Always Learning

Have you ever read something or been told something that hits you so hard that it virtually stops you in your tracks? Unable to write, speak, or even think?

My mouthy self has spoken for eight months now on this blog, and not once has something hit me so hard as it did yesterday. The reason I'm able to continuously churn out content is because I believe wholeheartedly that, opinion pieces aside, what I have to say is true. And I've come across a lot of truth in things like books, podcasts, and videos.

But there's something I've semi-unknowingly buried. And yesterday, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I write a lot about change, leadership competencies, and doing great work in everything you do. All that stuff is still true, but there's a bit of a personal hypocrisy to it. As much as I talk about doing good work, I haven't practiced what I talk about in terms of this blog.

It hit me when I was reading the sales copy for a robust online course on starting your own online business. Now, I'm not unhappy at all with my job, but there has always been an itch in the back of my mind of wondering, "How can I help the most amount of people in a meaningful way?"

I did scratch that itch... to an extent. After all, this blog exists. But I have been intentional about tamping down how much self promotion I do in the name of humility. If I'm being really honest... that's not the full story. In fact, that's a smaller part of the story. The honest truth is that I'm scared. I do genuinely want to help people, and it freaks me out to do anything that might even remotely betray your trust.

As I was going through that aforementioned sales copy, I saw things that struck a direct chord with me. Notably, the instructor used the word "wantrepreneurship". Wantrepreneurship is when folks (admittedly like me) talk a big talk about ideas that promote self-promotion and entrepreneurship but never actually follow through with any of those ideas. He even specifically noted these people would pat themselves on their backs by reading the works of Seth Godin.

Ouch.

That's me all the way.

He wasn't at all belittling Seth Godin, but he basically said that reading Godin's work, verbally promoting Godin's work, and not doing what Godin shares is hypocrisy.

I honestly don't know how this is going to affect my future work, but I wanted to share this with you all as a reminder that we constantly learn new things. Even if we're on a good track in one aspect, we can instantly be derailed by new information or a new understanding.

So, let's end this post by hitting some quick bullets on how to ensure we are constantly keeping ourselves in check to keep growing:

• Be brutally honest with yourself. We all like to be optimistic about our actions or our attitudes, but optimism doesn't always reflect reality. True optimism recognizes faults and says "Yes, I can be better."
• Constantly look for underlying assumptions. Best answered by asking the question why. Why is your best friend. (Ramit Sethi refers to these things as "invisible scripts". Google that and learn from him.)
• Remember that tools are not solutions. Tools can be good means to solutions, but you should start with what you are truly seeking to accomplish. Saying you need a Twitter account for your business is only important if you know what you want to accomplish with that Twitter account.
• Build empathy. Understanding the thoughts of others often helps to guide our own thoughts.

We could definitely go on, but we'll end it here for now. Keep learning, friends!