Many studies today show that as we age we tend to focus our education, training, and learning on topics that we are already familiar with and subjects that pertain to our current career.

While that is all fine and good, what ends up happening is that the majority of the population stops researching and learning about completely new subjects and skill-sets.

The mind is a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Well, let me give you an analogy to explain what is happening to that muscle for anyone who stops learning new things, and only learns deeper levels of subjects they already know about.

It would be like somebody who wants to stay in shape physically, and they knew one exercise, they knew how to do curls. And whenever they worked out, they did curls. Well what would happen if all you ever did was curls? Yes, you would have great biceps, and they would be really strong, your forearms would also be strong and your shoulders would get some benefits because they are attached to your biceps.

But if you ask any body builder or strength trainer, “How to get super strong biceps,” they will tell you that you also need to work your triceps, your shoulders, your back and they could tell you at least 20 different exercises to work 20 different muscles that support your biceps.

What they most likely would suggest would be a complete body regimen that not only was weight training but also aerobic training so your heart was in shape and your body fat was lowered.

Another example is Dean Karnazes, or Karno, the man who ran 50 marathons in 50 days and then decided to run home from New York to San Francisco. One of the things about Karno that is so amazing, besides the fact that he is one of the most prolific runners in the history of the world, is that when he trains he also does push-ups and pull-ups instead of just running or exercising his legs. He pushes his upper body to the limit as well as his lower body.

Where I am going with this is simple. If you are a REALTOR, and all you attend is Real Estate classes and Real Estate seminars and Real Estate Continuing Education, then all you are doing is curls. Your real estate muscle is super developed but the rest of brain is beginning too atrophy.

If you are a Mortgage Loan Officer and all you learn about is new ways of doing mortgages and new ways to sell mortgages, your mortgage muscle is amazingly strong, but the rest of your brain will begin to atrophy.

My tip this week is for you learn about something that has always interested you but you never took the time, or you thought that it might be silly, to learn it because it has nothing to do with your career.

Forget that old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Lazy people who were content to sit around and slowly die invented that saying.

We are all living longer these days, so don’t just exist longer…LIVE longer. Learn a new skill and open new doors.

Learn to speak Spanish, learn to play the guitar or the piano or the banjo. I have a friend who has been secretly learning to play the violin so that on his 10 year wedding anniversary he can surprise his wife with a song just for her. Take that pottery class, take a singing lesson, buy an easel and paint and pretend you are Picasso.

You’ve probably heard of Grandma Moses, who took up painting after she retired and was discovered when she was 77 years old. She made more money from her paintings than she made in her whole life up to that point, and loved every second of it.

If you want to truly improve the overall quality of your life, you must commit to continuous education. Learning new things will exercise your brain, and not only will you have fun with the challenge, you will gain even more strength and prowess in your career muscle.  Using your entire brain is like exercising your entire body.

Be Free!

Tom Weber
Instructor

Follow Tom on Twitter