Seize the Day by Seizing Every Opportunity to Learn

We quickly realize that in order to succeed in life we must be willing to learn. The first step to success begins with surrounding ourselves with people who seek to grow and improve themselves. Perhaps this is where the concept of the professional student originated. We are all students of life, some just stay on campus and others move further into the world. Wherever we are, we must realize that every interaction we have during the day provides us with an opportunity to learn more. Whatever role we find ourselves in we must never be satisfied with "just doing enough." or "just knowing enough to get by." We must be aware of thoughts and actions that limit our potential. This can even include avoiding people fail to see the good in us or people who seek only to complain and never identify the solution to the problem. These individuals are wearing blinders and don't even know where to go to begin to grow.

It is easy to surround ourselves with people who see the world the same we do, we laugh at the same jokes, vote for the same political party, and share the same ideas. But, when everyone around us is "just like us" we can grow too comfortable,  and we don’t challenge ourselves to see other views to grasp for personal and professional growth, as a result we live in our secure world but this means our world is shrinking and so is our potential and so are our ideas.  

          If we are going to progress in life and at work, we need to associate with people who are already a step ahead, or who are at least headed in a forward direction instead of  idling in neutral. Our development depends on crossing paths with people who challenge and stretch us to reach new limits. Seize the opportunity to surround yourself with people that want to succeed, so that you may better understand how much you can grow or how much you have already grown.

Each sunrise brings us a new chance to be more than we were the day before. Life is our school, as we should all seek to be professional students. Realize that every person you meet is a new teacher bringing you new views and information. Seize the day and seize every opportunity to learn as each day brings us knowledge and wisdom.

QUOTES

"I will seek to be better tomorrow than I am today so that I will know that I took the opportunity to grow." C. Krosky

"Always seek to learn everything that the other person knows so that you may begin to reach their height." (my Father) W. E. Stewart

Lessons Learned In Life

Growing up it seemed that those who didn't believe in me were more vocal than those who believed in me. Luckily, the few who believed in me gave me hope and each new day gave me strength to try to be do better than I did the day before. I am thankful for the people who believed in my potential and I feel sorry for those who only saw limits for what they thought I could do. Believe in yourself and in others and share those positive beliefs daily, as it is gives us the nutrients we need to grow. 

The Price of Profit and Success

It is in our nature to want to be successful personally as well as professionally. Yet there can be a price to pay for profit. Individuals are often willing to pay the price for success by investing time, energy, and even money into developing their success. However, time energy and money are only three elements that can create success.

Whether you seek to be successful personally or professionally be ready to look at the cost of success, as well as the profit. Parents who want to be great parents often do so at the cost of a marriage or relationship, Business professionals seeking success within corporations may pay the price by losing relationships or even losing sight of their personal values. Such cost may be more than you are willing to pay.

However, the good news is that if you seek success you can achieve it without it costing you! For some people the price for success means facing their fears and being willing to profit from personal growth. As a personal coach, I am fortunate to work with individuals all over the world who have decided they are willing to look at various areas of their life and see how they can grow. While they pay the price in time and energy to examine areas that often they have often avoided, they profit when they overcome a barrier that was keeping them from succeeding. One example is overcoming the self-doubt that you can succeed or hesitation that prevents you from making the next cold call or reaching out to the next customer. The biggest price we must pay for success is facing ourselves and the obstacles that we put in front of us which prevent us from profiting. The other price we must pay to be profitable is a willingness to surround ourselves with people who believe in our ideas and goals. If your business has, a goal to increase sales it is obvious you would want employees who support that goal, who believe in it and who want to achieve it. Therefore, it makes sense that when we set a personal goal, we should surround ourselves with supporters of that goal, people who believe in us and who will encourage us to succeed.

One price for success is that we must have congruency in our goals personally and professionally. This means defining success with our values firmly planted in how we will achieve success. If we desire financial security for our business and our personal values include honesty, then our definition for success will be directed to "honestly creating a business that has financial security."

The second price for success is developing an understanding that giving generates success. The element of giving is often one of the riskiest components that successful people experience. It forces us to look at how we trust others, how we encourage and invite other people to learn with us and from us. This concept feels foreign to many people, because certain generations, certain cultures were taught that when we shared we were empowering others to be our competition. It was indoctrinated that to succeed we must keep information to ourselves. To not share but to look out for number one. This mentality causes us to leave in fear and it squelches our creativity or ability to increase productivity. Furthermore, those who learned that knowledge is power fear sharing and when they do, they do what I call “selective sharing.” Educational systems don’t have room for more than one valedictorian. While more educators are encouraging the benefits of study groups, there is still competition for grades that will get students accepted into a college that only has X number of slots. In order to get a better position at work or to be seen as a person who deserves a promotion, work force in order to get the better position, competition drives the engines. The price for success no longer has to be loneliness or isolation.

Last but most important the third price for success is that of learning. Learning is an ongoing process that requires that we shed our egos and realize that there is always something to learn and more to experience. So invest in your success today. Define success congruently with personal and professional goals. Seek opportunities to give to others as you grow more successful and self assured this will become easier to do. Then reinvest in yourself with courses, tapes, coaches, or whatever it takes to help you learn and examine how to continually improve.

Quote: “The price for success can be minimal and the profit great if we approach success correctly.” C. Krosky, CSP, LCSW