The Secret to Learning a New Skill and Creating Lifelong Learning

How long has it been since you learned a new skill?

There is a rule that says:

“Whatever got you to where you are today is not enough to get you any further.”

What this means is that your current level of knowledge and skill has been sufficient to enable you to achieve your current income and standard of living.

But for you to improve your income and your standard of living, for you to move onward and upward, you must learn and apply the new skills that are essential for professional and personal growth.

There is no other way to get ahead except for you to become better at what you do, continually throughout your life.

There’s another rule that says:

“For life to get better, you must get better.”

The good news however is that there are no limits to how much better you can become.

Therefore, there are no limits to how much more you can change your life, if you have the determination and the discipline to do so, every single day. Every day, in every way, you should be looking for ways to change your life and increase your personal knowledge.

Where Do You Start When You Want to Learn Something New?

Your first discipline in learning a new skill is for you to resolve to get into the top 10% of everything you do.

Remember, everyone who is in the top 10% in your field started in the bottom 10%. Then, they made a decision and discipline themselves to climb the knowledge and skill ladder of success until they reached the top.

What others have done, you can do as well…

The interesting fact is that:

  • No one is really better than you.
  • No one is really smarter than you.
  • Everyone has tremendous reserves of potential that they habitually fail to use.

There are fortunately no limits in what you can learn and apply except for the limits that you place on yourself to change your life.

How Do You Become the Best?

The way you do this is both simple and powerful…

What we have found is that, in any job or field, there are never more than 5-7 key result areas. These are skills that you absolutely, positively have to have in order to do your job in an excellent fashion.

Keep reading to learn the breakthrough discovery!

The weakest key skill sets the height of your results and the height of your income. You can be excellent in a variety of areas, but the one essential area where you are the weakest, determines how far and how fast you move upward and onward.

What this means is that by getting better in your weakest area, you can move ahead faster than by any other activity.

Your Unique Learning Style

Did you know that everyone has a unique learning style?

Not everyone learns or acquires knowledge in the same way, which is why it’s important to know your dominant learning sense so you can boost your learning potential and absorb more information to learn more skills.

Discover your learning style. Get my free assessment here.

How To Learn a New Skill

Here is the key question:

“What one skill, if you were absolutely excellent at it, would help you the most to move ahead more rapidly in your career?”

Whatever your answer to this question will invariably be your weakest key skill. Whatever your answer, you write down the development of this skill as a goal.

You then make a list of all the things that you could do to master this skill.

Make a list of:

  • The books you could read.
  • The courses you could take.
  • The CDs you could listen to.
  • The people whose advice you could ask.
  • List the specific activities that you could engage in every single day to learn and master this skill.

…and then you get busy doing it.

Focus on One Skill at a Time

Focus on a single skill, the most important skill that can help you the most in your career at this moment.

Do you want to know the remarkable thing that happens?

As you concentrate single-mindedly on getting better in a single skill area, you will start to get better in every other skill simultaneously. Because you are now thinking of continuous improvement, you will see ways to improve your performance in everything that you do.

Within a few months, you will have learned a new skill that may have held you back for a long time.

Once you have learned a new skill, what do you do then?

Answer:

You ask the question again, “Now, what one skill would help me the most to be more successful in my field?”

Whatever your answer to the second question is, you write it at the top of a page, make a list of everything you can do to develop that skill, and work on that skill seven days a week until you have mastered it.

All Skills Are Learnable

Here’s the best news of all:

  • All business skills are learnable.
  • All sales skills are learnable.
  • All money-making skills are learnable.

They are all mechanical skills. Everyone who is good in any of those areas was at one time incapable of doing it at all. And what hundreds of thousands of other people have done, starting from the bottom, you can do as well, if you have the necessary discipline and determination.

Remember, your life only gets better when you get better, and there are no limits on how much better you can become if you have the discipline to start and the determination to continue until you learn something new and develop exciting habits.

About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin and Youtube.

Follow Brian & Join the Discussion