For successful people, school is never over. They learn as if they will live forever.
Developing new skills will increase your potential for success. You will be able to contribute more greatly at your current job. Additionally, new skills can increase your value when you start to look for a job.
Staying current on changes in your industry and the economy will increase your ability to anticipate changes that can dramatically increase or decrease opportunities your success
The Web and the Tools to Learn
Learning is as simple as staying curious and continuing to ask questions and seek answers for the state of your marketplace.
Knowledge is more available than ever. Here are some common sources. You know about these resources. Review the list and add to it.
- Internet encyclopedias and dictionaries to clarify definitions
- Forums on Internet groups: LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, and others. Often these forums have experts with specific, practical information.
- Expand your awareness of information. Search engines can help you find and learn a broader understanding of the things you know and the things that you would like to know.
- Company product websites
- News and sports websites
- Podcasts and online books
- Print books
- Television
- Radio
- Your friends
- Online chat sources
- Do it yourself websites. I never begin a project that is new to me without first learning how to do the project through DIY videos and articles.
I have no doubt overlooked some sources. For example, looking up do-it-yourself solutions and finding definitions to words is just the beginning of learning as a lifestyle. Through audio books, you can learn a new language. Through service manuals, you can learn how to repair nearly anything.
Additionally, many people learn new methods of diet and exercise as well as new practices of emotional and mental empowerment.
Stay Curious
When you wonder about something, research the subject. I find that I have misinformation I have picked up over time. Staying curious and double checking my interests helps me become smarter and more effective. Moreover, I gain the trust of other people when I can help them with answers that are correct and that I have verified. Curiosity keeps me seeking accurate information on subjects that interest me and makes me more useful to myself and others.
I started this practice when I was a college undergraduate. I made it a point to learn a new word every day.
From this curiosity, I have learned to create my own website, expand my network, and write this book.
Reconfirm
Reconfirming the things that I believe to be true helps me avoid mistakes and strengthen my credibility around other people.
I saw a question on an Internet forum about the difference between ethics and morals. Finding a definitive answer to the question was simple. Avoiding the more complex philosophical discussions on morals and ethics, I simply used the dictionary definitions to clarify the difference between two. I was able to better understand the simple principles of issues that may confuse me.
Community Service
I have benefitted from community service as much as I have given. The opportunities I have had in this area have introduced me to professionals outside my specialty. Furthermore, in volunteering, I have built new skills through exposure to subjects I was not aware existed.
In Sacramento public schools, my wife and I took part in programs for school safety and for improved educational services.
With my wife’s support, I started the High School Safety Summit and the annual Cornell Distinguished Award. I created research groups on diversity and alternative education. I learned about the dynamics of the politics as well as the organization of public service organizations.
Likewise, in participating in team sports, I learned new skills to influence people in cases where I had little authority. When I first became involved in adult softball and adult soccer, my wife and I joined teams. To create new opportunities to play sports, she and I created other sports teams. Some of these were co-ed teams. Others were teams of men who were my friends. Working with team mates, I made new friends and added members to my teams.
The skills and knowledge I learned from playing a new sport like soccer, prepared me to coach my daughter’s high school soccer team.
My wife and I enriched our lives as we took the lead in community service. Our knowledge grew and we expanded our circle of friends. Just as I took the lead in community service, I took principles of community service and applied them to other areas in my other life and career.
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