You Should ALWAYS be Learning

n this day in age, you’re connected to all of the information the world has all of the time. There is no excuse for you to stay stagnant. I’m going to say that again because you need to KNOW that there is NO EXCUSE for you to stay stagnant. At any time you can be reading a book, a white paper, watching a TED talk, or even one of those “Barney-style” science videos. Every piece of information that has ever been published is at your literal fingertips using that phone in your pocket. We’ll use the great Leo Messi for a quote again, “the day you think there are no improvements to be made, is a sad day.”

?????????????? But Bear, why should I learn something new? I’m successful already, so I’m good right? No, you’re not “good.” You’re doing alright with what you have, yes, I’ll give you that, but my man, it is time to step your game up. 95% of you work out your body, but how many of you work out your mind? You may not be smoking pot, but to your brain, you’re not doing much better if you’re just playing CoD in all your free time. Look at babies and how they’re amazed by the simplest thing. Think of how in awe you were the last time something came along and piqued your interest. We, humans, are curious creatures, we always want to see how this new thing works or what that thing does. That’s how people have been forever, and will continue to be. Everyone just loves their phone, but without the people who figure out how to make them, and how to make them better, we’ll make that movie “Idiocracy” a documentary rather than a work of fiction.

?????????????? If that’s not enough to already get you on your ass to read a damn book how about this one, you can increase your earning potential. This will come in a few ways, one is the (relatively) obvious that you can learn new ways of doing things. Or read about ideas you’ve never thought of, but would work perfectly for you. Another way is that through reading, your vocabulary will improve and the way you speak will change. Instead of hitting an interview for a promotion and saying “Bro, I kick ass at this friggin job” you may be able to say something like “Sir, here are my figures for the last quarter, as you can see I have increased production by 50%. We are now creating 150,000 units as opposed to 100,000 the previous quarter”. Or something like that.

?????????????? Depending on the types of books you read, you’ll also be able to increase your leadership skills. I am personally a fan of David Goggins and Jocko Willink for their military/life-based books. These guys can show you different ways to think about problems and leading your team that you would never have thought about before. The military has some great leaders, and also a whole lot of not-so-great leaders. By reading entertaining books about leadership, you may just learn a thing or two so that you can stay on the good side of the leadership spectrum. I’ll add a list of books to the end of this article (here’s a hint, the first three are short and should get you excited to read again).

?????????????? If reading for the sake of reading isn’t your style you can easily go back to school. Getting a degree these days can be done from your laptop. Even if you already have one, you can go after another or even a higher level. All it takes is a few hours a week while you sit on your couch. Most of the time, your books are included with your tuition and they can be loaded in your browser. Yes, you can get a college degree with nothing but a laptop. I guarantee you’re not “too busy” where you can’t wake up an hour earlier, or leave work a half-hour later to get some school work done. If the simple knowledge gained isn’t enough to motivate you, I assure you the feeling when you get that degree in the mail will.

?????????????? Taking courses doesn’t seem to give you that itch to start learning either? Well, there are other ways as well. Maybe you want to learn about a new hobby. Guess what? That’s LEARNING. So get on Facebook and get to Habitat For Humanity’s page in your local area and learn how to frame a house. Learn how to use all the tools in your garage on someone else’s place. Gain the skills and confidence under a mentor then come back to your place and do some work! Hell, if you want to you can use those skills gained and start your side hustle. Ever noticed a million people are selling wooden American flags? You have, I know you have. Well, why are there so many? A couple of reasons. The first and easiest is a lot of people like the look, so the market is quite good for the wooden flag. The second, working with your hands and creating a product fills you with pride. Think of the last thing you built, maybe it was a shelf, or an Ikea anything, once you were done you had that sense of accomplishment didn’t you? That’s why we learn! To get that feeling!

?????????????? To the guy who “doesn’t have time for any of this”, I’ve got something for you too! I’m assuming you drive to work right? Ok then, turn off the damn radio. It doesn’t matter what Ryan Seacrest is doing today. Lizzo’s new song will still be on the radio every hour on the hour on 97 different stations. You’re not missing anything. Download a podcast app on your phone and learn while you head to work. There is a podcast about everything, I’m sure you can find one that interests you (like Good Initiative, Bad Judgment, coming soon!) Another option to use the time in your commute wisely is the audiobook. You can have that book you’ve always wanted to read be read to you like you’re in kindergarten again. For the person who is borderline ADHD and can’t listen to a book start to finish because it’ll take a bunch of different trips, well I’ve got you as well. Check out the apps Blinkist and 12Min, what they do is take very popular books, and break them down to the shortest version possible while still keeping the meaning of the book. Generally speaking, each “book” is 10-15 minutes. With all these options, you have no excuse why you can’t expand your mind.

?????????????? One last way to learn things and then I’ll get off my high horse, experiences. Go out and explore this world. We’re only on this space-ship called Earth for 80-ish years and the first 15 you can’t do shit, same for the last. So you’ve got a good 50 years to see and do everything you’ve always dreamt of. You have to be able to remember these experiences and learn from them. One way is to keep everything in a cloud-based system. You can take pictures and notes and keep them forever, and access them on any devices with apps like Evernote and OneNote, or even just an email account where you attach your picture, write about what you saw, the smells, and feelings and then just email it to yourself. When you learn from experience, don’t just “one and done” it. Make sure that every once in a while you go back and revisit these memories. Don’t forget the lessons you learned and taught yourself, or the feelings that you felt. The first time you see the Grand Canyon is something you can never forget, don’t be afraid to look at your pictures and imagine that feeling again.

?????????????? Here are a few books to get you started (click the title and it’ll take you to Amazon)

Meditations – Marcus Aurelius (the lessons and inner monologue of the finest Roman Emporer)

Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl (Personal experiences of a Nazi Concentration Camp and how to get through terrible circumstances)

The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho (Everyone can achieve their dream, you’ll get off track from time to time but as long as you get back on the path, you’ll be fine.)

The Mission, the Men, and Me – Pete Blaber (Lessons from an Army Delta Force officer. These relate to the “real world” quite well.)

Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins (The way you were brought up doesn’t define you, where you are in life right now doesn’t define you)