Why You Should Never Stop Learning

Think about how much your perspective has changed over the last 5 years, how much have you grown? Time does pass quickly, so much so that we even begin to categorize it like chapters of a book. While we have all this time and everyone looks for ways to maximize its value. That, of course, will look different for everyone, but how does one take advantage of the great big world around them? 

One of the best resources we can continually invest in is our mind, and broadening our perspective of reality. This does not only come from reading books, it’s the people we surround ourselves with, the music we listen to, and the things we tell ourselves. All of these factors add up over time and accumulate to a sum that is our future. This is why it is so important for us to take in as much as we can.

Author Brian Herbert has a beautiful saying that goes “The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The willingness to learn is a choice”. Successful people are not born with some gene that earns them wealth, they have to build it. Not just wealth in terms of money, but also terms of knowledge. 

Working hard is not simply sitting at a desk cranking out work, it starts by challenging yourself to think differently. Think about it, you have to go out and put your mind in different situations for it to expand. So often people can get down on themselves thinking they can’t do something when they simply need to go out and gain experiences. 

If you spend your whole life in a box, would you know there’s a world outside the box? You would be quite shocked to discover a world full of people. Don’t let your box limit your experiences, get out and learn.

Here are some things to consider:

Purpose Driven

No matter who you are, you never really know enough, the people who get the most out of their careers, relationships, and overall lives are driven by purpose. Purpose ultimately is an internal duty you have to become something more of yourself. The road of purpose is guided by teaching moments, learning the hard way, failing, and eventually getting back up to try again. Any and every pitfall you could imagine will teach you more about your character and whatever field you’re attempting than anything else will. 

Open-Minded

There is no person better to work for or work with than someone who is open to new ideas or is easy to coach. When we approach situations with curiosity, we open up the possibility of challenging our perspective. Additionally, we’d be much less likely to engage in conflict by simply taking the time to acknowledge and understand the views of others. By no means do we have to agree with them, but that will be subjective to you. 

The Known vs The Unknown

When faced with choices, there is often the safe path or the path of risk, though this is a trick because both paths are risky. Intuitively, one will stand out to you based on your values and beliefs. Which one would you or have you taken? Did your curiosity lead you towards the unknown? Or did you want to play it safe? No matter what you would or have done in this situation, you will have to do it again and there will be lessons waiting for you at the end. 

A central part of being a leader, not only for an organization but when leading yourself is to know when to take risks. This does not mean making outright irrational decisions, but it does mean making moves you have researched to the best of your ability that you think will be beneficial. Again this will be subjective to you but consider this message from actor Jim Carrey “you could fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love”. 

Conclusion

Taking a chance on going after what you want for yourself is something you will not regret, even in times when it gets difficult, there is a benefit to that. Keep looking for answers, keep asking questions, and be a student for life. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Why You Need Accountability And Routine

Why do you feel anxious when you’ve got nothing to do? Why might you get down on yourself when you didn’t get much done in a day? Why do you become frustrated or check out for the day when you don’t have energy? There's a missing ingredient to all these problems…ACCOUNTABILITY. Think, for example, why the weekend is so great but Monday morning is difficult. It’s simple; you have no deadlines, assignments, meetings or commutes to make on Saturday or Sunday. Those days are at your disposal. 

Yet during the week, you get your responsibilities done no matter how much they suck, but you might put off that exercise on the weekend so you can “chill”. This is the battle between external and internal accountability. 

External accountability is your responsibility to others, like meetings, deadlines, showing up on time, etc. Internal accountability is keeping the promises you make to yourself, and making them a real priority. The important thing is to have both, but internal accountability particularly reflects your credibility and that will not go unnoticed.  

Everyone has values and certain rules that they hold close and know not to veer away from in their daily lives. These values are typically maintained through routines and practices that help feed those values each day just a little bit more. Eventually, carrying out self-serving practices as well as your commitments to others will help you earn a fulfilling life. 

Now how do you become accountable, stay accountable, or why would you even want to be accountable outside of your regular responsibilities? Recall that we’re hardwired to avoid change. Consider these for yourself:

Cost of Inaction

Everything we do directly correlates to a future outcome. For example, if a leader doesn’t go out and make deals or connect with others, how will their business do? Everything is a trade-off. This is an important concept to consider when working towards anything. Of course, there are always things you want outside your goals that make you happy, but what’s their real price?

