You Earn What You Learn

I recently stumbled across a speech given in 2007 by Richard W. Fisher, who was President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2005 to 2015. He said, "In today’s economy, you earn what you learn. Spending time and money learning—in gathering knowledge and skills—remains one of the best investments you can make."

Fisher went ahead to chronicle the financial returns of higher education, In 2006, an average 25-year-old high school graduate made $6,100 a year more than someone the same age who dropped out. A high school graduate who went on to college but didn’t get a degree saw earnings rise by another $4,160. Earning an associate’s degree added another $3,100. A bachelor’s degree was worth an additional $15,260. A law, dentistry or other professional degree added $32,300 to earnings.

The total, the difference in earnings between a 25-year-old high school dropout and a 25-year-old degreed professional, was almost $61,000 a year.

I'd like to suggest that its a mistake to simply limit this philosophy to higher education, because that implies you reach a point - most likely in your twenties - at which you exhaust your formal learnings and simply begin the process of earning. But the most adept and accomplished professionals are intellectually curious their entire life. They never stop questioning, exploring, and asking, Why?

If you earn what you learn and you stop learning in your twenties, then your earnings are going to plateau not that far into your career. But if you make career decisions based on how much you will or won't learn, then there are few limits on your earnings.

Think bigger and bolder about learning.

In 1999, I started seeing news articles about how entrepreneurs were skipping the whole business plan process and simply raising venture capital with a Powerpoint deck. I decided to try it, and in a week garnered four investment offers ranging from $1.5 million to $4.5 million. That started a process of accelerated learning that was intense, sobering, painful, but ultimately valuable: two years later my startup was out of business, but we learned a huge amount about innovation, uncertainty, entrepreneurship, and business relationships.

I feel the same way about writing books... the process is often painful and frustrating, but it also expands my expertise and exposes me to powerful new ideas.

So here's my question: what's your strategy for learning enough to significantly increase your earnings?

Most people don't have a good answer. They say, "Well, I go to a few conferences every year" or "They make us do training every six months."

But do you have a learning strategy that's larger and more powerful than that? Are you willing to pursue a new job solely because it offers the opportunity to dramatically increase your knowledge base? Do you actively pursue projects and interactions that stretch the boundaries of your expertise?

If you want to earn more, you should.

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for thought leaders.