Monthly Archives: July 2019

Online Courses for Work, Life & Learning in a Rapidly Changing World

Courses, Learning, , ,

2026 & Beyond – Learning is Key to Success

Are you curious to learn, grow, and expand your knowledge?

In a world shaped by rapid technological change, artificial intelligence, automation, climate disruption, and global uncertainty, one skill stands above many others:

The ability to keep learning.

In fact, curiosity and lifelong learning are increasingly recognised as essential future-ready capabilities. Curiosity fuels creativity, innovation, adaptability, and even stronger leadership — all skills that matter in a fast-changing world.

Over the years, more than 35,000 learners worldwide have taken my online courses exploring topics such as future skills, futures thinking, lifelong learning, career resilience, and navigating uncertainty in the AI age.

I believe learning is one of the most important investments we can make in ourselves.

And the good news?

You do not need to return to university or completely reinvent your life overnight.

Even setting aside a small amount of time each day for learning can gradually transform your confidence, skills, opportunities, and outlook over time.

Online learning offers an incredible opportunity to explore new ideas, develop practical skills, and stay adaptable in a rapidly changing world.

Click the course links below to:

  • Watch free preview lessons
  • Explore course content and curriculum
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Enjoy lifetime access and future updates

Most courses also include a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to explore with confidence.

Your future is not fixed. Learning helps shape it.

“A Year From Now You Will Wish You Had Started Today” ~Karen Lamb

Courses for Life Long Learning:

1. Future Skills: Thriving in the AI Age

The future of work is here — shaped by artificial intelligence, automation, and rapid change. To succeed in this new landscape, you need more than technical knowledge. You need future skills: the mindsets, strategies, and human strengths that help you adapt, innovate, and thrive no matter what comes next. Whether you’re a professional, a student, or simply a curious learner, this course will help you thrive in the AI Age by mastering the skills that truly matter for the future of work. This is my latest course and builds on the foundations laid in Future Skills 2030 (below), shifting the focus from understanding long-term trends to practical, real-world application.

Enroll Now: Udemy

2. Future Skills 2030: Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution

Future skills courses life long learning

Understand the technological and other changes happening all around you today and the skills needed to future-proof your career.  Learn about these changes and how to remain relevant, reskill and upskill in this course.   This course is curated as part of the Udemy for Business Programme.  Udemy for Business includes top courses from Udemy and is used by 8,600 companies around the world, including top companies like Apple and Netflix, to upskill their workers.  As of January 2026, 19,859 students from 132 countries have enrolled on this course.  I am constantly working to update and improve the course to keep pace with developments in technology.  Please click the link for more details.

Enroll Now: Udemy

3. An Introduction to Futures Thinking

Gain valuable perspectives into thinking about the future in a fast changing world. The major changes of our time are familiar to everyone: climate change, biodiversity loss, rapidly advancing technology, mass migrations, ageing populations, the worst war in Europe since 1945, a food and energy crisis and challenges associated with democracy. It’s no wonder that many people feel like their faith in the future is being tested!  Being a futurist is not for a select few – it’s for all of us! These skills of being a futurist are teachable and learnable. The more you think like a futurist, the better you can create the future you want.  While there will always be great uncertainty about the future, there is no uncertainty that it will unfold, so who is responsible for the future? I think we all are. So let’s get started. We all have a stake and interest in the future!

Enroll Now: Udemy

4. Transform Your Life: 30 Experiments in Personal Change

Reinvent yourself courses life long learning

This course contains thirty personal growth experiments to reinvent yourself and build the life you want.  The course takes an action research approach to personal development.  Please click the link for more details.

Enroll Now: Udemy

5. Goal Setting 101: Turn Future Vision into Action

Goal setting 101

If you are not clear on what you want from life then this will seriously hamper your ability to be successful.  Learn how to identify your life’s purpose and vision, then how to set and achieve your own big hairy audacious long term goals.  Please click the link for more details.

Enroll Now: Udemy

6. Build a Living Without a Job

In a world shaped by AI, automation, uncertainty, and changing careers, many people are rethinking work and how they earn a living.

This course takes a practical, reflective approach to building resilience and creating more options through experimentation, lifelong learning, and small steps.

No hype. No overnight success promises. Just thoughtful experimentation and practical reflection.

Explore the course

7. Design Your Next Decade

A practical futures-thinking guide for navigating uncertainty and shaping your next chapter

What might the next decade of your life look like?

In a rapidly changing world, many of us quietly wonder what comes next. Design Your Next Decade is a practical and reflective guide that helps you think more intentionally about your future through futures thinking, guided reflection, and practical exercises.

Explore possible futures, clarify what matters most, and begin creating a roadmap for the next chapter of your life.

