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Lifelong Learning Attributes for Career Advancement – Perspectives from Chinese Proverbs

What is lifelong learning? What does lifelong learning attributes for career advancement mean? And how will these attributes help you as a career newbie in the quest for success and career advancement?

If you’re new to the working world, I’m sure you are eager to advance quickly through the corporate ranks. You want to gain that promotion as quickly as possible. But gaining that advancement isn’t one big step. It is made up of many small steps. In these small steps you should gain lifelong learning attributes. It is these attributes that will help you increase the skills and knowledge mandatory for further growth. And you will realise that growth is not just from a professional point of view but also as an individual. So what is lifelong learning? Quite simply, it means continuous self-cultivation.

The Chinese have a few proverbs that truly mirrors what these lifelong learning attributes are. I have penned down some, together with a brief outline of what they mean and how you can put them into practice as part of your strategy for career advancement.

1. Continue to Learn in The Journey of Life. In Mandarin it’s pronounced “Huo Dao Lao, Xue Dao Lao”. Learning is an intrinsic part of existence. Regardless of our age, we should never stop learning. In every stage in our lives, we acquire new knowledge and skills. Thus as we scale the corporate ladder, these knowledge and skills will come in handy. Learning is a continuous cycle. It should never stop. If you want career advancement, internalize the lifelong learning attribute of continuous learning. The moment we stop learning we regress. You may feel you have learned everything at this stage in your life but that doesn’t mean you stop. Which brings me to the next lifelong learning attribute.

2. There Are No Limits To Learning. In Mandarin it’s pronounced “Xue Wu Zhi Jing”. The earlier attribute speaks about continuity. This speaks about having no boundaries. You should not limit the fields of what you learn. In life, if we are to improve ourselves, learning is infinite. In our careers, we should approach what we learnt as infinite too. What we can learn is limitless; when you feel you have mastered a skill - perfect it. When you feel you have perfected a skill, learn new ones. One should not assume that it’s an advantage to just acquire new knowledge, as you will soon lose it. In a fast-paced world, others will catch up the moment you stop learning. Amongst the lifelong learning attributes, this one speaks about being limitless.

3. The Love For Learning Never Tires You. Pronounced “Hao Xue Bu Juan” in Mandarin it loosely means that the attainment for knowledge will never wear you out. Learning is dynamic. It is ever moving, evolving. Hence, we should never be weary of it. When you have the stamina for self-cultivation then the rewards are manifold. The stamina for continuous learning is a basic requirement for career advancement. Pacing yourself in the marathon of your career and learning each step of the way without being jaded of the process greatly increase your chances of advancement.

4. Only After Learning, Do You Know What You Do Not Know. This attribute gets you to self-reflect. Self-reflection is an important process in self-directed learning. In Mandarin it is pronounced, "Xue Er Hou Zhi Bu Zu”. This lifelong learning attribute of self-reflection creates a sense of insufficiency and thus generates an intrinsic desire to learn. In our workplace, think about what you have learned and how has it made you realize what little you know. I urge you to self-reflect on what little you know. Only this will make you better develop yourself be it with skills or knowledge.

5. Three Persons Walking, One Is Bound To Be My Teacher. Amongst all the lifelong learning attributes, this is one of my favourite. I like it because it gives learning a sense of holism and humility. In Mandarin it is pronounced as “San Ren Xing Bi You Wo Shi”. We can all learn from one another regardless of the demographic profiles and other parameters you want to envelope it in. To adapt this lifelong learning attribute, you need to be humble. Be mature enough to know anyone can teach us anything. The adage that the teacher appears when the student is ready is true when it comes to this particular lifelong learning attribute that speaks about humility.

Want to progress in your career? Try internalizing the lifelong learning attributes of continuous learning, limitless learning, the stamina to keep learning, the sense of insufficiency and most of all, the attribute of humility. #lifelonglearning #professionaldevelopment #learnandgrowrich