An autodidact is someone who acquires his knowledge through self-study and for whom the internet is the Valhalla. Without following a curriculum (they like to cross the boundaries of formal education), without fellow students, without grades or diplomas. They are often associated with artistic professions. Prince taught himself to sing, play instruments, compose, produce and direct (on his debut album For You you can hear him play all 27 instruments).
But also in IT you find many autodidacts: programmers, (ethical) hackers . Julian Assange hacked as a teenager and later founded WikiLeaks. Assange, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went to little or no school.
Open-minded and flexible
Autodidacts remain open-minded and flexible in their thinking. Or they do not see traditional or academic education as the only means to follow an education. They get out of it what they want, but it is only the beginning of their journey. In the labor market and in recruitment and selection, diplomas do not say everything and what used to be seen as a 'hobby' can now be a reason for hiring.
Of course there is also a risk of quackery or going overboard in conspiracy thinking . If you enrich yourself through videos via social media and suddenly discover a magic cure for a scary disease, and nobody believes you... Then it is time to carefully check the sources and authorities.
Social learning
Self-directed learning does not necessarily have to be canada telegram data done alone. Autodidacts also learn from others, through explanations from experts, contact with colleagues or feedback from a coach. Social learning starts with observing the behavior of others. In childhood, a child learns from a parent, brother or sister, teacher in the environment. We have the ability to learn from others and to imitate.

Social intelligence is what distinguishes toddlers from chimpanzees in experiments , where humans score better than apes (on spatial insight, arithmetic and causality, apes score just as well as toddlers in intelligence tests ). Our ability to share, receive and work in a group makes us more effective. So don't do everything alone, but organize learning together and learning from each other.
Create your own learning path – 7 steps
Maybe it's obvious, but nobody gives you a pat on the back or a grade. So discipline has to come from yourself. You can also develop learning, find a learning method that suits you (to keep focus for example), make a time schedule and evaluate your own progress.
First, determine what you want to learn or develop. That is not an easy question! So do not hesitate to spar with someone about it (in doing so, you also express your intention to learn something) and come up with a topic.