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Why should I study? A new look

Your brainObviously it is about your brain. You know that you use your brain to study, to learn new things. It is as simple as that, isn’t it? Yes and no. Yes, you use your brain to study and learn something new. But that is not all you do with your brain. More importantly, it is not as easy as that for your brain to just learn something new. It is much, much more complicated. I am going to try to explain it as simply as possible.

Your brain is a computer. Your brain is the manager over your entire body, most specifically the nervous system. The nervous system is the most important system in your body, because it regulates many important things like your body temperature, your breathing and your heartbeat. These are all things that are essential in your body, and if they go wrong, you will get very sick and maybe even die.

What has this got to do with studying? A lot, actually. Your brain is the biggest computer there is in the world. Nobody can create a computer that is so complex and well-tuned as the brain. The brain manages millions of precise movements and functions in your body without a hitch. If you use a computer, you’ll know that thousands of problems and glitches happen every day with that machine. Not with the brain. The brain is flawless. Unless of course, there is a genetic problem. But for the sake of this discussion, I’m only looking at a healthy brain.

How your brain learns Your brain is an amazing instrument. It can do millions of calculations in a second. But it needs to be trained. Even though your brain can do almost anything, it gets lazy. Luckily your brain cannot get lazy with running your body, that would be disastrous. But it gets lazy to learn new things. So you have to train your brain to want to learn new things. For example, it does not matter how old you are when you first go to school. If you are six years old or sixteen years old, you will need to start in Grade 1. Your brain won’t be able to understand the stuff you need to do in Grade 10 when you are sixteen years old, if it didn’t first learn to do the work in Grade 1 to Grade 9.

Everything your brain learns is based on something else the brain has learned previously. Your brain makes connections between the things it already knows and the things it needs to learn. That is why it is important to learn things in the right order. For example, before you can learn to write, you first need to know what each letter of the alphabet means. It works that way with anything you learn.

When you want to study a new course What happens when you want to study a course with a college or university? Firstly, you must meet the entrance requirements. They are there to make sure that your brain has all the information that it needs to be able to learn the new things. Now you know why the entrance requirements are there! They are not just to make your life difficult, they are there for a reason.

What happens when you do study When you start studying a course, your brain starts to learn slowly, especially if you have not studied for a long time. It will take your brain some time to get into the study groove again. So don’t expect to be able to go full speed ahead on the first day!

Each day you study, your brain will be able to do a bit more and learn a bit more. The more you learn, the more you will be able to learn. And the more you learn, the better your brain will get at remembering things the first time around. You will be able to learn more difficult things more easily.

Some people say your brain is like a muscle – the more you exercise it, the stronger it will become. That is a good description of how your brain works. If you give it more to learn, it will learn more!

How does all this help me in my everyday life?

You do not only learn when you are studying. Whenever you read a book or when you are on the internet or when you have a meeting or when you watch a training video, your brain learns something. If you have studied and your brain is in good shape, you will be able to remember what you learn even when you don’t purposefully try to memorise something.

That will be very valuable in your job, because it will help you to learn a new concept quickly. If you learn things quickly, your boss will notice it and you may get a promotion and even a better salary.

All companies want to employ smart people who learn quickly.

The problem is that there are very few people out there who actually learn quickly. So if you are the one who gets the new information first, you will be valued by your employer.
When you improve your brain, you will see the benefits in your job. Studying has so many different positive outcomes. Studying and improving yourself could lead to:

Getting a better job. If you studied to become a bookkeeper but you want to be a chartered accountant, the you can study some more and one day get your qualification as a chartered accountant.
Getting a promotion. Your manager may need someone to take over a specific project or maybe even a division in the company. If you study to improve yourself and your knowledge, your manager will notice that you are the best person for the job.
Getting a better salary. When you improve yourself, your employer will notice that you are doing more to do a better job. The next time your performance review comes up, your employer will probably give you a better salary because you are worth more to the company.
Starting out on a new career. Are you tired of your current career? Do feel unfulfilled in your job? Studying will allow you to start out on a new career path. When you want to start a new career, you will almost always have to study something new to be able to get a job. You will need to learn new skills to be able to do your best in your new career.
Have a more competitive CV. At the end of the day your CV is your most important tool to get a job. Your CV is the first thing the hiring company sees of you. If they like your CV, they will probably like you. The better your CV looks, the better chance you have of getting the job. The best way to have an impressive CV is to study impressive courses!

Now what?The only thing to do is to study. Remember, learning is a lifelong thing. You don’t just learn when you are physically studying a course. Studying is the first step to being a lifelong learner of great things.

If you want know more about studying or if you want information about a course, you can phone us toll free on 0800 21 23 22. We will do everything we can to help you.

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