Never Stop Learning

Never stop learning.

image: nsrealtors.ca

I'm sure you already know this and even practice it. You are always open to learn something new from every situation and every person. You even take delight in unpleasant situations that give you some excellent learning. But that is not the type of learning I would be focusing on today. That type is too common and not strategic enough to make breakthrough changes.

I want you to have a strategy to your learning. Pick out what you want to learn and go after them. Preferable to have this structured over years and not just our usual 1st quarter of the year achievement list or yearly achievement list. If while you were a teenager you planned for the next 4, 5 years of your life, learning-wise, by picking a university course, then why should you now be obsessed with short-term plans. 

Let your learning be deeper and more strategic than what you did as a teenager. Have result oriented learning goal. Learn to acquire skills that will produce tangible values at a superb quality level than just for show off.

And if I may suggest -- stay away from any popularity contest. I currently get an email from one guy who has been nominated alongside Basket Mouth, Chude Jideonwo, Chimamanda Adichie and such like for an award. He is constantly bombarding me (and I'm sure all his network) with mails to vote for him. And I'm wondering how an award that is given based on our many random people you could coerce to vote for you is a true reflection of your merit/value. Imagine if that was how Nobel prizes were given. Then Mugabe would even be a Nobel Prize winner; he'll simply make it a law for everyone in Zimbabwe to vote for him.

Popularity contests detract you from genuine value creation and structured learning. And there are the more subtle ones too. The ones that give awards for social entrepreneurship. If your line of business is originally not in the social entrepreneurship space then don't for the sake of an award steer it into that space. Social entrepreneurship is more of a quantity over quality field. How many people you can reach matters way more than depth of quality of what you are doing. If you want to start a purely for profit business then go straight for it. Learn all you can to get the resources you need. Don't bother about those popularity awards. 

You need to have a very thought out learning strategy. Figure out where you want to be and what you'd need to be there. Block out the outside noise/trend. Work, even if slowly, towards where your ultimate aim lies and learn all you can that will help you reach there faster and easier.

In all, never stop learning.