No hype. Just thoughtful reflection and practical tools for navigating change.

Explore the course

I look forward to seeing you on any of the above courses! Remember lifelong learning is a key skill for the modern world. We all need to keep learning and growing or become obsolete. Make 2026 a year of learning!
Thanks very much for your support and see you in class.

Best wishes,
Tom Carroll, PhD

“The future depends on what you do today.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Find Your Life’s Purpose in 10 Minutes!

Life's purpose, Purpose, Reflection, Vision boards
Life's purposeWhat is your life’s purpose?

This is a big question and a question most of us ask ourselves from time to time.  I think it is a question that we all need to reflect on frequently.  The alternative to not asking the question is to go through life on auto-pilot and not live up to our true potential.  Both ourselves and the world will be worse off as a result.  I have had the diagram in figure 1 (below) on my office wall for the past two years.  Every so often I would look at the diagram and contemplate my life’s purpose.   The reflection on the questions has helped me to get a clearer vision of my own life’s purpose.  I believe that even if you only spend 10 minutes now reflecting on figure 1 and the three questions, they will bring you closer to being clear on your life’s purpose.

The Hedgehog Concept

The questions in figure 1 are based on a business book called Good to Great by Jim Collins.  The book describes the results of research in the US into companies and what makes a company become great and stay great.  The research showed that one of the factors which helped good companies become great companies was when they found what Collin’s calls their ‘Hedgehog’.   The Hedgehog Concept was originally based on an ancient Greek parable which stated, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”  Jim Collins, used this concept as a metaphor for business in his influential book.  The three components of the hedgehog concept are:

  1. What is the company passionate about
  2. What can the company be the best in the world at and
  3. What drives the economic engine (makes money).
Personal Hedgehog

I think Jim Collin’s hedgehog concept/questions used for companies can also be adapted to people.   If you take  questions and adapt them to people they become the 3 questions below:

1. What do you love to do?

What are the things that you enjoy doing?  Passion is a huge motivator. If you don’t have a passion for something then how can you possibly be great at it?  Passion will drive you to work harder and stay at something longer that others.  This reminds me of a quote from the great Physicist Albert Einstein:

Life's purpose

2. What are your really good at?

What can you be the best at, not what you want to be the best at.  I bet you know some of the things that you are really good at through experience.  If you want more ideas on what you can be the best at I suggest you take the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test if you have not done so already.   If you Google this test then you will find the test online for free.  The MBTI test will give you very good ideas about the types of things you are naturally great at – the things that will come natural to you.

3. What pays well?

I think question number 3 is very important because if what you are naturally great at and love to do doesn’t pay well then you are not going to be very happy being broke!  You will have a great hobby!  You need to hit the target in figure 1 and get something that you love to do, you are naturally great at and also pays well.  That is a recipe for finding your life’s purpose and contentment in your life.

Life's Purpose

Figure 1:  Three key questions to ask yourself

Can I suggest that you print out the above diagram and reflect on it often.  I suspect that you already have ideas on something that hits the above target for you (the confluence between the 3 circles in figure 1).  If not don’t worry – allow your sub-conscious mind to reflect on the diagram in the coming weeks and months.

Example:  My Own Hedgehog

To help clarify the hedgehog concept I have shared my own example below.  I answer the three questions for myself and then I state what my own hedgehog is for my life.

1. What do I love to do?

  • Help others
  • Teach
  • Share knowledge and ideas

2.  What am I really good at doing?

  • Researching
  • Learning
  • Adapting, changing and transforming myself
  • My MBTI is:  INFJ – Introverted, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging.  Favourite career choices for INFJs point towards meaningful, humanity-based causes that contribute to others’ well-being.  INFJ personality types are good at helping others such as counselors, teachers and clergy.

3.  What pays well?

  • New technology
  • Solving problems
  • People needing to learn new skills, knowledge and ideas in a fast changing world

4.  My Hedgehog:

To research, create and market great information products such as books and online courses on personal development and technology.  Information products which will satisfy the needs of  my clients and significantly enhance their lives.  In return my clients will be willing to pay me well for my work.

I invite you to share your feedback/ideas on your own hedgehog concept in the comments under this blog post.  Sharing your own examples can help and inspire others.  Thank you.

Best wishes,

Tom

PS. If you are looking for new ideas or information to take your life in a new and exciting direction then have a look at my online course ‘Reinvent yourself: 30 Experiments in Personal Change‘.  Learn how to visualise your ideal future and set great goals.  Click the link below to get the course for the discounted price of €12.99.  You can take the free course preview.  The course comes with a 100% money back guarantee if you are not satisfied.  Please click here for further course details.