George S. Chua l November 8, 2023 l Business Mirror
AS long as you are alive and well, you owe it to yourself and society to find ways to improve yourself. As you are growing up, you learn how to communicate, take care of yourself and be educated on different subjects.
When you start working, you learn a skill or profession, do your job, work with others, manage people, make smart investments and have a family. As you get much older, you still learn many things like how to stay healthy, improve your golf game, make friends with more people and maybe even get a new hobby.
Self-improvement is a continuous process but can be done in a more organized manner to maximize your learning at a minimum cost and effort.
There are two ways going about self-improvement. First is through a formal leaning process and through an informal process. In a formal educational process, you get and establish your credentials by going to a school, university or training in a company. You would have a professor or instructor that has been prequalified to give you an education and teach you things in an organized and scripted manner.
Examples of this formal process is getting a college degree, a license to drive a car or fly an airplane, a Masters or Doctorate degree, getting various titles like Engineer, Attorney, Doctor, CPA, and so on. You would typically need to pay to undergo this formal learning process, have a more regimented schedule, a specific venue and most likely in a class with other people. The professors or instructors would also need to be qualified through their higher degrees, licenses issued by the government, position in the company and other certifications.
However, it is my belief that most self-improvement is done through a more informal process. This is typically done through self-learning or through the informal instruction of other people who may not have the formal qualifications to teach others.
With the advent of the Internet where so much information is available including instructional videos, the ease of accessibility at no cost makes self-learning a reality for most people. Many people who are self-taught, learn things from their experience, practice and training.
Other well-meaning people also like to pass on their knowledge to anyone who may be interested. There as so many people who have a particular passion for something like cooking, embroidery, sports, automotive mechanics, fishing, carpentry and so on. Many trades and professions, also take in an apprentice to help them in their work and be able to pass on their knowledge and skill to someone else.
There is no excuse for not wanting to make yourself a better and more knowledgeable person. Self-improvement can be done through a number of ways and oftentimes at no cost except for your time. All you need is the desire to make yourself a better person to make it happen.
*** The views and comments of Dr. George S. Chua are his own and not of the newspaper or the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines. The author was 2016 FINEX President, 2010 to 2020 FPI President and currently an active Entrepreneur with investments in fintech, broadcast, media, telecommunications, properties and is a regular member of the National Press Club. Dr. Chua is also a Professorial Lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman and BGC Campus. Comments may be sent to georgechuaph@yahoo.com.