes of graphical maps try a few different ones and notice which work best for you and which work best for various kinds of information.

The best news is that even if you use all five techniques described here, it really won’t take more time than other forms of study. Improving your reading skills will make the overall experience both faster and more enjoyable.

Vincent Kovar is a writer, instructor, editor, and entrepreneur based in Seattle, Washington. An Adjunct Faculty member at both Antioch University and the University of Phoenix, Vincent writes about online colleges for eLearners.com

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In Western society, we often think of “learning” in very narrow terms: it’s what we do in school, and once we’ve got our college degree, the learning phase is over – it’s time to work.

Of course, things aren’t really that black and white: we carry on learning after we’ve left school, and not just in our careers but in every aspect of our lives. And learning often doesn’t equate to taking qualifications or passing exams. Approached the right way, learning isn’t a process of ticking boxes on a curriculum or course outline – it’s about exploration, growth and enrichment.

Learning Adds Depth to Your Life

For me, the primary reason to keep learning new things is because I enjoy it. It’s not quite the same enjoyment that I get from watching a movie, and there are always frustrating and even miserable moments in learning anything new … but I’m happier in the long run.

If you take the time to consciously learn new things, you’ll find that you live life more deeply. Instead of chasing quick entertainment that fails to satisfy, you’ll have the pure pleasure of those aha! moments when something finally clicks. The more you learn, the more you’ll be able to make connections between pieces of knowledge – and the more creative you’ll become.

Learning Keeps You From Getting Bored

One of the reasons that I left my day job last year was because I was bored. The first month was fairly novel: it was my first experience of “real” work (I’d had a few student jobs) and I was learning a lot of new things, some of them stretching me beyond my comfort zone. But after that, the routine was the same day in and day out.

A huge advantage to working for myself is having the opportunity to learn all sorts of new things: both hard skills (including some CSS and PHP) and soft skills (like knowing how to interact well with clients). Each week, I’m learning new things – and this keeps me interested, motivated and happy.

Can you go on a training course at work to learn something that you’re interested in? Can you study in your free time, perhaps by joining an evening class or discussion group?

Learning Keeps You Healthy

Studies have shown that our mental facilities are best protected when we use them. Older folk who carry on learning and who stay mentally active are much less likely to suffer from illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.

Taking the time to learn about nutrition will let you know how to eat well, and learning how to prepare and cook foods ensures that you can take charge of exactly what’s going into your body. Learning a new sport or exercise is a great way to take this even further. And learning about good time management habits can prevent you from developing stress-related illnesses.

Learning Puts You on the Fast Track to Success

The final reason to continue with life-long learning is because that’s what successful people do. If you settle back and decide that you’ve learnt everything you need to know about running a business, about succeeding in your career or about managing and motivating your team … you’ll lose out to competitors who have a passion for learning.

In your personal life, you’ll want to keep learning too. That might mean learning how to bring up your kids well. It could involve learning skills that let you maintain your house without having to pay for or rely on outside help. Learning about personal finance and money management – something which we’re rarely taught in school – can turn your life around.

What have you learnt this week? What benefits has learning brought you in your life so far? What do you want to learn during the next year?

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The most common phobia people have is the “Fear of public speaking”. Some people dread public speaking even more than death. Most of us live with this fear throughout our lives. Being an underrated skill we fail to get proper guidance to overcome our stage fright. As schools and colleges do not provide any training on public speaking, most of us lack the confidence to speak in public when we reach adulthood. Public speaking is necessary for each one of us irrespective of our age or profession. If you are wondering how public speaking can help you in your life, then let me list out some of its benefits–

As public speaking boosts your confidence levels there are more chances of you succeeding at job interviews

You will be more comfortable working in a team and giving effective presentations and seminars in the workplace. This improves your professional life and your relationship with your colleagues.

As a confident speaker you will be comfortable breaking the ice and starting conversations with strangers. This expands your social circle and improves your personal life.

If you are passionate about public speaking then you can also consider being a professional speaker. There are many people out there who make a living out of speaking or use it as a source of additional income.

With all these and many more rewards that it offers don’t you feel it is worth conquering your fear of public speaking? Let us look into some ways to overcome our fear of public speaking.

1. Take the Plunge

The only way you can get over your fear of public speaking is by going ahead and speaking. It might sound counter intuitive but this is true. The longer we wait to do whatever it is that is causing the fear, the more intense our fear would become. So go ahead and give that speech or presentation you have been pondering over for such a long time. Enroll yourself in public speaking groups or organizations like toastmasters club where you get to constantly challenge yourself and move out of your comfort zone. (Check the Toastmasters International website -  http://www.toastmasters.org/ to know more about this organization and to find a club near your area)

2. Mind matters

Dr. Robert Schuller once said “You are what you think about all day long”. This statement is true when it comes to public speaking. We all have this preconceived notion about the things we can do and the things we cannot do. I have heard some people say “Oh…I am such a terrible speaker” When I ask them how many speeches they have given so far, they would say “ Well… none” How can you assume that you are not good at something even before trying it?

Change these self -sabotaging beliefs you are holding in your mind. You can become a good speaker only when you believe you can.

3. Preparation pays

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – Thomas Edison

I remember my initial stages of transformation from a shy and incompetent speaker to a more confident speaker. I would practice my speech around 15-20 times before delivering it in Toastmasters club. This preparation played a major role in alleviating the jitters I would feel on the day of my speech. When you are well prepared you are more confident that your speech would turn out well and this keeps you in a relaxed mode.

Public speaking is not an inborn talent but rather a skill which can be cultivated by anyone. It’s true that for some people it comes naturally but even they have to practice in order to spruce up their skills. I have seen some excellent speakers not doing well due to lack of preparation. A word of caution though – Do not over practice. Preparation should be done well in advance and just relax in the in the last 15-30 minutes before delivering your speech .

