Rapid results rarely last. Everything worthwhile takes time and patience.
Rapid weight loss is dangerous and usually leads to a reversal.
Speed reading might let you get through more books… But more books isn’t the goal.
The goal is mastery, not rapidity. Deep understanding, not casual interest.
In a world obsessed with speed, be a tortoise.
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It amazes me how many companies still require their prospective employees to hold college degrees before they’ll even CONSIDER talking to them about work…
Especially because so many companies are founded by college dropouts, straight-D students, and vocal critics of modern education.
With so much information and easily accessible methods to build the skills necessary to do competitive work, college is quickly becoming a handicap more than anything else.
It’s four years spent in a classroom accumulating information rather than developing skills, building projects, and doing actual work. (And yes, I’m a college graduate who’s criticizing EXACTLY what I went through).
Never will you be required to sit through hours of lecture and regurgitate information on tests in your working career. But that’s what I’d estimate 90% of college is.
How does that help a company looking to hire for a role? Obviously it doesn’t.
I’d like to see more companies embrace what Apple, Google, Amazon, and other big tech companies are doing:
Value competence and proven skills over accreditation and papers.
Show you can do the work and forget what your “education” was all about.
Hopefully more companies will remember their founders’ roots and get out of this antiquated industrial mindset.
One of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes of all time…
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing… poorly!”
You will never be great when you’re learning something new. Take the time to suck at it on your way to getting better.
You’ve been told your entire life you should do things well.
Perfectly.
Like an expert.
And if you can’t do it well, you might as well not even bother to do it at all.
That’s wrong. You can’t instantly be great at doing ANYTHING.
The only place to start is at the level we currently are.
The always relevant, and sometimes irreverent, Zig Ziglar said one of my favorite quotes of all time:
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly.”
What did he mean?
Simple: anything worthwhile requires that we start as a beginner.
Golfing, tennis, writing, painting, jazz improv… It doesn’t matter what it is.
If it’s worth pursuing, you owe it to yourself to be bad at it. And then get better at it every single day.
He uses the example of someone learning to play golf: if everyone could join the PGA Masters tour after a couple of lessons with the local pro, there’s no reason to do it.
Give yourself time to do things badly…
On the way to doing them well.
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I heard the best description of what a coach does this week on Michael Hyatt’s podcast, “Lead to Win”:
“I love developing people and helping [them] to see the best potential in them and call it out. And that is what coaching is all about.”
That quote is from Michele Cushatt, Chief Coaching Officer at Michael Hyatt & Company. (You can check out the episode here.)
Her definition of coaching leapt out at me… I had to listen to it at least three times.
Most of us have an image in our head of a coach as a cheerleader… Maybe it’s someone who tells you “great job” when you finish a task or make a little progress.
Or maybe “coach” conjures images of someone putting you through drills or practices to help you develop a skill.
Coaches can and should do those things. But that’s not the essence of what coaching is…
A great coach sees the potential in another person and calls it out! That’s the key. They bring forth what’s already inside someone else.
They help someone become the best person they can be. The person they are destined to become.
Do you have someone in your life doing that for you? If not, can you find someone?
Or is there someone you know who’s got tons of potential but can’t see it? Or hasn’t developed it?
Why can’t you take the role of coach and call it out to them?
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Are you afraid the path you’re walking is taking you somewhere you don’t want to go?
The former means you should probably keep going.
The latter is a warning from your inner self, your conscience, your child artist… Whatever you want to call that little voice that whispers truth in your ear.
But here’s the problem:
Often the two fears are hard to distinguish. To figure out which it is requires time for introspection, writing, silence… Sometimes even experimentation with what’s scaring you.
Often this fear manifests itself around our careers.
Are you afraid you might fail at being a salesperson? Or does the idea of selling this particular thing make your skin crawl?
Remember: one means you should try. The other means you should rethink your path.
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Here’s something new I’m trying out:
Every Friday, I’d like to update you, the loyal readers, on what I have been reading or listening to over the past week.
I’m hopeful that you’ll find awesome insights and new folks to follow who’ll help you level up your life.
Here’s this week’s first post!
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Hello to all my loyal readers!
I’m sorry that I’ve been quiet for the past few weeks: I’ve been in the midst of a very intensive job hunt. After multiple interviews and offers from three different companies, I started my new job at Lurn Inc. this past Monday.
As a content developer, I’ll be creating all sorts of amazing educational content to help aspiring entrepreneurs succeed in life and business. I’ve been going through a lot of the content myself this past week, learning how they teach and do things. It’s felt like drinking from a firehose of knowledge.
I am part of a great team: a small group of former (and current) freelance writers who love to teach. It’s the perfect application of my skills, passions, and knowledge areas. I’m working with, and helping, people I want to be around, and I have an ideal workplace—home. 😀
If you’re interested in what Lurn has to offer, I encourage you to go to https://lurn.com and get a free account. There are lots of courses you can start immediately (for free). You might come away with new business ideas or new strategies and tactics if you already have a business.
Here’s to regular posting once again!
Yours truly,
Nathan
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I hate getting feedback…
It hurts. It stings. It can crush your soul—especially if you think you’re already kicking butt.
But it’s also the best way to figure out where you can grow to hit your goals.
That’s why I actively seek it out in everything I do.
This practice came from my time in university. I was studying to be (and working as) a professional musician.
Every week, I had multiple lessons, rehearsals, and performances. And after each one, my teachers, bandmates, and mentors had feedback for me.
It was brutal (to put it mildly). But it made me a better musician.
These people were better than me, more experienced, and knew what needed to be done to succeed.
I’ve carried this practice with me into every job I’ve had. It’s made me a better leader, writer, and marketer.
“A mark of a competent adult is their ability to accept feedback. The mark of a child is their expectation of praise without merit.”
—Donald Miller, Business Made Simple, p. 15
Surround yourself with people who want you to improve and succeed in your roles. Actively seek out feedback.
The more you do it, the better you’ll get. But I can’t promise it won’t sting.
How do you feel about feedback? Are you actively seeking it out?
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“I never think of what I have said before. My aim is not to be consistent with my previous statements on a given question, but to be consistent with truth as it may present itself to me. The result has been that I have grown from truth to truth.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
Consistency is only beneficial as long as the truth to which we are holding remains true.
Changing our minds seems to be a sign of weakness, meekness, and shame in our culture. But is it not a sign of wisdom and growth when we take a new stance upon learning new information?
When we hold to something because “that’s the way we’ve always done it,” even when a new truth is staring us in the face, our culture, relationships, and society stagnate.
There is nothing wrong with changing your mind as you learn new information.
Be wise and grow.
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