Keep calm and self improve Try single-unit study in 2015

Keep calm and self improve Try single-unit study in 2015 Keep Calm And Improve Yurself How Short Courses Can Help You SucceedPosted January 19, 2015, by Marni WilliamsThe new year has clocked over and everyone is talking about what they are looking forward to new jobs, new cities, home improvements, babies, putting their selfie sticks to good use.And if it seems as if everyone around you is on that self-improvement conveyor-belt towards livin the dream, then youd be right. Paris-based global communications group Havas has been trend-spotting for mora than a decade and has just listed self-everything as their number one bertrend for 2015Creating a positive self-image is now recognised as a vital task for everyone, boosted by good measures of self-confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline, self-respect and self-regard. Getting those right sets off a self-reinforcing process, especially for those energetic self-starters.OK, its possible all that self- talk may have made even your own i nward-focused eyeballs flick outwards in disgust, but, as the report suggests, all this introspection and individual action-taking seems to be a response to something bigger. Says HavasMaybe this is all an unhealthy sign of an increasingly fragmented and atomised society. But maybe its more about people responding to a world that has gotten too big and too unmanageable.Unmanageable? Surely not I for one am managing just fine with the 41,000 new Facebook posts per second and 278,000 tweets every minute. If were now relying only on ourselves to improve our own lives then its probably no surprise that self-directed learning was also in Havass much-awaited Whats-Now report. We direct our own learning online every day. Whether its finding the right YouTube clip for your IKEA flat pack assembly or completing an online degree, were more capable than ever of learning lifes lessons from our living rooms. Yet for all that convenience, finding a career path can seem more difficult than eve r. Maybe this is because were also living in a time when the terms analysis paralysis, information overload and decision fatigue seem increasingly relevant to our daily lives. So in this world of endless choices and industry shifts, how do we know that the paths were choosing are the right ones? The good news is that along with this barrage of choice flows a bit more flexibility we dont have to know exactly where were going from the start in order to improve ourselves. In fact, a bit of indecision can be a good thing, as long as its not stopping you from acting. Why? Because you might just try your hand at a few different careers before finding one that really calls your name. And this is easier than ever with universities offering study by-the-unit (thats by-the-subject for those of us who have been out of the study game for a while). Its an approach Open Universities Australia has pioneered with great success. In fact, 2012 saw a 17 per cent increase in unit enrolments alone, and they have found that offering subject tasters sets students on a path to greater realisation of their goals. So is single-unit study right for you? Its 2015, guys only you know the answer to that. But in our self-interested year of self-discovery, this could just be the self-directed study revolution weve been waiting for. Here are five reasons why studying step-by-step might be for youUnits introduce you to studying at a university level, no matter your