Many people associate learning with the formal learning that happens at school, at post-secondary level and at university. 

It is true that formal education and the qualifications it leads to is important. Education can maximise our potential to find meaningful and satisfying work, earn more money and, even, have a more successful career. 

However, the education we receive at school is simply one type of education. There are many other opportunities to increase our knowledge and develop lifelong skills. 

Knowledge can be gained and skills can be developed anywhere – learning is inevitable and is ongoing. However, lifelong learning is about creating and maintaining a positive attitude to learning for personal and professional development. 

From a personal perspective, learning enhances our self-confidence, makes us more open to change, helps us create a more satisfying personal life, challenges our ideas and believes and can also be fun. 

When we talk about personal development, having academic achievements is not necessarily the key to finding work. Qualifications can get you the interview, but this does not always lead to getting work. 

Employers look for people who are motivated to learn and grow. We do not usually talk about education and learning in the context of the workplace; we usually talk about training: a term that makes it very clear that the aim of studying is not the love of learning or to expand our horizons, but to develop our skills and abilities to be able to do our job more effectively. 

While you are employed, take advantage of opportunities of training or mentoring and work on your personal development because the likelihood is that you will find that you are getting better at what you do and you will become indispensable to your future employers.