Keep on Learning

If you are in a technical field you may already do this and if you don’t then you need to or you’ll quickly lose relevance in your specific discipline. If you are not in a technical field the advice still applies as things are always changing. Keep learning. I am an Electrical Engineer and with a four year degree I was often told by professors that this qualifies me to do absolutely nothing. What you are qualified for is learning. I had to be mentored by another engineer for two years before I really knew how to do anything, and then had to complete some projects working with others that knew more than me and from whom I could grow my skills. This was a huge advantage early on in my career. Without these mentors I might never have grown. Over time I have moved from job-to-job and doing this has caused gaps where there was no one to learn from. Technical design work can fall into an echo chamber, where inspiration is stifled. When this happens it is imperative to find others who know more than you or other resources of knowledge from outside the organization. This can be accomplished via professional organizations and clubs if you have the time to commit to this. With the internet, the resources for learning online are endless and available when you are. So much of it is absolutely free. Although the quality can vary greatly, it takes very little effort to find some pretty decent resources. If you are interested in something a little more structured to hone your skills, I recommend services like Udemy. The courses are so inexpensive, but very structured. Like anything, what you get out is directly proportional to what you put in, so keep learning.