3 Habits of highly Effective Lifelong Learners

History’s greatest men were lifelong learners — many of them devoted quality time to self-education. Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Feynman, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton committed a lot of time to personal learning either in addition to traditional education or as a substitute to formal schooling.

The most successful people in history were dedicated to self-learning. They recognize the need to grow and deepen their understanding of themselves and interesting subjects. We would be wise to follow in their footsteps.

Theodore Roosevelt was rumored to read a book a day. Learning for him was a path to professional success. He wrote his first book at 23. 

Lifelong learning is the “ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. It’s about learning to know, learning to do, and learning to be. Cultivating the mind is essential for personal growth.

Our whole life is an Education — we are ‘ever-learning,’ every moment of time, everywhere, under all circumstances something is being added to the stock of our previous attainments. Self-learning is a habit many of us can emulate to thrive in an ever-changing world of work. With all the disruptions in the modern economy, ongoing skill acquisition is critical to professional relevance.  

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link 

More than ever, learning is for life if you want to stay relevant in the world of work. If you are aiming to become a lifelong learner, some of these habits can be useful for you.

Habit 1 – Successful learners prioritize self-learning 

Are your skills, knowledge, and experience more valuable today than they were a year ago? We can all become obsolete over time. The fast pace of change today also means we can become obsolete faster than ever before.

Committing to self-learning can help you do your current job better and remain adaptable even when things change in the future. Scheduling continuous or lifelong learning can help you stay relevant. Make lifelong learning a priority in your life to consistently improve your skills, knowledge, and experience.

Habit 2 – Effective learners are voracious readers 

The most successful people we know today don’t stop learning. They read a lot — they continually expand their knowledge despite what they already know or have achieved. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day, according to his brother. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks.

 

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Buffett has invested 80% of his time in reading and thinking throughout his career. Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that in it you have to take off your shoes and bow.

 

Why do the world’s smartest and busiest people find time for self-learning while others make excuses about how busy they are?

 

The answer is simple: Learning is the single best investment of our time. Or as Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Habit 3 – Efficient learners maintain to-learn lists 

We experience many learning opportunities every day but we can’t commit to them when we are busy getting other equally important things done. We often have to let them pass at the moment because of other tasks. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get back to them later. 

To make the process of learning easier, create a to-learn list, and write down a list of concepts, thoughts, ideas, mental models, and topics you want to explore.

Or better still save them to your favorite bookmarking app. You can use Pocket to save every new idea you come across online — it’s a rewarding experience.

You can later explore them in your downtime or at the specific time you have planned for your learning and make the most of your downtime. Learning is the best when one is relaxed. We all have times when it just feels like the right time to learn something new. Use those times to learn things you bookmark.

Your Meeting Habits Reveal Much about You

 

Yet another week, another calendar full of meetings. It can be easy to go through the motions of a daily stand-up or yet another debrief and forget that your contributions, level of engagement and facilitation or participation style in meetings can actually reveal a lot about who you are as a professional.

 

Experts wish professionals took meetings more seriously and learned about the science behind highly engaging, collaborative meetings.

 

There are three foundational areas that effective process leaders master: How to manage themselves so they don’t end up being the cause of a poorly-led meeting, how to manage the process so meetings flow and build logically towards achieving desired outcomes, and how to manage others to maximize participation.

 

Beyond helping you improve these three foundational areas, deconstructing your meeting habits can actually uncover fascinating information about your professional priorities and leadership style and even gear you up for greater career success.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link

Keep in mind, there are three types of meeting leaders: content-focused, process-focused, or a hybrid of both.

The content-focused meeting leader tends to be ‘tell-oriented,’ specifically there to advocate, train, educate. This type of leader holds all the cards in terms of what ideas are put forward. A process-focused meeting leader is there to leverage the wisdom and ideas of meeting participants. They are ‘ask-oriented.’ They are there to ensure the meeting is structured to maximize the engagement of all participants and to ensure all voices are heard and considered. A hybrid meeting leader is excellent at moving back and forth between these roles, ensuring a good balance between telling and asking when required. Understanding where you fall within the spectrum of asking and telling can help you round out your weaknesses and maximize your strengths.

 

Your style may reveal much about you - Do you tend to hog the spotlight or are you focused on getting the best ideas out of the people around the table? Whatever your habits are, they might reveal traits that show up in your day-to-day work life way past the doors of a conference room.

A meeting leader mainly focused on content and tells most of the time tends to be a more ‘command and control’ type. They see themselves as the expert, as those who have the right ideas, and view the audience as not as important or relevant to tap into for alternative perspectives. A process-oriented meeting leader tends to facilitate and be collaborative, seeking out other opinions with the understanding that they may not have all the right answers.

 

Some meeting habits can actually have a negative impact on your career development. Here is a suggested list of meeting habits to avoid as much as possible if you want to get ahead:

 

·      Telling more than asking

·      Advocating policy, process, or organizational change without checking in with those affected and giving them some voice or allowing for venting

·      Having meetings where the purpose and outcomes are not clear

·      Dominating the meeting and swaying decision-making towards one’s own personal agenda

·      Being unclear about how much decision-making authority participants have

Ultimately, you can think of meeting dos and don’ts as an extension of the continuous practice of being an effective, impactful leader.

