Here’s what the fine people at Seattle Grace Hospital taught me:
McDreamy and McSteamy are somehow two different people
Medical staff are all really, really, really ridiculously good looking
‘See one. Do one. Teach one.’
While the first two are definitely important, the third merits an explanation. It goes a little something like this:
See One – Observe the correct technique
Read blogs, books and videos by business leaders.
Consume everything you can from those that have done what you want to do, and become who you want to be.
This is where 99% of the population stop.
If you want to grow your business and improve yourself, you HAVE to move on to the next step.
What’s the use of your newly found knowledge if you’re not going to do anything with it?
‘Knowledge without action is futile’ – Abu Bakr.
Do One – Implement it yourself
This is the hardest part. It’s time to take what you’ve read in that latest blog post and put it to use in your own business.
Read that content creation helps with your SEO? Great, now write an article and publish it.
Seen a video that recommends meditation? Shut your eyes and focus on your breathing for five minutes.
Read that journaling improves your thinking? Grab a scrap piece of paper and write a sentence on how you feel right now.
GO.
You can have the greatest idea in the world, but unless you take concrete steps, actual action, you will never have a successful business.
This is the most important step. Focus here.
This step also forces you to be more selective with what you’re reading. If you’re reading a business book and not planning to implement anything you learn, why not pick up some fiction instead?
Ahab seeking revenge on Moby Dick beats the latest dross from yet another self-promotional, self-proclaimed business guru.
No contest.
Teach One – Pass on your knowledge
Passing on your knowledge helps other people improve their lives. It also forces you to explain your thinking in simple terms. If you can’t explain something without using industry jargon, you don’t know it well enough.
If someone asks a question and you respond with ‘…I don’t know, it just is’, then you’ve been making assumptions without understanding the underlying factors.
The Feynman Technique is a great tool for streamlining this process.
In short:
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Pick a subject
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Write down everything you know about that subject as if you were teaching it to a child (no jargon allowed)
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Review it – any time you forgot something important or can’t explain how the different parts interact, you’re missing vital knowledge and need to research that area
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Teach it to someone else
Teaching a concept to someone else works so well because they ask all the annoying, ‘too-stupid-to-ask’ questions that we normally shy away from.
Often this step reveals areas where you don’t know as much as you thought.
Learn by doing – See one. Do one. Teach one.
It’s the difference between knowing the name of something, and truly knowing it.
What’s the latest business advice you’ve read?
Now, how are you going to implement it?