There’s an old sales quote that you should ABC, standing for “always be closing” meaning always trying to close sales. And depending on how one interprets that, that may or may not necessarily be effective salesmanship it does point in the right direction. In life there is another “always be” that you need to embrace and make the most of in order to develop in life and live the life that you want to live. And that is to ABL or “always be learning”.
Humans are either progressing or regressing there is no standing still in this life. We’re either moving forward or moving back, we’re becoming more or becoming less. And in order to ensure proper functioning and ending up where we want to end up in life we need to always be learning. Always be growing and becoming more. Stretching our horizons and expanding our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of life and this world around us.
Many people think that the learning stage of their life ends after school or after their first year on the job but this is not the case at all. First off, aside from some general quirks of human nature observed from classmates, we learn next to nothing at school. And second most jobs don’t require that much to learn, certainly not a lifetime of dedication.
When we stop learning our minds start going backwards and learning is one of the best ways to keep them in shape. We need to keep learning, growing, and expanding from our first day in this life to the last.
What Does It Look Like To ABL (Always Be Learning)
So what does it look like in practice to always be learning? Well there is no single way to always be learning, there are a myriad of things that you can do and we’re going to look at some of them here. But again, don’t look at this as being conclusive but rather like everything else I write as a jumping off point to help get you started and fire up your own mind. So what are some ways that we can always be learning, growing, and expanding?
The first is to read. I know I probably sound like a broken record when I talk about reading but there’s a reason for that. Again reading is one of the single greatest things that you can do to change your life. I always have at least one non-fiction book that I’m reading at any given time. My recommendation would be to try to read at least one non-fiction book a month. Such a simple habit but it’s life changing. Choose one you find interesting and go from there.
But there are other ways to always be learning. Another thing is to always seek out new experiences and new places. Try something new at a restaurant, go to a museum, try something you’ve never tried before, go somewhere you’ve never gone before. Seek out new enriching experiences wherever you are and wherever you go. Try to do something new at least once a week. There is a very broad topic and there are more than a million ways to make use of it, just seek new experiences.
Another way to always be learning is taking classes. I don’t recommend taking college courses because they’re expensive and frankly you’ll learn ten times as much from a halfway decent book. But you can take certification classes, skill classes, or just classes online. There are always all sorts of training things going on, all you have to do is look. Or you can just go to one of the myriad of teaching sites and try a class there.
Another option is to start a new hobby. Go try an MMA class, join a hiking club, join a book club, a writer’s group, a dance class, a small unit tactics training course, cooking course, underwater basket weaving, whatever interests you and that you think you’d enjoy. Learn to ice skate, seriously just find whatever’s happening around you and try it out. There are so many classes being offered all over, find one and try it out. Learn a new skill, meet new people, and always be learning at the same time.
But maybe you’re a bit overwhelmed and looking for the best places to start with this.
Where To Start Your Always Be Learning Journey
So you know that you should always be learning but you’re a bit overwhelmed where to start. Here are some of my recommendations, the first most logical one is your career. Now many people are stuck at dead end jobs where no matter how much effort or thought they put into it they’re not going to be able to change their income. But if you’re not then I highly recommend investing in career knowledge. This can be done through certifications and the like but I think books on the topic are even better for true knowledge.
There’s not a job on this earth that doesn’t benefit from having knowledge of sales skills, doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber, engineer, accountant, body guard, or whatever, we’re all selling ourselves and our qualifications, services, and the like every day. But it goes beyond that as well. Get the certifications in your field, read about your field, become an expert in your field and reap the rewards from it. But don’t stop there.
Another place to invest in knowledge is a hobby or passion that fires you up. Maybe you’re a diehard painter and that’s what you love to spend your free time doing. Well go and find art classes that you can take, read books on how to paint better, go to art museums, watch classes online, do all that you can do to improve your art and craft. There are tons of options out there. I’ll use myself as an example.
I enjoy MMA. So for me services where you can watch old fights are worth it for me because there’s so much value in watching film and often on my lunch break I’ll watch a few rounds from a fight. Also I’ll get some instructional from instructional sites and watch them. And this is in addition of course to actually going to class and making sure I’m getting quality sparring and instruction. There are so many options out there to expand your knowledge.
And then the third option and that is general life skills. There are obvious a lot of options here as this covers so much. It could be learning basic plumbing or woodworking, it could be bettering your public speaking or people skills. You’ll always benefit from learning more about human nature and how humans work. It could be balancing your bank account, ways to increase income, parenting, animal husbandry, seriously this expand so far I’ll never be able to list them all.
But you get the general idea. Things that are just general life skills and are going to help you with problems that you have in life. That genre is so broad you should have no problem finding something that you can start on.
ABL & The Warrior Poet
Self-knowledge is one of the most valuable things you can posses. One thing you should always do is take stock of yourself and where you’re at in life. Are your current habits going to take you to where you want to go in life and if not what are you going to do to address it? You should always be looking to shore up weaknesses that you have while maintaining and sharpening strengths. Take a self-assessment and see where you’re weak.
Be honest with yourself, without honesty you can’t help yourself. See where you’re weak, where you could use some work, and focus on that area for your always be learning focus. If you’re not sure where you’re weak then maybe ask a trusted friend or family member. If you’re decent all around then great, keep working, and always be learning. It’s the only way to go through life.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
