When you think of learning, you might think of school first, and then perhaps further education like college. After that, what happens? For most people, they enter the world of work, and barring a little training here and there, that’s it when it comes to learning. For some this might be a relief, for others it might be something they miss, but all in all, it’s not something that has much of a place in their lives.
That’s a shame – learning is fun – and it’s a mistake. Continuous learning in life is important, and can make a big difference in a number of ways. This includes your overall happiness and wellbeing, your enjoyment, your career, your self-esteem, and your health. If this seems strange, that’s only because you haven’t learned about it yet. Start now by reading on about why continuous learning is good for your health and what it can do for your life.
Increases Self-Esteem
When you learn new things – not just information, but skills as well – you’ll be much more adept at overcoming the various challenges life throws at you, whatever they might be and no matter how they might present themselves. This will certainly improve your self-esteem, as you’ll be able to overcome any problem that you might come across thanks to your knowledge.
If you don’t know how to overcome an issue, you’ll definitely know how to find out what to do and how to learn more about how to get past the challenge ahead of you, and that’s just as helpful. You’ll feel better equipped to move forward in life without having to worry that any particular issue will hold you back.
When you know that you have a good level of knowledge and you are happy to keep learning so that knowledge always grows, you’ll also know that it doesn’t matter what problems you come across in life. You can push on with whatever goals you might have because those challenges that would hold other people back won’t be something you even need to consider.
Encourages Social Interaction
When you are able to connect with other people, you will feel a sense of community and belonging. That can often mean that you feel accepted, and even valued, within that community. This improves mental wellbeing, and health through that.
When you are learning, you are often with other people. Whether it’s school, college, an online course, or something more specific for your needs – this could be an outdoor hobby like looking to take the Iowa hunters safety course or join a hiking group. Even if you are taking an online course and the learning takes place in your home at your laptop, there will be people to interact with, either through online forums, emails, or perhaps even meetups.
Social interaction isn’t something that everyone loves the idea of initially, and if you are particularly introverted you might think this is a bad thing, but the truth is that human beings are social creatures, some to a greater extent than others. This means that even a little social interaction can make a difference, and you will usually find you feel more positive and happier when you have been with other people, in person or virtually. Learning can help make this happen.
You’ll Have A Sense Of Hope And Purpose
Life can be very hard at times, and that difficulty can lead to mental health problems for some people. Even if it doesn’t go that far, feeling as though you have no real purpose in life, perhaps because you don’t enjoy your work or don’t have any particular plans for the future, can be something that makes you feel down and perhaps lowers self-esteem.
When you are learning, you’ll have a sense of purpose, which will lead to a sense of hope about life in general. That’s because you’ll be experiencing new things and gaining more knowledge to help with the challenges, as mentioned above. On top of that, you’ll be able to see a path for the future. Learning new things will give you the skills you need to carve out a life for yourself that you enjoy. If you dislike your job, learning how to do a different one, whether by gaining a formal qualification or simply picking up new skills that will be useful, can make all the difference, for example.
The happiest people are those who have goals for their life. It doesn’t matter if the goal is large or small, what matters is that it exists. When there is always something to strive towards, life becomes much more interesting and there is always something to do – this leads to overall happiness and good health.
Better Ability To Cope With Stress
Are you stressed? The answer is more than likely yes. Adults do tend to be stressed a lot of the time. This can either be a small amount of temporary stress about a particular situation or event, or it can be all-encompassing, and something that is with you all the time. This is known as chronic stress, and is particularly bad for your health, as it can lead to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart disease, and much more.
General stress is a positive thing in some regards. The body becomes ready to act when you are stressed, meaning that you can either face the problem head on, or get away from it if your instincts tell you it’s a dangerous situation to be in. Short-term stress before an exam, a presentation, or something similar actually helps because you’ll be more alert and focused on whatever it is you have to do.
Chronic stress is different. Chronic stress begins as short-term or acute stress, and then becomes much more problematic. It happens because the brain doesn’t register that the ‘danger’ has passed, and therefore the body continues to make the stress hormone cortisol. Too much of this leads to the health problems listed above, as well as many others.
The more you learn, the better able you are to cope with stress. Although there are many theories as to why this is, the prevailing one is that when you are learning, you are focused on one thing, and you’re entirely in the present – you’re being mindful. Mindfulness is known to be a good way to deal with stress, and so if you are used to being able to be mindful and focused, you are automatically more able to deal with stress. This is probably a subconscious thing, but that makes no difference; the point is that you can be less stressed when you learn more, and that is clearly good for your health.
