skills Developments

The great Jim Rohn (he’s the one on the left in this picture) says “don’t wish things were easier, wish you were better.”
Life is no walk in the park. We are all presented with challenges that we must overcome. Winter always comes. In order to succeed at a very high level you must develop yourself and grow as a person. To grow, you need to master the 5 skills of personal development:

1)Absorb
Be a sponge. Learn whatever you can, everywhere you are. Take in the experiences of life: the words of a book; the lyrics of a song; the advice of a friend. Be able to learn from everyone and everything. Don’t miss anything that will be valuable to your future.

2) Reflect
There is value in the past, and much more if you can remember it. Learn to reflect on what you’ve taken in. When should you reflect?

* At the end of each day, reflect on it. How did you do? What did you learn? Who did you help?

* At the end of the week, reflect on the past six days. Now you can see what you need to do in the next six days. Invest what you learnt in the past six days into the next six days. Life demands measurable progress in reasonable time; after 6 days you should see progress.

* At the end of the month, reflect. Success is a numbers game - know them! How much time did you spend with the people you love? How much profit did the marketplace reward you with? How many times did you exercise? How many books did you read? How many pages did you write? If you aren’t seeing visible progress after a month of action, re-adjust your plan.

3) Respond
Let life touch you. Let sad things make you sad, let great things inspire your soul. There is something inside everyone that recognizes extraordinary things. Let beauty affect you. Let your mistakes frustrate your conscience into inspirational dissatisfaction.

4) Act
Get excited about being able to work the six days. The six days are where fortunes are built. Rest doesn’t build a fortune, the six days builds a fortune. Work works the miracle. Learn to embrace and love work. The six days allow you to create a great life for yourself. Ask, who can I help this week? Whose life can I touch? What can I give to the marketplace and my clients? Relish every hour of work, no matter how hard it may seem. Always do more than you get paid for, as an investment in your future.

5) Share
Something I told a class of mine recently is that in order to be a leader, you need to go from being ‘learning based’ to being ‘teaching based.’ Learn with the intention of teaching it to others. Hear a great story in order to tell it to someone. Read my newsletter thinking of how you can use these ideas to help your friends and colleagues. When you share, it is a true win-win situation. The listener is transformed by the knowledge, and you are transformed by giving selflessly.

In order for things to change, you must change. Learn the skills that will help you grow, and you can create a magnificent life for yourself.