Eternal student: is it worth constantly studying courses and webinars

Since 2009, I have been working with businesses on training and development issues, building corporate academies, and since 2020, developing an online educational platform. Now we are in the top Getcourse as the largest online methodology school. Over the years in the educational environment, I have realized that education is a powerful catalyst for solving most problems both at work and in everyday life.

But what made the online education sphere so popular in the first place? Let’s look at statistics. Just a little bit 🙂 In one day today, a person creates more data than a couple of decades ago people created in their entire lives.

The complexity and quantity of content being created is growing at an alarming rate, new professions are emerging and old ones are dying out every day – and this makes people worry: how long will I be in demand as a specialist? What can I do to stay in the market?

Here you have to run just to stay in place, and c level executive list to get somewhere you have to run even faster. Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking Glass.”

The dynamics of the modern world and the economy have created a trend for self-education. Or rather, it has legalized it by creating opportunities for online learning. People have always studied, it’s just easier now: no need to look for bits of knowledge — everything you need has been pre-packed in a convenient course with a beautiful cover, take it and use it! Let’s not deny the contribution of the pandemic, which locked us at home and forced us to look for new activities.

Continuous self-learning and development is the new norm because it allows us to be competitive, cope with the complexity of the world, stay balanced and feel more relaxed.

The abundance of ways to self-educate gives us the 6 proven ways to promote without a budget opportunity to feel more comfortable, be more flexible in a changing world, change professions and devote more time to ourselves.

But besides the undeniable advantages, self-education also has its disadvantages:

— The abundance of content and the trendiness of online education creates additional uncertainty: the so-called FOMO , or “fool’s play syndrome.” What if I miss something very important if I don’t buy this course right now?!

— Unsystematic education, anywhere = fast food. If you eat poor quality food, you get temporary saturation, but zero benefit. Same with online courses — you got some information, but in the end it turned out to be useless and inapplicable to life, hello guilt and disappointment!

— Educational shopaholism. Due to the lack of educational goals and understanding of what exactly he needs, a person begins to absorb information chaotically and “drowns” in endless training or tries to become an expert in a variety of fields.

I can already hear the panicked cries: So what should we do? Learn everything or not learn at all?

Hush, don’t panic. Online courses are a good thing. It’s all about the approach. Over the years of working in online and offline education, I’ve learned betting data to filter out information.

How to decide on the choice of courses?

1. Make an individual development plan. At university, the program is made for you. In the matter of self-education, you will have to try yourself. When I plan the year, I have to choose what to study and what knowledge is not a priority for me. In order not to grab everything in a row, you need to:

Define your goals for this year.

– Filter them from the excessive or imposed by society – choose only what is really important to you.

— Understand what you already know how to do to achieve your goals.

— Prioritize your goals for the year—the simplest ones go to the top of the list.

— Determine your priorities in training based on the competencies needed to achieve your goals.

— Break each goal into tasks – this way you will understand what exactly you need to study and by what deadline in order to get what you want.

Sounds simple? Very. But in practice, not everyone knows how to plan their lives and correctly determine priorities – and this also needs to be learned.

2. “I am here from Ivanyvanych.” I have not clicked on random advertising links on the Internet for a long time. I usually learn about all the courses from competent friends and acquaintances who have already completed this training. If there are none, find an influencer you can rely on. Gradually, you will acquire the necessary connections.