4. Know your audience

Get to know your audience. We get nervous when we are speaking in front of a group of strangers. If we were to give the same speech in front of our friends we would not be that fearful. Try mingling with few people in the audience before starting out your speech. This makes you feel that those in the audience are not aliens but people just like you. Apart from relaxing your tension this also helps in improving your connection with the audience.

5. Reach out to like-minded people

The best thing about joining a public speaking group is that you get to meet people who are highly supportive and encouraging. You realize that you are not alone; in fact there are millions of people out there with the same mission as yours. You get inspired by those who have transformed from a timid speaker to a confident speaker. You think “If he is capable of doing it then why not me?” You also learn a lot from the experienced speakers. They will be ready to lend you a helping hand by giving you tips on how they have achieved success. There are also people who can give you some genuine feedback on the areas you are good at and the areas you need to work on.

6. Take criticism positively

We all love to receive compliments but when it comes to criticism we prefer to be on the giving end rather than the receiving end. The successful you are, the more criticisms you will have to handle so learn to handle them with a positive attitude. I have seen people who have given up after receiving few negative comments from their peers. Don’t dwell on your criticisms. When someone‘s giving you a negative feedback take it as an opportunity to learn and grow, not a reason to quit.

7. Persevere

Be patient. Do not expect things to change in a jiffy. Some people might take more time to improve and others might take less. Do not push yourself too hard by comparing yourself with others. Just go with the flow.

8. Let go of the perfectionist in you

There are people who are unable to take the first step, forever waiting to attain a state of perfection. You feel that your speech is not perfect or your preparation is not up to the mark and wait endlessly for the moment when you would feel everything is perfect. But that moment never comes resulting in never ending procrastination. You don’t have to be perfect in order to be good speaker. All that matters is how passionate you are about what you are saying. Just speak from your heart and your audience will appreciate you for your sincerity.

9. Bounce back

Failures are stumbling blocks to success. Let me quote my personal experience here – It was my 9th speech in toastmasters club. After uttering few lines, my mind went blank and I forgot my entire speech.  Standing silent I tried to recollect the speech but could not recall a word. I pulled out the sheet where I had written my speech, went through it for few minutes and then continued the speech from where I had left. It was a bit disappointing at that moment but not as dreadful as we think. Now looking back I am glad to have experienced this. Had this not happened I would not have been overjoyed after successfully delivering my 10^th speech. You learn a lot from your failures. Resist the temptation to give up and keep bouncing back

10. Celebrate your success

We often take our success for granted. Reward yourself for the success you have achieved however small it might be. Give yourself a pat on the back for having the courage to get over your fear. By rewarding yourself you will feel good and stay motivated to take the next step.

Don’t take yourself very seriously. Approach public speaking with a committed yet playful manner. Children rarely experience stage fright because they approach public speaking in a playful manner. They are having fun while doing it. Adopt the same attitude

Let today be the day you take the first step to triumph over your public speaking fear. So go ahead and rock the stage.

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Learning is one of the greatest joys in life and it can also be critical to staying employable and keeping our minds healthy as we grow older. Even with the great rewards that learning promises, however, few of us put much thought into how we might be better at it.

Here are seven practices that will help you take your learning to new levels.

Commit to learning

Most people can get on board with the idea of lifelong learning, but few of us really commit to making learning a regular, focused part of our lives. Commitment means setting clear goals for what you what to learn, how you plan to go about it, and how long it will take. Write your goals and your plan down, and set a specific time each week for reviewing your progress.

Schedule a time for learning

We’re learning all the time, often without even knowing it, but when it comes to achieving focused learning goals, our minds appreciate regularity and rhythm. Carve out a specific time each day, ideally, always in the same place – to devote to your learning activities. Get rid of distractions like e-mail and your cell phone during this time and focus your attention on your learning goals.

Organize

I tend to write things down all over the place, which can make it very hard to retrieve the information I am looking for when I need it. Don’t fall into this trap. Determine a small number of specific places where you will store all of the materials related to your learning. Go digital to the greatest extent possible‚  among other advantages, this puts the power of search on your side. And you might want to try Web-based tools like Evernote for note-taking, or Penzu for keeping a journal.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

This one can’t be said often enough. We build and maintain connections in our long -term memory over time. For truly mastering a subject-area or skill there simply is no substitute for putting in the time to review and practice. Of course, this can’t just be mindless, mechanical repetition. You need to really focus your attention ‚ and ideally, your passion ‚ on what you are trying to learn.

Don’t do too much

Multi-tasking and information overload are the enemies of effective learning. The human brain is an amazing organ, but it can only do so much at once. If you want to be successful in your learning efforts, you will have to set priorities. This is a key part of the goal-setting already mentioned above. Determine which learning goals are most important to you now, set aside other goals for later, and eliminate things that really aren’t all that important to you.

Treat your mind and body right

Learning is a physical as well as a mental activity. We need enough sleep each night,  7 to 8 hours for most adults,  to ensure that our brain functions properly. We need the healthy blood flow that aerobic exercise can help support to ensure that the brain gets enough oxygen. And there is increasing evidence that our diets can have a significant impact on our cognitive abilities. In short, eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep if you want to be a truly effective learner.

Relax

Leaving aside special circumstances like cramming for a test, we don’t learn well under stress. In fact, excessive stress over a long period of time can cause damage to the hippocampus, one of the parts of our brain that is critical for long-term memory. Living and learning are not about some grand, ultimate goal. They are simply about living and learning. Relax, and the learning will come.

Jeff Cobb is the founder of Mission to Learn where he blogs weekly about lifelong learning and self-education in a hyper-connected, Web 2.0 world.

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