Live in persistent self development

For the past year I’ve been conducting research and writing stories on what makes champions excel. The stories are part of a workbook that I’m writing to help inspire and empower people to pursue their own goals. Of the qualities that I find champions have in common with each other is their persistence pursuit towards self and professional development.

Champions have an innate desire to consistently improve their “game” whether it is off the court or on the field. Achievers in all fields are committed to their success and therefore are passionate in their continual development. I believe that when you’re at the top of your game everyone will try to pull you down, therefore in order to, at the minimal keep your status quo, you need to always be, as they way in golf, improving your swing.

New technology, techniques, designs, and processes are invented and refined everyday to make what’s current better, faster, and stronger. Whether it is cell phones or cars, athletes or actors, today’s “model” is easily forgotten in less than several months after its debut once another faster, or better, model comes along. Only human beings have the ability to continuously adapt and continually improve whereby a car or computer’s ability to acquire add -ons is limited by its capacity to do so. Constant pursuit of self development therefore is essential for continued success and survival. Those who dedicate their lives and make it a personal mandate to improve are the ones who thrive beyond the realm of others.

The process of improvement is the same regardless if you are a expert in your field or a total newbie. It doesn’t require much other than knowing what it is that you want and taking small steps to gradually improve. Achieving greatness doesn’t come over night. It never will. Never has. It is the accumulation of days, months and years of a steady work. It’s like building a castle, one brick at time. One small step leading to another, one brick laid at a time, sooner or later, it starts to take shape. Manage each step and take the time to master each one and as you build on one small success at a time you will soon start to see the product and revel in your accomplishment. Can you imagine Tiger Woods quitting golf after a few disappointing games early in his career? He literally built his profession one swing at a time. When he’s not developing his outer game he’s developing his inner game. He is one of the most focused players ever.

So what new skills are you willing to learn? Are you willing to go back to school? How will you develop yourself and improve on your career and life. Keep yourself focused and stay committed on continual self development by asking yourself “What am I going to do learn today? How will I improve?” Then go out and do it.