Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, describes himself as a lifelong learner who buys more books than he finishes and takes online courses in short bursts. He stresses that learning only matters when applied to create better products and ways of working. Surrounding yourself with people who push you to think bigger keeps ambition alive as responsibilities grow.
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Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is be a lifelong learner.
I keep on saying how to be a, how to be a lifelong, but be a lifelong definitive. You're giving me a lifelong learner.
Yeah. Good morning, Believe Nation!
Today's message is be a lifelong learner. Over to you, Satya Nadella.
I think more than anything else, perhaps what defines me is, and this I've also understood ex post, is I'm a lifelong learner. I get energized when I see people achieve high standards in anything. At work when somebody comes to me with an idea that they've implemented and it's something that I've not seen before, that's the thing that gets me going. I, you know, as I say, I buy more books than I can finish. I sort of sign up for online courses more so than I can actually finish them, but I love it. And thank God for these new online courses where they even have 10-minute segments, so at least a sense of accomplishment is much easier.
It's like the new Cliff Notes.
Yeah, I wish I had it when I was growing up. I think that that is perhaps more than anything else that gives me the energy. And it's not just the learning for learning's sake. What I think we all in business in particular thrive in is applied learning, to be able to take that, create products, create programs, approaches to how we work with customers and partners, and excelling in them. And being able to sort of both do that and more importantly learn from others who are doing it is what I would say defines me the most.
[Speaker:EVAN CARMICHAEL] So what do you think?
I'm gonna go a little bit on a different side of it and say that, you know, you need to pick what you're willing to learn. I think that there's a little bit too much information sometimes that we're overwhelmed with, so focus is important. So for me, for example, I use Flipboard and I subscribe to the psychology, sales, and so it will aggregate a bunch of different articles that I read. I'll do it when I'm in the bathroom with my tablet. I'll do it in the morning if I'm reading a cup of coffee. But just be— your time is important, right? That's the most important thing. So value the fact that when you choose to learn something, when you choose to focus on something, that it's actually going to enrich you in some way. Information for information's sake really is not always a great thing, though it keeps the mind active. So just value your time and focus on what will help you grow.
What I took from the video was the— I like the lifelong part. I think a lot of people mail it in. I think a lot of people, when they're younger, they have ambitions, they have drive, they want to do great things. And then, you know, maybe they get stuck in this corporate job or stuck on some path and they don't know how to get off. And it becomes harder and harder to get off because now you're married, now you have kids, you have a mortgage, you have all these responsibilities. And then you just, you just mail it in where you stop enriching yourself, you stop learning, you stop trying to be better, you give up on your dreams. And I think that's really sad. And I know that's not most of the people watching, 'cause Believe Nation is about taking action and being an entrepreneur. I think the lesson that I take from it is to always be introducing things into your environment to push you to do more and be better, right? That's why I did the Top 10 series, because I was in a point in my life, in my business, where I felt the people around me weren't pushing me enough to want to do more and learn more and do something bigger. Much bigger, not just a little bit bigger, but like way up here. I want to play way up here. How do I get there? I gotta hang around with the people who are doing that, and the closest I can get right now is by watching their videos and interviews. So I do that every single day, and they push me to want to do better. And I might come to meetings with, you know, people who might be my friends or just acquaintances, and they don't know what I'm talking about because I'm playing at some other crazy level, and they think I'm off in some Dodo Land. I remember when we first started working together, you know, you thought I was full of these crazy ideas and like, "How are we gonna make this work?" and ground it in practicality. And now we're bringing Alex up to think bigger and stretch. And so I think you need that. You need to introduce things into your environment that make you want to do more than what you're capable of doing now, because often we don't have the people to push us to stretch, and then you stay inside your safe comfort zone. And then your flame slowly dies. And I don't want that to be you. That's, that's super sad. So keep the stretch. So the question of the day today is, what are you learning right now? I love it. As if I came up with it myself. Leave it in the comments below and I'll see what you guys say and we'll join in the comments. Thank you so much for watching. Have an amazing day. Continue to believe and we'll see you again tomorrow morning for another Shot of espresso.
