There was a period of time in my late 30s when I became so complacent that I stopped learning.
I felt that I had learnt enough.
I felt that I already knew most of the things.
I was no longer hungry for knowledge as I was in my 20s.
Imagine a glass full of water. I was that glass.
Strange things happened after I stopped learning.
1) I became less creative
2) I kept seeing challenges rather than possibilities
3) I was less focused
4) I started to have fear
One day, I had lunch with my property agent who managed all my rental properties.
He told me that his business had improved significantly after doing one thing.
Of course I asked him what was it.
He said that he spent 1 hour every morning to learn about anything that interested him.
I used to be his inspiration but then he had inspired me.
That day, I dug out my old success CDs and listened.
The next day, I felt that the old me was back. My creative juice started flowing and I became more focused.
To be honest, on the same day, I was inspired to start this ‘Success Lesson’ email series.
Later on, I came across an article that said,
‘All successful people in the world are active learners’.
The author called it The 5-Hour Rule.
Top business leaders often spend five hours per week doing deliberate learning.
Famous people who practice The 5-Hour Rule include Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey.
5 hours a week is not very demanding. It’s basically 1 hour a day on weekdays.
For some reason, there is magic in learning.
It is not just about the knowledge.
Learning stimulates creativity. It makes a person more focused and positive.
On the contrary, the day a person stops learning is the day he/she starts to fail.