Leaders that are more facilitative tend to get the best buy-in and follow-through by their team members. This is easily explained by the fact that when my voice is heard, appreciated, and utilized in a final decision, I’m more likely to want to be part of fulfilling that decision.

On the other hand, when a meeting leader just tells and limits input from the meeting participants, most people disengage and feel less committed to the final outcomes.

Do these 3 Things Differently to Get that Promotion

Before envying co-workers, who seem to have it so easy when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, pay attention to their habits. People who get promoted all the time don’t just get lucky. If you deconstruct their approach, you’ll notice there are replicable patterns in the way they perceive their worth, take action and interact with others. 

The ancient philosopher Plato said, “Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We achieve excellence by acting upon the practiced skills.” Let these wise words inspire you to learn from the things people who advance fast in their careers do differently so you can consistently apply these wisdom's in your own career and you will be reaching your goals in no time.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a FREE download of this book by Clicking this Link 

Individuals with drive and out-of-the-box thinking do these three things in a unique way to get promoted and score promotions again & again -   

They Deeply understand their own value

 

Those who get promoted all the time understand their own value. It starts with our own assessment of self-worth. How secure do you feel about your skills and contributions? Are you super aware of your strengths as well as your areas of improvement? Having a profound understanding of what you bring to the table is the first step towards being the kind of person who scores promotion after promotion.

They ask before being offered 

Steve Jobs famously said the one thing that separates those who dream from those who achieve is the simple act of asking. A person who tends to get promoted tends to be the one who asks for it over someone who discounts themselves. Professionals who climb the corporate ladder at lightning speed don’t wait for their bosses to offer them advancement opportunities. They are proactive about their career development and are not afraid to regularly start conversations about new challenges and next steps.

They bring more solutions than problems 

People who get promoted make the job of their manager/director easy. They make themselves indispensable to the team or organization, but not as silent sufferers — as the ones who are bringing solutions and making their boss look good. More often than not, they are operating in the role that they want rather than the one that they have. Think two steps ahead, bring more solutions than problems and watch yourself become a magnet for career opportunities.

In conclusion, be the individual who moves fast and thinks on their feet. You have to be the kind of person who creates opportunities over and over again. This is what differentiates people who get promoted all the time from those who don’t. They seek opportunities out, they create them and when they do appear, they jump. More often than not, the difference came to the willingness to take a risk and act.

 

The Best Public Speakers all do this One Thing

Excellent public speakers come in all shapes and forms. Some people love interjecting humor and lightheartedness into serious topics. Others paint vivid pictures with their use of storytelling. Then there are those who will expertly open and close a loop with a metaphor and those who deliver complex information in a straightforward yet digestible manner. But one thing is for sure: Public speaking is a crucial skill for advancing your career — regardless of your style.

The skill and art of communicating effectively will be used in many areas of your career: running and participating in meetings, influencing and selling, networking with your peers, getting buy-in on an idea of yours or interviewing for new positions. From my years as a Business coach to Entrepreneurs and Businesses, I have seen the higher an individual progressed up the corporate ladder, the more meetings they would attend and facilitate. 

Whether you’re in a senior role and still struggle with the thought of public speaking or you’re just starting to get more involved in activities that require presenting and facilitating, developing your oral communication skills can only benefit your professional aspirations. And, since there is a vast array of advice on speaking, focusing on one important thing to improve can yield more impactful results than trying all the tips out there at once. Plus, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when trying to emulate all the different outstanding speakers of this world.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned strategies, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive your Free download of my book by Clicking this Link

The no. 1 trait all the best public speakers share

The best trait a public speaker can possess is being relatable. Being relatable means being comfortable with who you are, which will help in terms of being authentic and uniquely yourself. A meeting in front of a board or a sales presentation will run so much smoother when you present or speak from the level of your audience without trying to come across as being better than anyone else in the room.

Spend some time watching different viral speech videos online and you’ll quickly notice that the most powerful speakers always find ways to be relatable to their audience — even when telling extraordinary stories or communicating expert advice.

Cultivating relatability

But how do you go about cultivating relatability? Showing up as your authentic self will help others relate to you. And when you are shaking and sweating and feel butterflies in your stomach, it can be challenging to be yourself. It helps to embrace your nerves and remembering that even the most seasoned speakers get stage fright. Make friends with nervousness because it’s not a sign you’re not good at speaking or unprepared. It’s normal and a natural reaction in your body.

It’s also important to remember that becoming an exceptional communicator requires practice. And the more you practice, the more confident you’ll become, which will in turn make you automatically more relatable. The skill of speaking is a lifelong practice. Each opportunity will enhance your skills and give you more confidence in your ability. Increased confidence will improve your relatability with your audience.

So, go ahead and get cracking on your next big speech (butterflies and all!).