For those who have been following along with the “Keys to Success,” you are now in the right mindset, solution focused, action geared, and focused on the right goals to achieve greatness. Now what?
(If you missed the previous articles or want a refresher, please follow the links above to go back and read them. Go ahead, we will wait here for you.)
The fifth key to success is impact. Commit to making an impact every day on yourself, your organization and everyone around you. Stay in a continuous learning mindset and never stop. We are never too old or wise to learn more.
Zig Ziglar always said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough people get what they want.” I completely believe this and have always focused on this throughout my life. So promote continuous learning with everyone you touch. Help move or refocus people from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
A known focus for my teams is to always be improving and expanding themselves. They accomplish this through obtaining degrees, certifications, taking courses, reading, etc. And I lead by example. I read one to two improvement books per month, have my undergraduate and graduate degrees, three HR certifications and kicking around getting my Ph.D. I do this not to have the piece of paper, but to continue to better myself so in turn I can help everyone around me better.
The key is to always find ways to make yourself better and to keep learning. We are all busy with our daily lives and jobs, but what gets scheduled gets done. Designate some scheduled times focused on you and your improvement. One easy way to get some designated learning time is on your commute to and from work whether it is windshield time, train ride, airplane, etc. You can listen to audio books, podcasts, motivational talks, online courses (if you are riding) during your travel time.
That is dedicated time every week day usually filled with news radio, music or silence. Think about that for a minute. If your daily commute to work is say thirty minutes and there are 252 week days in a year, you just turned 126 hours per year into learning hours without cutting into your busy schedule. And that is just by converting the trip to work. If you add the trip back home, you double your learning time. I personally try and listen to an audiobook on the way to work and then an improvement podcast on the way home.
Just look for ways to be better every day. Then share what you have learned with others around you. It makes a positive impact on them while helping to further embed the learning in you. One of the best ways to learn is to teach.
Another important action with learning is to take the time daily to reflect on what you have learned. Back to my daily journal that I introduced in the Goals blog. You can see the gratitude and the goals sections, and then at the bottom I have “Key Learnings.”
This daily practice allows me to reflect on the day and find a key learning from it. The key learning isn’t always from something I read. It can also come from the experiences from throughout the day. Then I look at what went well and what didn’t go well for the day which keeps me in the continuous improvement mindset. With the “what didn’t go well” for example, it allows me to create a better solution moving forward. It also always me to look back over the days, weeks, months, etc. to find patterns and best practices.
Science once thought the brain didn’t produce any more cells after birth. New research suggests the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for learning information, storing long-term memories, and regulating emotions continues to create new neurons. This means that old dogs can learn new tricks. It is not only important for people to get consistent aerobic exercise, but also to exercise their brain. So never stop learning!
Be Great….Today!
Brandon Brazeel, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Chief People Officer
