Professional Development and Why it Matters?

“To earn more, learn more.” Jim Rohn

I enjoy learning new things which can help me to do my job better. Also, I’m well aware that adding new qualifications can help me to find a new job more quickly, if I need to do so. Of course, studying on the weekends and spending my free time for professional development is not a hobby. However, I know learning new skills will provide me the ability to achieve my long-term goals and give me financial freedom.

We all work in an aggressive environment. We hear about job cuts and business travel restrictions due to economic reasons every day. So, I want to be competitive, get better at my job, and add more qualifications to myself. As Jim Rohn said, “To earn more, learn more.” I also want to earn and learn more. It’s not just me; we all need to make time for professional development because it matters. We all need to continue to strengthen our knowledge throughout our careers. We should not be the ones who worry about job cuts; our companies should worry about losing us.

Here are the reasons why we all need to continue learning and investing time in our professional developments.

• Learning new things is essential because of the new technologies – having a degree is not enough these days.
• Adding new skills, especially soft skills which we do not learn at college, will help us to be more confident and successful at work.
• Taking work-related training will help us to be more creative, efficient and will save time while we work on our tasks.
• Practicing new skills will make us stand in our jobs.
• Having certain certifications, such as Six Sigma, Project Management Professional (PMP)® and Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), gives us global credibility and makes us preferable candidates among competitors for positions.
• Learning new things will create a chain reaction and a positive ripple effect on our lives.
• Knowing what we need to learn will create self-awareness to improve ourselves, which will help us know on which areas we should focus to improve.
• Building a learning path and creating capacity and capability distinguish us from our peers.
• Learning new skills will make us happy and feel comfortable at work and in our personal lives.

Professional development can be anything that helps you improve the way in which you live your life. In the era in which we live, it is a must. To be able to learn new skills, there are tremendous resources out there. We can join conferences, read, search online, look for YouTube videos, and take online classes. Also, we can earn a certificate in our field.

Learning is a lifelong journey. Once we get used to it, we will always look for new opportunities to learn. It is all up to us to shape our lives and create the future we dream of. The sky is the limit.