This day June 13th, William Butler Yeats was born.
There is a quote often mistakenly attributed to William Butler Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
It probably originated from a saying of Plutarch “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” But nonetheless, it doesn’t make the saying any less apt.
Learning and training do indeed spark a fire, which will burn through our entire life. Learning leads to changes in our lives, through living new experiences and taking on challenges.
The skills and knowledge we acquire through learning and training help both our professional and our personal development, and get us closer to achieving our goals.
So, what are the benefits of learning and training?
They are many, but for me, at the top of the list is a simple yet crucial one: Knowledge Empowers Us. It could be my motto. Now here are a few other potential benefits:
- It boosts creativity, at work and in our lives
- It helps us improve our performance at work
- Learning brings us more opportunities
- It gives us a feeling of accomplishment
- It can improve our self-esteem
- Learning increases life satisfaction and belief in our own abilities
- It can make us more fulfilled in our lives and careers
- It can improve our problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills
- Learning brings us together and involves us
- It helps us knowing how to interact with people and equips us with better communication skills
- Learning can boost our job prospects and help us get more job satisfaction
- It makes us more self-reliant and helps us gain more confidence in ourselves
- Learning improves our emotional intelligence (EQ), which in the work place as in life, is even more important than our IQ. EQ is also an essential quality great leaders have in common.
- It is also argued that learning helps our brain stay healthy.
Whether we learn through reading, sharing knowledge at work, online learning, virtual courses, training courses or workshops, one thing is sure, learning enriches our lives and I will argue that learning and training makes us feel happier.
I will leave you with two quotes, which have always inspired me:
The first one by Benjamin Franklin “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
And the second one by the great Mahatma Gandhi “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Take care and carry on learning.
