No one should outlearn you

Derek Jeter ended his career in pinstripes as an iconic Yankee, but it wasn’t because he was the most gifted athlete on the field.In fact, he was famous for arguing that talent wasn’t the true measure of a person’s potential:“There may be people who have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do - and I believe that.” - Derek JeterThe gentle spin I’d like to place on this quote is to offer a pinch hitter for the word “work” in this quote.In the context of your small business, a key differentiator is not just how hard you work, but how consistently you are learning.My paraphrase would look something like this:There may be people with more capital than you, a more experienced team than yours, or a more robust network than yours, but there’s no reason anyone should be learning more aggressively than you.Opportunities to learn are everywhere and learning about ANYTHING is valuable. Maybe you’re curious about new laws relating to your industry. Fantastic. Go learn more.Or maybe you have been dying to learn to play the drums. Perfect. That’s good too.The positive impact on your small business is not simply derived from learning something you can employ in your work each day, but from exercising your brain in a new way and maintaining a posture of curiosity and interest in things you haven’t already mastered.The most effective way to block opportunity and growth is to become convinced you know enough.OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: Identify something about which you are curious and pursue an opportunity to learn more about it. From free resources like YouTube and podcasts to paid offerings like online courses and seminars, there are myriad opportunities to expand your knowledge. Write it down and schedule time each week to pursue it.