This is part five of a series on How to Balance Your Time, where we’re looking at the six key types of time we all need in our lives:
- Creative and productive
- Physically energetic and active
- Playful and entertaining
- Learning and developing
- Reflective and spiritual
- Restful and relaxing
Today we’ll take a closer look at the fourth type of time:Â learning and developing.
I’m so grateful that at some point in my life, someone encouraged me to never stop learning and growing.
For some, they thrive in the academic world, and enjoy pursuing “formal” education. I once knew a man who had three master’s degrees and a doctorate, and was still going back for more!
But for most of us, we grow, learn and develop through informal ways – by reading books, attending seminars, reading blogs, etc. You can read how to become an expert on any topic for some tips on free and low-cost ways to grow your knowledge base.
One of my personal goals is to reach my full potential in the seven basic areas of life. In order to reach my full potential, I know I need to keep learning and developing. Right now, a lot of my learning is coming from magazines, blogs and podcasts. In fact, nearly every time I exercise at the Y, fly, drive, or work on a household project (like painting), I listen to podcasts.
There’s an important distinction that needs to be made between “learning” and “developing” that we sometimes miss. In some cultures, to “learn” means to take in information. And to “develop” is to apply the learned information and be changed by it. In some cultures, to “learn” means information, application and transformation – I love that!
After all, if more information was all we needed, then all librarians would be millionaires! But they’re not – because action is the key next step.
What are you doing, and how are you balancing your time, to keep up your own personal growth and development?
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