Get Balanced: Education
I always tell my friends, that in life, you must “Get Balanced”. Let’s start with Education.
Sooner or later, you’re going to get in a “work promotion-stoppage”, which is an inability to progress at work. If your skills are not current you won’t get promoted or get that pay raise.
Education makes part of your skill set complete.
The problem that most workers have is “how to get started”. Most people are motivated and immediately run to the local college and get a student loan and sign up for 4 classes, about 15 credits. Two months later they will drop everything and stop going to school. It is a lot, especially if you haven’t gone to school in while.
How to start?
First, choose a topic or career you like, look at the class schedule and take one class.
“One class only”
If is weight lifting or dancing, it does not matter. The goal is to complete the class and get an A.
Going to school is hard, it is expensive, and time consuming. But the most important part is learning to go back to school. When you have completed that course, start looking at creating an educational plan. You need to plan this, look at what options are available in your area. You should take a class that builds for the next level.
If you start with one class that’s ok. Usually one class is between 1-3 credits. One credit is 15 clock hrs., while three credits is about 45 clock hrs.
Look at a Certificate program. A Certificate program is about 6-30 credits, which is about six months to a year of school. An Associate degree is about 60 credits, which is about 2-3 years of school. A Bachelor’s degree is about 120 credits and usually takes around 4-5 years to complete. It looks like a long time, but once you start, it goes pretty fast.
Taking that first step is the most difficult. Beginning with one class is recommended and after completing that class, go on to the next level. Start slowly and increase your classes as you see fit.
You can do it!