The Prime Objective: The Ordered Steps to Success? or Not?

    In 2005, when Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were asked what superpower they wished they had, can you guess what they said? They jokingly said extended lifetime, and they agreed that eliminating the competition would not be too interesting. They finally agreed that they wished they had the ability to speed read. If they were asked this same question today, would their answer be the same? So why would they, with all of this money, still have to read constantly? To Learn. When making money,  it is still important to continuously improve the skills necessary to stay competitive.  

    So wouldn't it be a good idea to stop and ask ourselves our prime objective for pursuing the goals in our lives? Is it money? Is it learning?  Focusing on learning gives you a greater potential for success. Success has the potential to bring you money.

    Shifting your focus initially to the learning side has many benefits long term:

 

·         Learning can help you avoid mistakes later on. If you cannot avoid the mistakes, you might have a better sense of how to handle them with certain skill sets. This could make a difference in the amount of money you earn or lose. This could be the difference between quitting and moving forward. There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in one place, with no idea how to proceed.

·         Realize the importance of the basics: Getting expert knowledge, without understanding the basics, usually hampers your ability to instantly apply the information. Without understanding the basics, it can be more likely to discount expert information. It serves great to have an understanding of why courses of actions are being taken. Not knowing the basics can be a stumbling block in anything pursued, and can be quite time consuming and frustrating.

·         If you have already learned the basics of something, it cuts your learning curve: You have already put yourself ahead of the game by learning the basics. Imagine trying to walk into a software development firm, write some software, and had seldom practiced beforehand. Imagine yourself as the CEO of a company with no prior business knowledge. People already know there would not be much sense in attempting  these given scenarios. It is a no brainer that the more someone knows in advance, the more likely their chance of success when the test comes.

·         If your learning curve has been drastically cut already, you have a much better chance of being a frontrunner in delivering this new found information to others: Today we have so many diverse terminologies and acronyms out there, learning these things alone can be a series of long, daunting study sessions. If you can be that person to cut the learning curve with a quickness, great for you and great for them.

·         Once you have the basics, things get more difficult: Usually after the initial knowledge, learning the advanced information tends to be a slower process. There is more thought and decision involved in conjunction with learning. This can take enormous amounts of time, making it all the more important to have the basics mastered before others. That being said, once you are over the hump and have become savvy with your new found knowledge, certain things that required thought and decisions become seamless, almost like a natural reflex.

 

Now The Money Part:

·          Information is king these days. Information travels fast. Being a frontrunner of new information presents the ability to make more money, if you can deliver the information to others first. Imagine trying to charge hundreds of dollars on teaching web design. People would not be flocking to your seminar. Odds are they already know someone with enough of the abilities to get them started.

·         Last but not least, in the beginning and all the way to the end, have fun with it. If things don't go great in the first attempt, tackle it again. Most people have difficulty having fun trying to learn something that can make them money. They might attempt to learn, but if they despise it, it is questionable if they will carry on through. As human nature dictates, we want it and want it now. Once that feeling comes in, stress and pressure tend to follow.

 

    So have you decided what your prime objective is? Is it learning? Is it Money?  That is for you to decide. I think learning is a continuous and exciting journey. It would seem a bore to just be complacent with what we already know, and not desiring to learn more. Imagine how different the world would be if people carried this mentality. With or without the money, learning has never hurt anyone in the end.