Why You Should Be An Autodidact And How

Why You Should Be An Autodidact And How

The world has changed, people are being replaced at work by computers that are able to do the job that you studied for at least  4 years, but it is fair that we include all those years you spent at primary and secondary school so lets put the number to 15 or 16 years. So a machine that is programmed for two days is replacing people who have been trained for 16 years, its tough. Jobs are becoming lesser and lesser by day in South Africa as more and more companies are retrenching people to accommodate their machines. What can you do to survive this and be able to get your self a job? Well, I think it is better to learn as many skills as possible, and you are not going to do that at school.

School teaches you a specific skill for a certain period of time, that period is usually longer and demands plenty of time and money so it becomes almost impossible to learn many skills at record time, so school or any institution can not teach you many skills at record time, you are on your own, yes you are on your own. It means that you have to be your own lecture, do your own marking, learn on your own, correct yourself all at the same time. If you think that it is hard, you are mistaken, it is fun instead. This is what you get to do as an autodidact.

An autodidact is an individual who is self-teaching , it can be a skill or anything else that normally requires you to go to school to learn. Autodidactic people spend a certain time on learning all on their own, this way is better because they get to set their own time frames and also choose their own study material, they also learn wherever they want, this are the freedoms that one who is enrolled at a certain institution does not normally enjoy. Learning on your own also gives you the freedom to learn more than one thing, giving you an advantage over those who go to school. I have to say though that it does not have some benefits that come with enrolling at a institution. Being autodidactic means that there will be no one running after you reminding you that you have to study or you have to finish a certain task by a certain time frame, so it requires one to be super disciplined and dedicated.

So, Do you want to have more than one skill? Do you think you can discipline yourself to finish tasks on time and do what you have committed to? Then you might as well start your journey of being autodidactic. Here are the few steps that will help you get started:

1.    Choose what you want to learn: You will have to first do an immense research on the skill that you want to learn or the profession that you want to pursue. Get to know all there is about it and check if it’s a skill that can put food on the table, but most importantly you should check if it is something that you will love doing. As I have said, being autodidactic requires highest discipline and so one will never be disciplined in learning something they do not like. I also said learning on your own needs you to be committed, we both know that you will never commit to what you do not love. So make it a point that the skill/skills you want to learn are things you will love doing.

2.    Set A Time Frame: Everything must have a starting point and an ending point. Establish how long will you learn the skill and when are you going to start. This will help you put your life in order by prioritizing tasks and allocating specific periods of time you are going to spend with friends and family so that when it is time to learn no one and no task will disturb you. Being autodidactic also needs organization so that your brain can be fresh and consume as much as it can. Besides, you do not want to learn something forever without it ever benefiting you.

3.    Decide on a space: Where are you going to sit down and learn these new skills you want to learn, or if they do not require you to sit down, where are you going to get busy with learning what you have chosen to learn? Skills can be grasped on the go, others need you to be stationary, so depending on which skill you want to learn you will have to pick a place of learning. It can be at your house, or at coffee shop, library, literally anywhere you see fit.

4.    Gather Study/Learning Material: Now that you have done the above, it is time for you to put together all the learning material you need. You might have to download pdf books that teach what you have decided to learn, if you can afford hard copies also go get them. It is also better to use visual learning material like videos because you can see a motion illustration of what you want to learn, so gather all the videos you can come across from the internet, download them and put them on one file in the sequence you will use to study or learn. Also have your study aides such as a notepad where you will record everything you learn and where you will test yourself.

5.    Develop A Time Table And Share With Friends: Develop a time-table where you will record on when you have learnt a certain skill, also leave a space on that time-table where you will be able to jot down the mistakes you have made and the places where you need to do better in. Involve other friends whom you will share you skill with so that they can help you in determining whether you are getting better at what you are learning or not, allow them to criticize you.

Those are the five basic things that I think you need to do when you are getting started with being an autodidact, browse the internet for more information on what an autodidact is and how to be one. Hope this information has been useful. Koodos!!