Will you have to do extra work tomorrow? Will you be mentally prepared to handle your tasks? You must take inventory of what you need to operate effectively. If there’s something you have to give up to make that happen, evaluate your priorities. At the end of the day, you want to equip yourself today to handle tomorrow and you might find that tomorrow keeps getting easier.

Know Your Role

What titles do you hold? A friend? Sister? Brother? Dad? Mom? Director? Manager? Understanding what kind of impact you bring to anything you’re involved in, whether work, relationships, or family, will give you a sense of your need to provide. To provide value in any area of your life, you need to take care of yourself first. 

This is where internal accountability meets external. To be effective in the roles or titles you hold, you need to know how much rides on your presence and efforts. You can then carry that with you as you go through your daily practices.

Daily Practice

Getting better at something is not an overnight or multi-step process. To get better, we have to give up instant gratification. Instead, we want to challenge ourselves every day in ways that are going to build us up long-term. 

For example, dedicating an hour a day to reading, waking up at the same time for breakfast each day, or having a no phone period. These practices can be anything you want them to be as long as you know they will serve you. Once you establish what they are, structure them and make them a routine. 

Conclusion

To be the best you can be, you have to give yourself opportunities to seek advancement, and that doesn’t just mean job-wise. It’s advancing the use of your time. If you dedicated an hour here, thirty minutes there every day to self-serving practices, you’d be surprised what could come. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Managing Change: Unshakeable Success

Nothing ever really stays the same for long. This is especially true in business as people come and go, consumer interests change, and the world overall has its shifts. The thing about change is that it is always the beginning of new opportunities. If you look at your life right now, everything you’ve established had a beginning which ultimately was a result of the change.

The tricky thing here is that change often throws us off balance and it can be hard to navigate. Yet change is inevitable and we need to be prepared to handle it. The ability to do so starts with exactly that, anticipating change. Finding the positives won’t happen immediately, but this doesn’t mean you wait for them to present themselves. Actively searching for ways to make the most of your current situation is the starting point of success. 

Consider for a moment the difference in your attitude when change is imposed on you compared to when you decide to make a change. Well, one of course can feel like a punishment, it can be “this person's fault” or “just your bad luck”. Now the other is very different, it’s empowering and we look at it as something that’s going to be of great benefit. So how can you start to recognize change like that? Well, it starts with you being your own leader. Guiding yourself is the first step before you can even consider leading others. 

Going to this place where you can evaluate the situation with a clear mind is an executive skill that will no doubt serve you well. However, you still need to take action, so here are some things you can do:

Rectify The Situation

Once you’ve acknowledged the areas that aren’t going to serve you as a result of the change, begin looking for ways to mitigate them. This is important early on because the longer you let problems sit, the bigger they tend to become. For example, if you have a delivery that’s supposed to go to a client but the shipment gets cancelled. 

The best thing to do is notify your clients immediately and begin searching for answers. This is opposed to getting mad at the situation, waiting for updates while the deadline gets closer, and then choosing to notify at the last minute. In short, you can be frustrated with change but don’t expect any problem to solve itself— you have to create your ideal. 

What Can You Build On?

Shifting from problem-solving mode, what does this change present that could benefit other aspects of your life or business? The shift to remote work was a prime example of taking advantage of change for some. Some people lost their jobs and found better jobs or became entrepreneurs. This is of course a radical anomaly but it nonetheless shows the impact managing change can have long term. 

Create A Vision

Action is useless without purpose. Purpose ultimately derives from having a clear vision of what’s intended through your actions. You create a vision primarily to overcome something that’s not working for you. Whatever that may be, if you know something isn’t working, you should ultimately have an idea of what could be better. 

Think about the better situation. If you focus on it, you can start taking steps to bring it to life. If you are in a leadership role, ensure everyone on your team is aligned with this vision so everyone can understand the purpose of their efforts. 

Conclusion

Change is in no way easy, we are naturally programmed to feel unsettled or resist when change presents itself. Fighting against this natural urge is difficult but not impossible, because ultimately our drive and ambition are stronger than our natural instincts. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!