I know you’ve heard about the importance of lifelong learning many times.
Heck, even way back when I graduated from high school the teachers and counselors were talking about how what we had learned was just the beginning and that lifelong learning is what really matters. But then I’ve read a few news stories and surveys that show that many Americans don’t read even one book a year after they leave school. So I can’t help but wonder how well that message got through?
Then, on the other hand, we often hear people attributing their success to their commitment to continued learning. Many of them read daily. And more importantly, they take the time to actually learn and implement the new skills and information they read about.
This second group are the ones getting new jobs and promotions or seeing their business (and their incomes) grow like crazy.
Why is this?
After all, after we graduate with a degree don’t we know all that we need to know?
When I think back to how I thought and what I thought I knew when I was 21 or 25 or 30 or 40 . . . I realize I knew a lot less than I thought.
Life experience has a way of doing that to you.
You see, the people you interact with or sell to are (probably just like you) constantly changing and evolving.
Their wants and needs are not static. The things that interest them change just the like the triggers that motivate them into action change.
How do you keep up with that and then add into the mix the change in technology?
Do you realize that the first iPhone was released in 2007? That was only 11 years ago.
Only 11 years…
How has your world changed since this happened? Now, how about the world of everyone you know?
Everyone and everything is changing rapidly, especially these days. And for some reason, some people think that what they learned in high school 5, 10, 20, or 30 plus years ago is going to be enough to help them keep up.
That’s not going to happen.
Luckily for me, I enjoy learning. To me, there is no other feeling comparable to getting the opportunity to sit down for an hour or two to get started on a new book or new online course.
Some of my best ideas come from combining what I already know with the new information I uncover.
After all, some information is timeless.
Advertising classics like Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins or personal development from Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich are still widely quoted. And they are both approaching 100 years old.
There is value in the old teachings but it works even better when it’s combined with new ideas and techniques.
Claude Hopkins taught about the importance of tracking your results and making adjustments to the message and media you used to get the best results.
This still works, only now it’s used on Google and Facebook instead of newspapers and magazines. Same tactics only different media.
The value of having old knowledge is that you don’t have to invent or figure out everything over and over again.
The value of the new knowledge is that you stay on the cutting edge.
If you want to profit from being on the cutting edge, you need to combine the best of the old and new knowledge and then test and measure your results.
To be successful in the future, lifelong learning needs to be more than a buzzword. It has to be a way of life.
Ultimately, society is moving faster. People are changing around you.
Do you want to try and keep up or do you want to lead the way?
I’m choosing to lead the way and I hope you join me on the journey.
Have a great day!
Brian
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