When you get this narcissistic urge to feel like you’ve learned enough … when something inside you says “I’ve got this great job that pays well. I’ve now earned the right to take it easy.” ..when you stop educating yourself, thinking you’ve reached your full potential … when you stop developing new skills, look behind you… you just might see your career’s death creeping up. WHY? Because complacency doesn’t bring in success.

In today’s technology-centered, technology-crazed world, jobs, and sometime even companies can rise and fall in a matter of months. Don’t be surprised to learn that the work you do now…chances are there’s an app for that and it comes free! Or, at least there will be one soon enough. That great sounding, impressive title that follows your name on your business card could change next month. Today, the idea of acquiring and holding a job in one specific industry no longer carries weight. One’s personal development should be continuous. It is not rare nowadays to hear of drastic career changes like a struggling dentist moving on to become a marketing expert of shampoos or some guy resigning from a decades-long position in a reputable company to pursue his inclination towards a certain art form, painting or performing on stage which promises a keener sense of self-fulfillment and satisfaction.

A Growth Mindset

These transitions naturally don’t come easy. They’re difficult, like pulling teeth. These guys though, have a student mindset or what some experts would call a growth and development mindset. It’s a frame of mind that says … “With effort, I can learn new things; I can develop new skills while enriching my mind.” With a mindset like this, when the changes come and the time to adapt arrives, you shall have been more flexible and better motivated. Your ride would have been less bumpy.   

Desire To Learn – An Awesome Quality

It’s an amazing trait to have this desire for learning. It’ll gas you up throughout your life, carry you in good stead and help you to understand yourself and the world in which you move. Without it, you’re sure to stagnate. When you become too comfortable with what you know and start thinking there isn’t anything more to learn, don’t bother calling the city morgue. They’ll come in for you. 

Seriously though, if you want to become a great leader or a super successful entrepreneur, you’ll have to build your passion for learning. Here are some easy, very doable things you can integrate into your day to day life: 

• Take advantage of the free educational resources around you. Modern technology has transformed our world into a hub of information. From paperbacks to ebooks to podcasts, to blogs and websites to online courses. Most of these are free. Grab the opportunity to learn any subject of interest to you.

• Turn on your laptop and watch documentaries. It’ll be fun to watch documentaries on thing totally unfamiliar to you or have no prior interest in, but you’ll learn just the same. 

• Read the editorials. They’ll give you insights and perspectives you’ve never had before and keep you abreast of what’s going on around you.

• Taking a trip somewhere? Take the time to learn something about the place, its heritage or its people. 

• Learn a new word everyday and use it in your everyday conversation. Making a habit of this daily will expand your vocabulary by three hundred sixty five (365)new words every year. That’s an amazing help, especially if you’re in the writing or lecturing business, or even if you’re not.

• Regard learning as a lot of fun. Do some Jig-saw puzzles, riddles, heck, do Sidoko! Try crossword puzzles as well or some of those crazy math problems. etc. .. anything that’ll stir your mind and get you to enjoy while doing them. There is always something to be learned in these.

There’s a slew of other things you can do to add fire into your learning passion and hit your full potential  - Try new recipes. Spend a half hour reading a book at bedtime (the Bible can’t hurt). Take a class. Learn a new language or play some memory games. Whatever it is, make it a point to immerse yourself in any of these pursuits but hey .. you don’t have to do these all everyday. Just take your pick and have fun!