I read listen to this on a Brian Tracy CD yesterday about being productive.
We live in a knowledge based, information based society.
Successful people are simply those who know more than their competitors. One of your most important responsibilities is keeping up to date with your chosen field and staying ahead of the pack, by continually taking in more information.
The amount of knowledge in every field is at least doubling every 7 years. That means you must double your knowledge every 7 years just to stay ahead.
The basic rule is; to earn more you must learn more. Or to put it another way; you are earning all that you possibly can today with what you now know.
You need to become an information gathering person to achieve and maintain excellence. If you want to be the best you must pay the price in terms of reading, listening, learning and growing.
You have gone as far as you can with what you now know. If you want to go further than you are now, you can only do it by taking in and applying new information.
He goes on to say that everyone who wants to get ahead should read for at least an hour a day. If you do this he suggests you will be regarded as a national authority in your field within 5 years.
In terms of the quote above. I think that there is portability to every role. Imagine if you wanted to be a leading sales person, what would happen if you studied that field for an hour a day. Just by the mere fact you are learning new things and continually challenging yourself you must improve!
What if you want to be an awesome mum and studied that topic for an hour a day. What about a leader or a pastor or an accountant?
The hard part. Resolving to do it!