One of my favorite content creators is Mercury Stardust, aka the “Trans Handy-Ma’am”. She has said “you are worth the time it takes to learn a new skill”. I think that is one of the truest statements ever made. I’m someone who lives by the “Jack-of-All-Trades Philosophy”; this philosophy states that “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but is oftentimes better than a master of one”. The more you know and are able to do (even averagely, not exceptionally) the better off you can be. Obviously, there are many places from which to learn new skills, however, many of these will require you to pay to utilize their services. In order to break free from the paywall those companies place you behind, I have compiled a list of free resources from which you can learn new skills!
TikTok
Oh-so unsurprisingly, TikTok is a treasure trove of knowledge. There are so many things you can learn on TikTok. There’s Renae, the female appliance technician who will teach you about easy fixes for your machines and maintenance. There’s the Trans Handy-Ma’am herself, Mercury Stardust who will teach you renter-friendly maintenance and fixes for any variety of household jobs. It is truly exceptional how much we can learn on that app if we just know where to look.
YouTube
I am sure we are all not strangers to YouTube. You can find tutorials on this platform for just about anything; I needed to learn how to use Adobe Premiere Pro a few weeks ago and the in-program tutorials were no help, but a random three-minute video on YouTube taught me all I needed to know. Long-term tutorials are abundant here.
Podcasts
This one surprised me a bit, because I tend to think of podcasts as something similar to a talk show, not so much an informative piece of media. However, I stand corrected. I have found a few podcasts that aim to help you learn new skills. Mercury Stardust has the Handy Ma’am Hotline podcast, and I’ve also found a podcast that teaches you the best ways to break up household cleaning responsibilities and to best clean your home: Clean With Me by Jessica Gutierrez!
Phone Apps
I’m sure most of us are familiar with Duolingo, the free language-learning app. There are so many apps that can teach you skills, like foreign languages, and they are so easily accessed! They are literally at your fingertips!
These four are ones that I have personally used to learn new skills, but there are countless others with tons of knowledge waiting for you! You are worth the time it takes to learn a new skill, so go invest in yourself and learn something new today!