Knowledge is power. But these days, many people assume that learning involves years at college and a massive student loan. For me, this never seemed right. Not only did I not plan to stay in one place for that long, but I couldn’t justify completely taking myself out of the workforce for that long.

At almost 30 years old, I still don’t regret this. I did some community college classes when I lived in the United States, and when I lived in Guatemala I did a Political Science course by distance from New Zealand. I loved this, as it allowed me to learn without needing to actually physically be in front of a tutor.

As a freelancer, I’m continually taking new courses and reading new books to keep me up to date with trends in the industry, refine my skill, and perfect my pitch. This would be true no matter what industry I was in, as I firmly believe that learning and self-improvement are key if you want to level-up in your career, earn more money, and be more successful overall. This gives you #AFutureYouCanCountOn.

Learning isn’t just important for your career. While this is obviously one of the best ways to excel in your chosen field, I learn for personal reasons as well. There are so many online education options like Masterclass, Udemy, and Kaplan, all of which can be an excellent way to gain knowledge and experience.

In the future, I would like to continue learning. I’ll be moving to the United States last year, and I may look at taking some classes at a community college, or even some night classes to keep my brain fresh. Right now, I’m focussing on improving my Spanish, as I’ll be moving back to Guatemala for six months in October. This has been one of my  biggest challenges, as I really struggle to remember vocabulary. However, I’m sure it will be worth it when I can hold a basic conversation (right now I can only order food).

If you’re thinking about learning a language, it’s now easier than ever to get started. I like to use DuoLingo for practice, and its sister app TinyCards, which helps for memorizing the words used in the sentences in DuoLingo. There are also many different website and free lessons on YouTube to explain some of the more difficult grammar. Best of all, it’s easy to find people to practice with online, and you can also pay for conversational lessons via Skype and other platforms.