“to be or not to be…. that is the question”
Those Shakespearean words still echo…
In business and life in general the question should be: “To learn or not to learn.”
Lets address those obstacles that might be prohibiting you from reaching the next level.
Humility is KEY when it comes to true learning. This is one of the most fundamental reasons young kids learn practically anything, their cup is empty sensei would say. A child is naturally humble because he KNOWS he does NOT KNOW. It is really that simple, but this concept is powerfully illusive for “grown ups”
When I give talks on these kinds of mindset principles, people tell me the same thing time after time. “I am humble” or “I dont think I lack humility”
I didn’t think so either, after all I never claimed I knew everything! Yet….. what do our ACTIONS show about how we TRULY feel?
I must admit to my embarrassment, I had HUGE pride issues and still struggle with this fundamental and simple concept. Let me ask you some questions:
-In the last month how many books have you read?
-In the last quarter how many seminars or conferences in your industry have you been to?
-In the last year, how many consultants trainers, coaches have you hired?
The truth is, if we ONLY rely on ourselves we are SHOWING by our actions that WE know better and that WE can figure it out. Now you may say “look I have done pretty well until now, why do I need to read or meet people or hire consultants?” The reason is simple: cut your learning/experimental curve.
As I said in my last post, people will generally learn from their mistakes and will tend to be more successful the older they get, yet how much time do you REALLY HAVE? 80 years? 50? 40? really no one knows. The roman philosopher Seneca described it best “in our desires we behave as if we are immortal”
Are we pretending that we are going to live forever and so choose to reinvent the wheel? Just think about this: Do the top athletes in the world have coaches? Yes they do! why? because this is how THEY CUT their leaning curve, plus another human can push them faster and harder than they could do themselves.
Humility in ACTION is when we TAKE steps to LEARN, to READ to hire COACHES AND CONSULTANTS. When we realize that we DO NOT KNOW everything we will be ahead of just about everybody out there that is trying to come up with the next big idea or business in a creative Vacuum. Don’t be that guy!
This is a topic we will be coming back again and again to, for now digest this and ask yourself. What are the things that I can do STARTING TODAY and every day from now to SHOW by my ACTION that I don’t know everything? Make it small, like asking for directions or where something is at a store or reading for 5 minutes a book in your industry. Whatever it is though, the key is consistency. Make sure you do it every day!