by Kurt Scholle
Michael Simmons wrote a great article in Medium on the importance of the Five Hour Rule.
What is the Five Hour Rule?
It’s a modest investment in time on a weekly basis that helps uber-successful people achieve their significant goals, often without stress. It may help cut your workload!
Knowledge is the New Money
You’ve probably heard companies say that there is a shortage of people with skills. The new economy is providing fewer low-paying jobs and more high-paying jobs. Many low-level jobs are going off-shore, so getting a job, especially a good job (or client) often depends on what you know, what you can do and then competing with others for the better opportunities.
But it’s all too easy to say, “I don’t have time.” We’ve all been there.
Those who enjoy success in their careers, find ways to make time, even if its just 15-20 minutes a day, which can add up to 100 hours a year.
Job markets change for a variety of reasons. What has served you well may not be such a great opportunity in the future. Employees and entrepreneurs need career flexibility that allows you to more easily pivot when things change. It can be as simple as becoming an expert in one product or service.
You want to stay on top of trends, not lag them.
The Five Hour Rule Pays Off
A regular investment in reading and learning is what propels people like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama and Ben Franklin. Bill Gates often reads a book a week and sometimes takes 2-week reading vacations. Warren Buffet has famously said that 80% of what he does is reading and learning. All very busy people investing 5 hours or more a week to keep learning.
Who wants to be a billionaire?
I’m not a billionaire, but I devote at least an hour a day to learning, usually over a couple of cups of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal.
Click here for a list of my recommended books for website owners and managers.
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, one of the most popular comic strips ever, was never a great cartoonist or an overly funny guy. But by combining his skills while focusing on business culture, he was able to achieve greatness. His advice?
If you want something extraordinary [in life], you have two paths:
1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
Learning is the single best investment of our time.
Or as Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Don’t be lazy. Don’t make excuses. Just get it done.
“It’s never too late to become the person you were always meant to be” – George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans)
Nobody ever hesitated their way to success.
Why Continuing Education is Important
According to the Pew Research Center future jobs will specifically require enhanced social and analytical skills. The vast majority of U.S. workers say that new skills and training may hold the key to their future job success.
For decades, employment has been rising faster in jobs requiring higher levels of preparation; more education, training and experience.
Personal Upgrading is Essential
More than half (54%) of adults in the labor force say it will be essential for them to get training and develop new skills throughout their work life in order to keep up with changes in the workplace vs. 12% who say ongoing training is not important. That applies to both employees and entrepreneurs.
35% of workers, say they don’t have the education and training they need to get ahead at work. 45% of employed adults say they have recieved extra training to improve their job skills in the past 12 months.
72% say “a lot” of responsibility falls on individuals to make sure that they have the right skills and education to be successful in today’s economy.
Pew Research also shows that young adults, age 18-29, are most likely to see continuing education as essential. (61%) 56% of those aged 30 to 49 say ongoing training will be essential for career success. Roughly four-in-ten workers ages 50 and older say it matters.
It Takes 10,000 Hours to Become an Expert
Since Malcolm Gladwell published his book, Outliers, which popularized the concept, many now believe one must complete 10,000 hours of work to become an expert.
A college education helps people get there initially, but real experience looks best on a resume.
That’s 5 years of full-time job experience.
You may need ANOTHER 10,000 hours of experience and learning to move on to another career or master changes in your existing career.
“Intellectual capital will always trump financial capital.” -Investor Paul Tudor Jones
If you’re trying to work your way up the ladder at your job or if you’re building a successful business, ongoing dedicated learning gives you the highest ROI. There is a reason why continuing education is required for many jobs; from medical to legal, construction to financial, managers to sales, even cosmetologists!
It is often required to maintain certifications or licenses.
Work Smarter, Not Harder | The 5 Hour Rule
Learning something new is easy to put off when you have so many urgent things to deal with. But implementing new ideas and hacks can result in working more efficiently, which give you more time to work on other parts of your business or time off for other things.
You will gain new perspectives that will help make better decisions.
The busiest and most successful people in the world use the Five Hour Rule. Here's how they do it. Share on XJust three steps are needed to create your own daily learning ritual of the Five Hour Rule:
- Find the time to schedule reading and learning even if you are really busy and overwhelmed. I do it first thing in the morning. You may prefer after lunch or in the evening.
- Stay consistent on using that “found” time without procrastinating or falling prey to distraction. Make it an ‘important task.’
- Increase the results you receive from each hour of learning by using proven hacks that help you remember and apply what you learn. Please share those ideas as a comment below or on the Facebook Success Guy Facebook page.
