“You are not a finished product. If you don’t keep evolving, you start dying”
– Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn

I recognize you…
You’ve taken a ton of online courses, from which you pull a little here a little there, but every single one is waiting to be “finished”.
You buy book after book, your shelves are full, your Kindle is packed, your nightstand might topple over any minute.
You cringe when you buy another online course, sign up for another webinar, purchase another business book, because you have about 150 yet to finish.

Here’s the deal, it’s OK! In fact it’s more than ok, it’s necessary. You’re an entrepreneur, a business person, and to be your most successful you have to be continually learning. In fact, “always learning,” is consistently in the top ten traits listed for successful entrepreneurs everywhere, and I doubt if I have read an article on entrepreneurial success without it being mentioned.
Repeat after me: “I am an entrepreneur, I am continually learning.”

[Tweet “I am an entrepreneur, I am continually learning”]

So today I write to give you permission, plain and simple. Permission to buy that next book, sign up for that next webinar, opt-in to that e-course. Because, I firmly believe, even if you take just ONE single idea away from it you got your money’s worth.
I can hear you thinking, “Sure Karen, that’s easy to say about the courses and books I have finished, but what about those I haven’t?”
Well first let me tell you, “I’m with you!” I have that list, that stack, same as you. But before we even come close to being able to tackle it we must accept that it will always be there in some form or fashion because of who we are. With that acceptance comes the power to be proactive.

One simple tip I’d like you to try to incorporate into your busy day:

Schedule just a little bit of time each day to get better, to learn. Maybe it’s the 20 minutes you have before the lights go out at night, or the 15 minutes waiting for the train in the morning, or 30 minutes on your lunch break. Schedule it, give yourself permission to stop “producing” and to learn, and slowly tackle that stack of soon-to-be thought currency.

“To be great, you have to continue to learn.” According to Simon Reynolds, one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Watch his 4 minute interview, about efficiency, productivity and learning, HERE.

We are only as rich as the ideas that we have and you never know where your next great idea will come from…it just might be in that webinar you have bookmarked to buy.

What’s your next course, book, or learning tool that you have coming up? Share it here in the comments below so we can all benefit.