What’s one thing that successful people have in common? Their special “secret sauce” to success is lifelong learning.
High performers in any field will tell you the same thing. They take every opportunity to learn from others, expand their knowledge about their field, and improve their skills.
How We Learn
There are two primary ways we learn. One is called passive learning and the other is called participatory learning.
As you can see from this graphic provided by the National Training Laboratories, passive teaching methods provide relatively low levels of learning retention. Unfortunately, this is what many of us rely on when learning a new skill, especially as adults.
Participatory teaching methods offer much greater learning retention. The Group Discussion method—such as participating in a mastermind or focus group–offers a 50% retention rate. The Practice method–actively doing or practicing something you’ve just learned how to do–offers a 75% retention rate. By far the highest retention rate comes with the method of Teaching Others, which reports a 90% retention rate.
If you’re an expert, you have a lot of knowledge and expertise that you can teach others. If you are learning something new, a great way to retain what you’ve just learned is by teaching it to others.
Most leaders are avid readers. Notice what’s on their bookshelves or their Kindles. They have a hunger for gaining knowledge that will help them become more productive, more effective and more skilled. Leaders consistently work to increase self-awareness and self-improvement.
Anyone can become a lifelong learner! All you need is curiosity, the desire to improve yourself, and an intentional plan for ways to consistently nourish your mind by expanding your knowledge.
Feed Your Mind
When you consider what most people feed their minds, it’s usually pretty negative stuff. A good personal development plan incorporates multiple senses and learning modalities:
- Reading: Print books, Kindle books
- Listening: CDs, podcasts, audiobooks
- Seeing: Observing what others do, visualization exercises
- Experiencing: attending workshops, conferences, retreats, or other events
- Teaching others what you have learned
If you read or you listen to audiobooks on your daily commute to and from work, find ways to teach new ideas and knowledge to others. By doing so, you’ll enjoy much greater retention of what you’ve just learned.
Leaving a legacy is not only what you leave behind once you’re gone. It also includes the daily contributions you make to the lives of others right now. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to teach and share your knowledge and expertise with others.
One Hour a Day
If you are not already an avid reader, set a goal to read or listen to at least one personal development book a month.
You may be thinking, “I just don’t have time to add any more to my already full schedule.” Here’s a suggestion. Cut out one hour per day of something you’re currently doing that does not enhance your life.
Potential time-wasters:
- Watching television or reruns on Netflix
- Responding to pop-up ads and mindlessly surfing the Net
- Frequently checking Facebook
- Texting and tweeting
- Video games, apps, or other smartphone distractions
- Something else that steals your time???
Instead of wasting your time, re-purpose it to expand your knowledge. Imagine the power of devoting one hour a day–365 hours per year–to becoming more effective and more skilled in the areas of your life most central to your happiness and fulfillment.
Once you’ve made a commitment to re-purpose one hour each day for personal development and lifelong learning, create an intention to immediately apply at least one thing you learn from each book, CD, workshop, or experience.
My previous blog, Create What You Want, will help you identify ways to apply your expanded knowledge.
If you’d like support developing knowledge and skills in the areas of your life most central to your happiness and fulfillment, let’s schedule a no-cost, no-pressure Discovery Call today.
Please comment below with creative ways you’ve found to nourish your brain and expand your knowledge.
Additional Resources:
Blog: Reclaim Your Power: How to Deal with Toxic People
Blog: Create What You Want
Blog: The Key to Living the Life You Want
Guide: Simple Strategies to Increase Your Productivity
Guide: Creating New Habits
Nice…..Dear Kathy….This is so true….Some of us have learned this bad habit of wasting our precious time with watching too much TV or spending time with all these devices created by technology….I will use your advise more seriously and thank you for giving us the nice hints and advises…..
My pleasure, Sheida. The first step is awareness. I know when I feel stressed out, it’s easy to go into auto-pilot with time-wasters rather than thinking through what I can do that will help me in the long run.