By now, if you’ve read some of my work, listened to any of my interviews, you know that I believe that learners are earners. People often tell me that they have a desire to keep on top of their own learning but then complain that they just do not have the time.
We all have the same 24-hours in a day.
That is not meant to be flippant or sound like I lack empathy for others who may have more and different obligations than I do. I simply believe that when any of us choose to focus on what we believe to be important; we will make time for it.
Why make learning a priority?
As 21st century humans, we live in a world moving at speeds faster than our predecessors could have imagined. The rapid pace of change is dizzying, and all signs indicate that won’t be stopping any time soon.
To remain relevant as people and business professionals, our learning mindset must always be on. Whether it is through reading (I’m a junkie), podcasts, webinars or watching video clips, or any combination that works for you, there are so many ways to learn on the fly that you have no excuse not to.
Even 10-minutes a day learning something new will translate into 3,650 minutes of learning or 60.83333 hours of new learning each year!
You seriously cannot invest 10-minutes a day?
Harvey McKay wrote a book called Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty and while many books written about networking have been published since Harvey’s, what I liked about Harvey’s book is that he says DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU NEED YOUR NETWORK to build it. Many an employee surprised by the news that their job was eliminated have discovered the hard way how painful it is when they don’t have a network to fall back on.
Networking and learning the 21st century way.
Online networking and relationship building using platforms like LinkedIn has never been easier. Yet, even today, I’m surprised at the number of people who barely keep their profile up to date, much less dig that well before they need it.
Aside from the networking and relationship building, LinkedIn has also become quite a learning resource. You can learn from others through their articles and posts or follow hashtags (#) that feature topics of interest most relevant to you.
The point is that you must keep up.
What you know today is important. What you know about what’s coming or could be coming is how you maintain relevance when others are left behind.
I’ll close this post with another book recommendation.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.
As David says, “Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.”
He makes the strong case that range of knowledge and skill is of high value. Being educated in many different areas I have found to be of great importance as a sales professional. The more diverse our education and skills, the easier it is to connect with people on so many different and diverse levels.
I’ll continue to promote my belief that learners are earners. A few times each month, watch for posts that promote books, podcasts, articles or videos I recommend.
AND… please share YOUR favorites with me and my readers in the blog comments.
