Why Continued Learning Is Your Key to a Successful Business
Originally posted 10/7/22
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”
Albert Einstein
Learning! We should never stop learning. If you hated school as I did, you might find it mildly hysterical that I am saying that to you today. In truth, it took me a long time to learn how to enjoy learning. Still, I did discover the joy of learning and the necessity of continued learning. Today I am talking about my business and yours, but I think continued learning applies to all areas of all lives.
Ok, let's talk about continuing education for, specifically, your specialty or your business. Do you feel that after completing 4-6-8 years of college, you are adequately educated and trained, so that's where the training can stop? Hmm, anyone who has gone to college that long will likely have life-and-death decisions to make! I want that person who can ensure I live or die to invest in their knowledge about the world and their industry. Doctors are good examples of those who should continue to learn and grow to get better and be better at what they do.
Teachers as well. These amazing people are being given the responsibility to teach our young people. I think their continued education is important for the quality of what they teach, but educating themselves outside of the world of education also has the potential to grow a teacher's knowledge and reach far beyond their degree or curriculum. Know who gets the benefit of that overflow? That's right, those kids. So, can you agree that there are big upsides to continuing education and never-ending learning? But have I lost you yet? Are you not a doctor or teacher? That's okay, and who cares. You are still a business owner or an employee and still breathing… Did you catch that quote at the beginning of this post? If you are living, you should be learning.
Now, what about your business or your career? How can you continue to grow and learn and enjoy it? Today, we all benefit from an unending number of learning opportunities available. I know of notaries who have learned their jobs from watching YouTube videos. I would never encourage your main form of career education to be from YouTube, but it's a great resource to add to your continued education. Here is a list of other avenues of education that you might find useful:
Books- You can read about anything and everything, and if you know how to read, retain, and apply- there is nothing you can’t get from books.
Apps- There are so so so many to choose from. Some of my favorites:
Pimsleur. It's a language app unlike any other, and I haven’t found the bottom of the list of languages they teach. Other language apps include but are certainly not limited to Duolingo and Babble. You can find instruction apps for almost anything you can dream up.
Skill Share: If you aren’t familiar with skill share, it's a fantastic platform for those who love learning. Do you want to learn how to knit or be a video editor? Skillshare has courses taught by the best of the best in most industries. Many of the courses are for creatives but not all. It's a great resource, and you can check it out here.
Associations: Almost every industry has a local, national, or international association offering educational classes and meetings to enforce your current knowledge in your specific field.
Chamber of Commerce: Most chambers of commerce will host educational events. Some I have seen are CPAS teaching business owners how to handle and file their taxes. I have seen realtors equate the housing market to the local economy and give business owners cutting-edge insight into potential client pools.
College: I mean, we can’t leave out the obvious. Many colleges have special classes for continuing education for professionals. Check out your local community college for some interesting and cost-effective options.
Ok, now I want to encourage you to learn, but I also want to discourage you from being… well… lemmings. Hear me out. It's so easy to fall prey to the next big thing and how he/she/they sell it. Do your due diligence when you decide what you want to learn about.
For example, as a Notary- my options for training and education are endless, but the quality of training is not. It took me two years to find my core mentors and trainers. And since then, in the last two years, it has changed even still. Some notaries have been notaries for 5 minutes teaching notary law courses. Can you imagine how dangerous that could be? If I followed their advice, could it ruin my career forever? It sure could. So, do your research, and don’t fall victim to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who puts on a good show. ,
When you are on the hunt for quality content to digest to grow your knowledge base, there is something else I would like to encourage you to do. Whatever you are out to learn or however many things you'd like, do yourself a favor and focus on one new thing at a time. Learn it, retain it, master it, apply it, and then learn something new. I am a part of a notary business builder group. When I tell you that the amount of amazing content they put out is overwhelming… I could quit all jobs, become a full-time student, and never reach the end. One idea, principle, and foundational process at a time. Don’t be discouraged by this. Our brains really can’t multitask. So when you focus on one thing at a time, especially when you're learning, you will find when you're ready to move on to the next thing, you have got it nailed down.
“You’ll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.”
Julie Child
Lastly, I want to discourage you from ever thinking that you have learned it all. You can’t possibly have learned it all. Innovation and change are happening all the time. From one year to the next, sometimes from one week to the next. Let’s just say: You learned last year the best way to grow climbing roses in the deep south. You read and watched and took notes and applied it all, and your climbing roses made traffic stop. I promise you, some young scientists will have figured out the right mixture of fertilizer or water or sunlight positioning that, if applied to your now perfect climbing rose system, could possibly improve your roses even more. That innovation was only 2 years behind your process. This scenario is universal to almost all industries. There may be a foundational way to do things, but even that gets shaken up as we grow and change as humankind.
Henry Ford Said, “ Anyone who stops learning is old, whether twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
If you hated school as I did, I realize taking on this idea might seem like a chore. For you, here is my advice. To learn about something you like. When my love for learning started, I wanted to be a master gardener but didn’t want to take the class. So I ordered a book all about dirt. Yes, dirt. And I read it cover to cover because I wanted to know everything I could to be a successful gardener. Maybe what you love is sports or travel. It doesn’t matter. If you are averse to learning, like you did in school, this is a great way to get back to it.
I hope this blog post was helpful to you. I hope it inspires you. Overall I hope it ignites a fire to learn and never stop learning.
As always, I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions.
Till Next Time,
Jennifer Cooper- JKC Mobile Notary
