Are you looking for ways to develop yourself without spending thousands of pounds? To develop yourself you don't have to pay out the big bucks as there are plenty of courses and material online that is either free, easily accessible or very affordable.
Over the past two lockdowns I have been taking online courses to help develop myself further with knowledge to enhance my blog as well as mental practices and work skills. So I thought I would share with you the platforms I have been using and what courses I have studied along with my thoughts and experience in the hope that it may inspire some of you to get out there and develop yourself further.
High Speed Training:
This platform is low cost and offers a range of courses that can help develop your skills for work. The courses I took were:
Time Management
Complaint Handling
I really enjoyed using this platform as they provided videos as well as written content which helps freshen up the brain to new learning methods. The courses are also CPD accredited which is great as you can put them on your CV and they hold some recognition against them.
To find out more about High Speed Training and what courses they offer click the link here
The Open University:
Personally, I find the Open University to be such an amazing self development and learning platform. As well as offering university courses that you can study at home either part or full time at a 3rd of the price of a normal degree which is amazing but they also offer a whole range of free courses too!
The courses I have studies so far are:
Motivation and the Factors Affecting Motivation
Exercise and Mental Health
As I am writing this blog post (mid December), I will have studied some more of the courses that I have in my saved tab to help assist with some of the blog posts in this January series. Some of the other courses I want to study are:
Active Healthy Lifestyle
Personal Branding for Career Success
I honestly couldn't recommend this platform enough! The course material is easy to understand, engaging and it doesn't take long to complete the online, free courses. They also do a range of different categories and topics.
So I would highly recommend checking out The Open University here to help develop yourself further in the comfort of your own home
Edx:
I found this platform through googling about neuroscience as I really wanted to develop my understanding of the brain and how it works to then better improve the content shared on my blog.
I stumbled across a Harvard course which was free to study but you could pay to receive a certificate if you wanted to.
The particular course I studied was very scientific and therefore not coming from a scienfitc background it took me a little longer than some perhaps to complete the course and to fully understand the material. However, I would recommend the platform as it was super easy to sign up and they provide you with some interactive videos and summary questions to make sure you have understood the course content.
You can check out Edx here. As well as offering Harvard courses they also offer a whole range of different courses from business and financial to neuroscience.
YouTube:
I am pretty sure everyone has heard of YouTube and I am sure the vast majority of you reading this post have used YouTube in the past.
For me, I use YouTube as an escape as well as for education. I often enjoy watching content such as: day in my life, behind the scenes and other videos that give an insight into people's work so I can pick up tips.
You don't necessarily need an account to watch YouTube videos either however I would suggest signing up so you can create different video playlists and save videos to watch for later.
You can access YouTube here
Podcasts:
I use Apple Podcasts but there are other platforms such as Acast and Spotify. I find listening to podcasts so insightful and educational as well as a form of escape.
I often like to listen to podcasts when I am on a walk or doing something mindful such as colouring (when I have time!). Some of the podcasts I listen to, I have mentioned below:
Joe Wicks
Not Another Runner
The British Entrepreneur
The Game Changers
Power Hour
Happy Place
There we have it, some affordable and educational ways to keep your momentum high and to continue to learn and develop yourself in 2021. If you are studying for university or an online course then this free, downloadable template may be able to help you to track your progress. You can download it here.
Also, let me know if you give any of the above platforms a try or if you have been using a different platform to develop yourself further.
This blog post is Day 12 out of the January Series where I will be uploading 31 blog posts to help you kick start your 2021 in the right way and to help you become the best version of you.
Leave a comment below if you have any blog post ideas that you would like me to do in the future
See you tomorrow for another blog post! :)
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