Greetings and Good Monday Morning!
Happy Labor Day! I hope that you enjoyed reading the articles that I wrote for INCOLOR Magazine! It was a pleasure to share them with you! Now, I'm back to my "normal" blog posts and I'm happy to discuss this week's topic. Before I do, I want to take a brief moment to bring up the fact that, we are on the verge of my favorite time of year guys! Every single year, as soon as September hits I get so excited because, I love autumn! The subtle crisp of the autumn breeze and smell of pumpkin spice fills the air, apple picking gets underway, and it's finally time to break out the fleece jackets, scarfs, and boots! Soon thereafter, it's time for the holidays! How could I not get excited?!? To get in the spirit, I've already purchased by first pumpkin spice coffee creamer of the season! It all gets better from here! With our kids heading back to school, and every one is gearing up for a new school year, I thought that it would be a good time to discuss continuing education! Today, I wanted to briefly discuss the importance of "lifelong learning" and the need to seek knowledge. I'm a huge advocate for continuous education, and I encourage you to continue to learn as much as you can as you progress through life! So without further delay, let's dive into today's message!
My Personal Lifelong Learning Journey
You know, I've always been a person that has prided myself on continuous learning. I recall one of my aunts referring to me as a "career student." At the time, I was a bit offended because, I was young and took everything to heart. Now when I think about it, I'm proud of it because, I know that anything that is of interest to me, I am free to learn about it, if I want to. Since graduating with M.B.A. in 2009, I've completed two certificate programs to support and advance my professional career in Finance and Procurement. Moreover, in the last two years, since establishing Creative Calfuray, I've also completed multiple Self-Publishing Indie Writing Courses (I've lost count, but at least 15), Graphic Design and Options Investment Courses, and two Make-up Artistry Certificate Programs, all to expand my knowledge and to grow as an "authorpreuer". On Friday, 9/4/2020, I completed the National Contract Management Association's, 10-week online preparatory course for Certified Federal Contract Management. So as you can see, I've NEVER stop learning. I think seeking knowledge pushes back on the potential to become complacent. I think after a certain age, some people become "set in their ways", and they forget the importance of evolution. We must evolve in our knowledge, our critical thinking, and our philosophies because, that evolution is what challenges our need to absorb knowledge. When you're constantly evolving, you refuse to accept a rigid way of looking things, and you are more apt too see various sides and perspectives to a given discussion, argument, or concept. The goal is to keep learning and evolving!
Be a Go-Getter & Keep Learning
Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, as well as competitiveness and employability.
According to skillsyouneed.com, "Knowledge can be acquired and skill-sets developed anywhere – learning is unavoidable and happens all the time. However, lifelong learning is about creating and maintaining a positive attitude to learning both for personal and professional development.
Lifelong learners are motivated to learn and develop because they want to: it is a deliberate and voluntary act.
Lifelong learning can enhance our understanding of the world around us, provide us with more and better opportunities and improve our quality of life.
There are two main reasons for learning throughout life: for personal development and for professional development. These reasons may not necessarily be distinct as personal development can improve your employment opportunities and professional development can enable personal growth."
3 Suggestions to Encourage You on Your Journey to Lifelong Learning!
NEVER become complacent and believe you know "everything". There is always so much more that you can learn. There are so many people, after a certain age believe that because, they are older and seen a few things and experiences, feel like they know all that they need to know about everything. That's simply not true! To those individuals, stop kidding yourself and denying yourself the opportunity to broaden your horizons.
YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD! Do you know how many times I hear folks say, "I'm too old to go back to school?" Please believe me, you are NOT too old! There are so many reasons why you should go back and learn the subjects that interests you! You will be better for expanding your knowledge, and think of everyone that you can share that knowledge with. So that ballroom dancing, watercolor, accounting, and real estate class that you've been wanting to take...what's holding you back! Take them all! Get started enroll now!
If you have an interest in a certain concept, find a course that teaches it and take that class! People do not respect nor do they listen to someone that doesn't have a solid basis for their philosophies and opinions that is supported by sound knowledge and facts! In the age of "Donald Trumpism", "Fake News", "Alternative facts", it's easy to hear a lot of people spouting off rhetoric not supported by facts. So, please avoid going down this road, and actually do your homework and research, take reputable classes and complete coursework that rounds out your thoughts and critical thinking. When you do, you'll speak far more intelligently and people will value your opinion. One of my favorite places to take affordable online courses is, Udemy.com.
I hope these three suggestions at least kickstart your desires to lifelong learning! Happy Learning!
September 8, 2020 is International Literacy Day!
Finally, I wanted to end this week's post with recognizing International Literacy day, a day early! When I think about the importance of the observance of International Literacy Day, I think about how difficult life would be without being able to read and write. I think about the how important literacy is across the world, but literacy for me, starts with my own historical roots and connection to its importance. Literacy means everything to me. It is my voice, it is my passion, it is engrained within my being. I think that it is so important because, I think of what it was like for my ancestor’s longing to have and experience literacy, like a long drink of water. To have literacy is the equivalence of freedom. So many slaves died not knowing how to read and or write their names, and here I am 400 years later self-publishing my own work. Here I am escaping through my writings, experiencing a level of freedom in sharing my voice and my words, that my people once died trying to express! I become emotional when I think of how blasphemous and disrespectful I would be to their memories, if I were not an advocate for education and literacy! I think of those during that time breaking the law to become literate by quietly and secretly reading, learning alphabets and teaching words of the English language. I recall reading a passage in the book Jubilee by Margaret Walker, where one of the slaves expressed his desires to have the freedoms that I experience today, and one of those freedoms included reading. It was a very humbling experience. I’m a lifelong learner. So, this day resonates with my love and support of education. Literacy empowers me to seek knowledge and to learn and know my individual rights, and that’s part of the reason why we celebrate this day. Literacy is the light showing each of us a bright path in a potentially dark world where it’s easy to lose our way!
Final thoughts
I wish you well this week and think about pursuing your interests in life! If there is one thing that I've learned during #quarantinelife is that, life is so precious. I've written about this over the time that we've been hunkered down in our homes during this fight against #Coronavirus. We are losing so many lives a rapid pace, and we cannot afford to wait around until tomorrow to do what we desire to do today! So I encourage to go after your dreams! Get it done! Good luck to you! Be blessed and stay safe, stay healthy, and God Bless you and your families!
Peace & Blessings,
Charmyra "MAI" Fleming
#maimondaymotivation #MondayMotivation #Monday #Mondays #blogger #bloggerslife #Writerslife #writer #Writersfocus #PositiveEnergy #PositiveContent #LifelongLearner
Charmyra E. Fleming is a romance author with a deep desire to M.OTIVATE | A.SPIRE | I.NSPIRE, her readers and beyond to live their lives with purpose, intention, and full of passion. She is the author of The Violet Rose and Three's a Charm romance novels. Thank you for reading her blog post this morning. Hey, do her a favor, if you like or love this post, comment on it. She'd love to hear your feedback. Also, please feel free to share it with your family and friends in the social media universe. Your support is greatly appreciated!