August 6th, 2012

There are a lot of things people often seek and knowledge is one of them. The traditional sense of knowledge however, is not strictly learned by traditional methods such as schooling, there are so many methods to learn and get smarter, I thought I’d start a list of the ones I know to help break the barrier that going back to school is the only way to get smarter.

Use free class material often online at various schools Find and study the text books from classes without actually attending (old text books are very cheap or even free as an added bonus) Read online blogs on topics of interest Have discussions online in forums or as comments about a topic Start writing your own content on a subject Start your own blog and commit to writing on a regular basis on subjects of interest Video a short documentary on a subject Create a link page or resource list that you learn from and refer back to Read books from experts on a subject and a wide variety of books (fiction AND non-fiction) Read books from those who oppose a particular subject to broaden your knowledge Look up and remember classic sayings so you know its origins Study a new word in your native language to expand your vocabulary Study with online courses or take up a new skill through self learning or by classes Listen to your spouse (or significant other) Share experiences with others and find lessons in those experiences Tell stories and listen to stories from others Take your hobbies more seriously and join hobbyist clubs / organizations to learn from others Compete in a hobby to force yourself to learn more about it Take up a trade or craft and become more skilled in that area through practice Teach something you know to others and gain insight through their questions and methods of learning it Sit down with your elder relatives and ask them for words of wisdom they have found in life Ask professionals in your industry of work about the most important things they have learned Don’t believe everything you hear or read the first time, verify it and check a second source Learn some brief biographies of famous people from your famous quotes or sayings, you might be surprised at how much they knew you can learn from Read biographies, sometimes these books share more insight about life then the best instructional books or courses Take courses on topics you don’t know a lot about yet. Attend and participate in community groups that share and teach new topics Find associations that help organize like-minded people together for discussions Join a book club or study group Join toastmasters or other public speaking group, as they continuing teach and help you learn new topics Get a mentor to help ask you questions about self-discovery Use a life coach to learn more about your self Watch TED videos online Subscribe to various technical feeds or technology newscasts to keep up with technology Use podcasts to learn new subjects or news Listen to audio books while you commute to always learn more Learn a second language (or third) Travel to experience and learn more about other cultures Stop watching television or be more selective to only watch education content Add some documentaries to your movie selection Do some volunteering or community service to learn about local problems Look up tutorials or learning topics with online video such as at YouTube Take on a project yourself instead of hiring it out, to learn how to do it Pay or hire out work you ‘could’ do yourself, so you have time to learn more new things Dedicate some fixed time every day to learning, at the same time since the brain works best repeating new actions Learn to gain a better quality sleep so you are well rested without losing more time to sleeping Eat healthy foods and a diet that promotes good brain activity and body functions Get daily exercise as blood flow and metabolism help activate the brains memory Practise memory improvements as it can help you learn all things easier and faster Know and emphasize your own learning patterns, whether they be audible, visual or kinesthetic

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