Page 81 - Book5E

CHAPTER 12
Plan and Protect Your Career—Keep Learning
One of the key secrets to success and fulfillment in your current job and throughout your career is to always maintain a healthy attitude towards learning. Automaker and industrialist Henry Ford said, “Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Is learning optional? What really is the value of learning? The fact is, learning is at the core of all we do—it’s the gaining of knowledge. Without knowledge we’d be no better off than a stone—existing but not living.
The concept of “career” has changed over the past 15 years or so to keep pace with the rapidly changing nature of work. We often use the terms “career”, “job”, and “occupation” interchangeably. However, your career is something much larger than a job or an occupation. It’s the sum and variety of experiences of learning and work (both unpaid and paid) that you undertake throughout your lifetime. Taking charge of your career development means you will need to actively manage your learning and your work.
Flexibility and Adaptability are Key
It’s safe to say that very few people will have a job or occupation for life. In the world’s ever-changing environment, you will need to keep learning to keep pace. The good news is that it’s very difficult to go through life without changing, growing, and learning. It is important, however, that you actively manage this process as much as possible, rather than just letting it happen.
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