It seems to me that the world is changing at a faster and faster pace. New versions of cell phones, online apps, computer programs, tech toys and they are all the latest, greatest and will save you time and money. I have an older friend who decided that the world is changing too much & too fast, and he is not coming along for the ride. He will keep his old flip phone, his old truck, and his old home where he has lived for almost 50 years with few upgrades. Keeping the familiar and jumping off the continual change superhighway is one option to deal with the fast-changing world but there might be another option.

The second option is to be a continual learner. When I was younger everything was new, and I had to learn diligently and quickly. This was a daily task and took a lot of mental and emotional energy. As we get older the ability to learn new tasks sometimes takes more energy than we have. What can we do? Here is a list of the things I do to stay in the continual learning mode day in and day out:

1. Focus on the areas that I want to have a degree of mastery in. Several years ago I decided that a narrower focus was more important than ever before in the fast-changing world. I narrowed my focus down to master these three areas – Mission & Life Purpose, Marriage & Relationships and Marketplace (Business) & Leadership. This allowed me to say “Yes” to the three focus areas and “No” to the rest. This simplified my life considerably.

2. Develop a growth plan to learn in these three areas. Most people have heard of the 10,000 hour rule to mastery – it takes about 10,000 hours of study and practice to master an area. The interesting thing about this rule is that in the first 2000 hours we accomplish 80% of the mastery. This is more mastery in 2000 hours than the masses of people today will ever have, and you will be considered an expert.

3. Everyday work on one or more of the focused areas of learning you have decided. This involves a list of books to read, courses to take and products to develop and sell. My wife Debbie recently said that your business should not be a hobby – hobbies cost, businesses are to make a profit. Whatever activity is not bringing value needs to be eliminated or delegated.

This three-step approach will help you stay in the game of life & business, and you will be relevant and successful. Remember that all worthwhile endeavors are uphill and take effort – enjoy the journey of continual growth.