Life’s a journey but many people live theirs on a linear path. I believe life and self-development should be an upward journey and one where you build yourself high and higher, level by level. So with that in mind, today I want to talk to you in this post about doing just that and my favourite ways of doing it – that’s through enrichment.

I honestly believe that life is about development and more specifically self-development, but I also believe the biggest thing of self-development is enrichment. It’s about building your knowledge, your skills, your mind, your contacts and your creativity. Building up, one by one all of these things to make yourself and your life, better and better as you live on.

In this post I’ll discuss with you 9 easy and yet great ways to expand your mind and boost your development through enrichment activities in your life.

Watch TED Talks & Other Online Events

The easiest and in many ways best way to expand your mind and boost your self-development through enrichment is to watch a variety of TED Talks and other conferences online.

TED.com houses a whole range of amazing conference talks on a vast range of subjects, but you can also find subject specific conferences or talks online too. These are typically live streamed on peoples personal websites (such as Chases Jarvis) or through Google Hangouts, often used by Google for Entrepreneurs and Richard Branson.

So if you have just a free 5 minutes on the bus or at night and want to learn something new, then check out some of the free and amazing conferences and chats online.

Work on Projects

Another great way to learn new things and expand your mind is to work on projects. I’ve worked on a whole range of projects during my life ranging from online eBooks and this website, to physical goods like the bike I striped down, spray painted and did back up with a friend in my early teens.

Projects can be really good fun, a really good learning experience and can often lead to something much bigger. And sometimes, you can even make yourself a little money while at it to.

Read Books on General Topics

The third way to learn new things in life is just to read. You can find some great books online, buy them for cheap on eBay and get them delivered to your door just a few days later too. Books are a great source of knowledge, but not only can you read books on usual everyday things, but also obscure subjects to.

And if you’d like to learn more about finance, economics, sociology or even something like biology, then why not buy a GCSE or A Level text book in that subject and teach yourself something new from it to. Those books are an amazing way to expand your knowledge and are a really cheap and easy way to learn a whole lot more of something new.

Attend Exhibition Events & Open-Days

Check out websites like IMechE (the Institute of Mechanical Engineers), GEW (Global Entrepreneurship Week) and other websites about interests of yours to search for local exhibitions, events or open-days in your area.

Eventbrite is another great website to find these types of events in the UK and US and is defiantly a website you should check out. Not only can you learn things new at these events, but you can also make some really valuable contacts and develop some key life skills from them to.

Complete Practical Qualifications

Over the past year I’ve been completing a practical AAT qualification in Bookkeeping and Accounting at College Night Classes. It may seem a tedious task, but gaining qualifications is all a part of professional self-development and not only will the qualifications themselves help you get better jobs, but the experience, skills and knowledge developed from such things could lead you onto something much bigger from them too.

If you have some spare time in the week or even if you don’t, why not check out your local college website, make the time and take on a professional qualification around the rest of your life.

Volunteer & Complete Work Experiences

Work Experience can be an invaluable experience for you people and that’s why schools and colleges are so keen for youngsters to do it, but if you’re a long time into work and don’t feel the need for work experience, that’s not to say there’s no other opportunities out there for you to.

While I still believe that work experience CAN be valuable to older people if it’s in a different sector or role to the one their already or have previously been in, another option open to you is to volunteer. You can volunteer in a whole range of things and all of them can be extremely beneficial to your self-development and enrichment if you give them a go.

Work Experience and volunteering are some of those things in life which can offer some really great experiences, knowledge gains and skills but only if you make the effort to go out there, find them and take them on. Why not find some extra work experience or voluntary placement for yourself this summer?

Conclusion

So that was my top 6 ways to boost your self-development in life through enrichment. I hope you enjoyed them and found something new, but all that’s left for you to do now is to find those enrichment opportunities and take them on! So hey, what are you waiting for?

Wrote by Joe Brown