A.I. Counselor uses yard work and a David Goggins quote to argue for constant learning. He recalls returning as CEO to an organization he'd led a decade earlier, only to find his old methods obsolete. The message: uncertain times are the best time to level up.
I hope you're doing well. I want to talk to you today about learning. Always learning. So this last weekend, we decided to work in the yard. We had this huge mulch pile delivered to our driveway. We have a lot of mulch beds at our home. And I decided quite ambitiously that I was going to get all the mulch beds done by lunchtime. And I started around 8 o'. Clock. And as I started working, I realized that the mulch pile seemed to be staying the same size. It's almost like it was growing and taunting me throughout the morning. But I kept pushing because I had this quote in my head that you stop when you're done, not when you're tired. Great quote from David Goggins. And as I'm pushing forward, I kept moving and moving. And after a while, I started looking up at the trees that were surrounding me. And something came to mind. You know, the trees don't stop growing, right? They're always reaching for the sky. But oftentimes we find ourselves in this good enough state that we have learned enough that there's no need to keep pushing, that we have found a place in our life where we feel like we have reached the top. And it reminded me of recently. I was at a diner when things were normal. And I'm sitting at the counter and I'm reading a book, and a gentleman next to me goes, oh, are you in school? And I said, no, I'm just reading to keep up on this new development. And he goes, why? And it struck me that a lot of times people stop, right? They stop learning, they stop reading. Once they get their diploma, they feel like they've crossed the finish line. But we know that that simply isn't the case, that the world's evolving so quickly. I recently took a position with an organization that I led 10 years ago. I'm back as the CEO of the organization. And it struck me that what worked 10 years ago won't work today. And that the lessons that I've learned over the last 10 years, I need to apply and I got to keep moving. And I buy books, I buy this book. That's probably backwards for you, the CEO next door, because I'm again the CEO of this company. So I'm constantly trying to grow, much like the trees. And I constantly try to push myself to reach for the new heights that are in front of me. Because if I don't, other trees will surpass me, right? And then the shade becomes my death. So here we stand today at a time of much uncertainty. My challenge for myself. My challenge for you is to take this as a time of growth. Take this as a time to level up your skills and to make sure that you do things differently, to get different. You do different. And right now is a time to make sure that you're reaching for the skies, reaching to improve and keep on learning. Hope you have a great day. Go out there every single day, continue learning, and seize your legacy.
