Although I labelled this step as going out and trying things that you figured out, it is really about learning. And I know the “life long learner” tag has been worn out over the years and used in many ways that probably have turned you off when you hear it. So, I won’t use it.
The thing I do want to mention though is that the learning I am talking about is the learning you do to stay ahead of the speed of change around you. Without learning at or above the speed of change around you, you are banking (quite literally) on what you already have in the way of knowledge and skill and understanding.
If there is only one thing you take away from this article, it must be that change is happening too fast for any of us to avoid the work it takes to be an agile (faster than the speed of change) learner.
The skills you have are obsolete in single digit years if you don’t keep learning.
The world shifts in a single digit number of years and isn’t the world you thought you knew.
People behave differently and your understanding of the world is “old” as each generation comes of age.
So, just to stay in place, you need to learn and it becomes more important as you attempt to close the gap between you and your ideal self. Or, if not ideal, then your better self, whatever that means to you.
Learning happens in two areas (at least) and those are learning about your impact on the people and the world around you and learning about yourself and what is driving you now.
This isn’t mushy stuff. You directly affect the people and the world around you. I know some of you are recoiling now and want to stop reading but, this is as hard as it gets. Learning about how you make that impact is a key to success and to shifting more towards your ideal of you.
The other learning I want to talk about is things that you realize about yourself that you may genuinely not have “seen” before or you kinda knew were there but felt they were O.K. things.
Now when you get into this more and more deeply you’ll notice that your external impact has a lot to do with what’s inside you, feelings, thoughts, values, choices etc.
So this step is about the learning that happens when you try things, reflect on how they did or didn’t work - there is learning to be had in either case - and choose to try something different or refine what you’ve already tried in order to improve.
Remember to keep at it because these things are simple and hard to do!