What does it mean to be committed to learning and why is it important?
Simply put .... the more we know the more we grow (there's a seussism in there somewhere).
And just like there's a catch in the wonderous Dr Seuss experience, there's also a catch in learning new stuff too.
Because the more we grow the more we realise what we don't know.
There are no three ways about it. You can't cheat your way to wisdom. You can't cheat your way into learning new insights, skills, knowledge and experiences. There's no magic pill you take and then wake up with the smarts. You need to do the (pleasurable) work by .....
investing your time, and then time will generously repay you with 'ta-das' and 'f^ck me ... is that so' moments of intrinsic joy. I like those feelings. I like those feelings A LOT.
So I continually learn. My learnings turn into experiments vis-à-vis learning.
Here's what I do .... I:
read books (Amazon surely loves me by now);
read newly published journals and white pages (Google Scholar is terrific for this);
hang out at the community library, and Bond University library, and devour the contents of textbooks;
read web blogs which lead me to another and another (god love a backlink);
attend online trainings at the Australian Marketing Institute;
show up to webinars; and
follow academics and Marketing experts on Linkedin; plus I
follow a scattering of people I admire on Twitter.
"If Twitter is fast food eaten in your car, then Medium is a slow meal enjoyed at a table full of scientists, business leaders, poets, and social commentators." (smartblogger.com)
I love my books the most though, and there's a Predictably Irrational reason why I do.
Ownership increases perceived value to us: When we own something, we immediately grow attached to it. And this, in turn, increases how much we value it.
.... but that being said, I spend a good half an hour most mornings with my coffee and the Writers I love on Medium. There's a paywall for Medium, but the AUD7 per month subscription is one 'luxury' I would trade in any day for the vortex that is Netflix.
This morning, instead of heading into Medium, I read an article in Entrepreneur - "How Becoming a Lifelong Learner Is a Must If You Want to Achieve and Maintain Success" ....
And I'm quoting this straight out of the blog post:
"Every day you commit to learning, growing and developing yourself adds value to who you are and what you have to offer. "
I'm currently creating online courses to teach aspiring entrepreneurs how to start their very own business ... and how to ... fast-track their way into laying a strong foundation to create highly profitable successful brands.
Do you see where I'm going with this post ........ If I don't continually learn and grow, I will fail in my efforts to help my target audience, my potential students:
Aspiring entrepreneurs (perhaps single people) aged 45 years and well into their 50s, who are tired of giving giving giving their expertise to a job only to make their boss rich, and they're also tired of giving giving giving to make everyone else in their lives happy.
It's time for them to take their skills, experience, expertise & passion .... and their genius business idea and start building their very own fulfilling career.
The thing is (and it is a thing), there is a real fear for people who are thinking about being their own boss.
That fear is "what if I fail?".
Why are people scared to start their own business?
judgement from peers and family;
feelings of loneliness;
lack of tech skills because all those kids know how to do all that; and
a lack of money or losing all their money.
The online courses I'm creating will 100% ease these fears and get these people to that happy place in the near future where they're, finally, doing something for themselves.
Over the past couple of years I have joined many Facebook networking groups to study the behaviour of aspiring entrepreneurs. It's been enlightening and fascinating, and ....
Honestly, I'm so over the feelings of sadness (honestly, I've cried) when I read how people have been ripped off by scammers who call themselves marketers.
Unwittingly, aspiring entrepreneurs click on sponsored ads in Facebook that go down a sales funnel created by fakers showing off their flashy-sports cars and their stories of success ... only to lieu these aspiring entrepreneurs into paying for business models that don't work. Enough is enough!
You will see, if you explore my website and my Linkedin profile, I have a Master of Marketing and am a Certified Practising Marketer with the Australian Marketing Institute .... therefore,
I just want these aspiring entrepreneurs to learn the the right way, in the correct logical steps, how to build a brand that rocks their world.
Their brand will be something for themselves, so they feel accomplished and wonderful .... but I can't really hijack people away from FB groups (that's a big no no) so I will need to target them via FB sponsored ads...
.... but I have no idea how to set up and launch FB Ads :(
Ya'd think with my extensive post-grad education and 20 years of professional experience I would have launched a thousand Facebooks ads by now to promote the brands I've worked with in the past.
But nope I haven't.
There's never been a need to do FB ads because I grow brands online in an authentic and transparent way ....
However ....
I want to fast-track 'my learning' on how to promote my courses to my target market.
This week I signed up for an online Masterclass on how to do FB ads.
The Masterclass is being created by Jessica Tutton. If you're keen to join her next Masterclass .... Here's a nice little link to her website.
"The fact is, becoming a lifelong learner is a must if you want to achieve and maintain success in our ever-changing world." (Entrepreneur)
It will be worth your time. Promise.
