Business Breathing

Posted on November 7, 2007

If only learning and teaching were as natural to us as breathing. But if you don’t keep learning and teaching in a significant manner, you’ll get less and less accomplished, and you’ll make less and less difference in the world.

Thank goodness we’re born with the instinct to breathe. Without it, most of us would surely forget to breathe for just a few minutes and die. It’s a shame that nobody is born with the instinct to learn and teach. So many fewer people would have dead-end jobs, financial losses, or worse.

As schoolchildren, we are required to spend most of our time learning. Children don’t produce value or earn a living – their main focus is to develop and grow. As teenagers and young adults, the balance shifts. We get part-time jobs, but still learn a lot. The BIG MISTAKE comes when we finish school and start our career. We stop most of our efforts to learn. We do our jobs, we play and we live our lives. That’s why some people say it’s all downhill after high school or college. But it shouldn’t be that way.

I hold a few fundamental beliefs:

• There always exists better or more fulfilling ways to do what I do. I will never run out of room to grow, in any area.
• Discovering new ideas and methods is always possible, whether from the people around me who know more than I, or the Web, or books, or courses, or from somewhere or somebody.
• I like the excitement of change and growth. Life never has to be boring.
• I love to help people around me grow if they are interested.

Most of the happy and successful people I know hold similar beliefs. But they, like me, get busy. Setting aside the time to methodically learn new things is hard. The same goes for teaching what we know to others. We get busy with shopping, tending to the kids, responding to our customers, doing the laundry, and on and on.

We’re “doing” too much

I’ll bet most people spend 98% of their time “doing” (working, playing, sleeping), and a paltry 1-2% of their time learning and teaching. It is not enough. Most people’s skill sets grow older and older, and pretty soon, they’re stuck in their ways and in their job.

Every time I set aside blocks of time to learn, I make staggering discoveries that make my life and my company better. Every time I set aside time to teach others, I make staggering contributions to the knowledge base of others, which makes their life and their productivity much better. Every time this happens, I make a resolution to devote more time to learning and teaching. But the pull of that which I think I must “do” each day is hard to resist.

Learning isn’t easy for everyone. But if you want to learn, it gets much easier and faster. Learning produces value in surprising ways – often crossing over from one part of your life to another. Think about what you’d like to learn, and what goals you’d like to achieve. Maybe it has to do with your family, or your work, or your profession, or your hobby or passion, or how you live your life. No matter. Invest the time and learn.

Find what works for you

Everyone learns differently. You may prefer to take courses, or to read, or to learn with your peers. Make it your business to know how you learn best, and then get started. Sometimes it helps to force yourself to learn. Take a job that will stretch your capabilities. Agree to do volunteer work that will require you to learn in order to perform well. Then you’ll have to learn.

Don’t forget the teaching part. It feels really good to teach others and see them grow. Teaching also results in the growth of the teacher, an added benefit. What can you teach your kids? How can you teach some skills to your family? The local school could probably benefit from your knowledge. What about your co-workers or your employees?

As I figure it, if you spend 8 hours sleeping (lucky you), you’ve got 16 other hours. Devote just one of them to learning, and one more to teaching. For example, spend 30 minutes reading an educational book, 15 minutes looking something up on the web, and 15 minutes asking questions of your boss, mentor, or anyone you respect. That’s an hour! Then spend 20 minutes helping your kids do their homework, 20 minutes every other day training someone at your work, and 20 minutes a day writing something that others can learn from. Voila, another hour.

I know, you’re under pressure to get things done. No debate. But if you don’t keep learning and teaching in a significant manner, you’ll get less and less accomplished, and you’ll make less and less of a difference in the world. It is truer now than ever, since the world is moving ever faster.
If you’ve learned something by reading this article, it means that I’ve taught something (or at least reminded you). So ten minutes of learning and teaching have been accomplished just now. Fantastic. And you’re still breathing too. Good job!

Takeaways:

• You will never know it all, and will always benefit by knowing more.
• You must have a plan for your own self-education, and work that plan.
• The more you’ve learned, and the more you’ve taught those around you, the more impact you’ll have all around.