Be proud of yourself for continuing your education
past traditional schooling. Learning, studying and
investing in yourself doesn’t stop when you
become successful, that’s when it really starts.
The sooner you learn that all the skills you need
to learn to thrive will occur after you leave the
confines of educational conformity, the sooner
you will succeed. Here are six game-changing
ideas that you can’t learn in the classroom.
1. A powerful “why.” Realize that no matter
where you are right now, you can always take it
up a notch. Are you really giving your all daily?
Your possibilities are endless when you
find compelling reasons. The goal is to create a
"why'' so strong that it pulls you through any
challenge, past all doubters and over even your
own limitations. We’re in an economy that now
welcomes the entrepreneur. It’s become easier to
realize your ideal future. It just takes compelling
reasons, clear intentions and the right guidance.
Related: The Smartest Long-Term Investment is
You
2. Focus on strengths, delegate
weaknesses. Anybody who tells you to focus on
your weaknesses hasn’t experienced consistent
peak performance. The idols you and I respect,
along with all well-known achievers, prospered by
deliberately focusing on their strengths. If you’re
not sure what your strengths are, start
asking people around you. Your strengths
are where you get results and maybe isn’t
always what you love. The goal is the be so good
at your strengths that it propels you to stand out.
Everybody loves doing what they're good at, and
your creativity will flourish if you love what you
do. Focusing on too many things causes you to be
average in many versus exceptional in a few.
3. Habits always trump inspiration. Inspiration is
needed to create consistent action, but your
habits are ultimately going to define your success
or failure. It’s been said that only 5 percent of the
people at seminars and conferences actually use
what they’ve learned. Why is that? Because
inspiration is very short term. It feels good in the
moment but doesn’t last past the activity
producing it.
In our Game Changers Academy we focus on
shifting habits, gaining better perspective and
interrupting bad thought patterns instead of just
inspiration. The biggest inspiration of all is seeing
progress and results, which comes from new
habits. When you begin the formation of a new
habit, stick to it and see the lasting change in
your new-found life.
Related: How Making Employees Lifelong
Learners Can Help Your Company Succeed
4. Mastery vs. information overload . Mastery is
the highest form of accomplishment. The only
way to become successful is to master the
fundamentals and skills needed to reach your
goals and dreams. We have so much information
available to us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
When overwhelmed, we seek distractions.
Instead of reading 50 books this year, master and
implement three. The immature learner wants to
get as much information as they can as fast as
they can, but you’ll find them broke, stressed and
lacking real progress. The mature mind is very
deliberate with what they study. The achievers
focus on listening to something until they’ve
adopted it into their daily agenda, and seen their
results improve. Jim Collins says it perfectly, “If
you have more than three priorities, you don’t
have any.”
Make the list of what must you start saying no to.
5. The real education. Jim Rohn said “if you work
hard on your job you can make a living, but if you
work on yourself you can make a fortune.”
Entrepreneurs understand, at a level most don’t,
that Rohn wasn’t kidding. Investing in yourself is
at the top of the list of ways to solidify an
exceptional future, for nations as well as
individuals. Apple said it bluntly "We shouldn't be
criticized for using Chinese workers, the U.S. has
stopped producing people with the skills we
need."
Ouch! When I say develop yourself, grow and
improve your skills, I don’t mean school. Weird,
but true, school sometimes distracts you from the
things that actually matter in advancing your
career and life. Warren Buffett said, “The best
education you can get is investing in yourself,
and that doesn’t mean college or university.”
6. Create something meaningful. Few companies
nowadays have a compelling story or vision. The
companies that are attracting top-tier talent --
Google, Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Zappos -- have a
mission bigger than themselves.
I challenge you to start a movement. What can
you create that helps other people? I will tell you
from experience, life becomes much more
fulfilling when you become involved in a
movement or a cause greater than yourself. A
meaningful mission isn’t optional anymore.
Movements are thriving while well-put-together
plans are failing left and right.
As long as you have strong enough reasons,
there has never been a better time in the history
of our economy to create your ideal life.
Understand that the only person you should try to
be better than is the person you were yesterday.
Get clear on exactly what you want this year.
Figure out the type of person you need be on an
everyday basis to reach the goals you've set for
yourself. Do everything you can to find a
community of like-minded people to encourage
you along the way. They are the ones who won't
let you give up during the toughest of times.
