career tools

78. Learn a new definition each day.

By now you have hopefully begun to understand the power of words. The words we choose to put in our head and the ones we use to describe ourselves are the foundation for how we traverse the challenges in life. If we hope to increase the power of the words we choose to describe ourselves and increase our probability to reach new levels, we must increase the number of words that we understand. To expand the ability of our own personal computer known as our brain, we must provide it with the ability to do so. This comes from increasing our vocabulary to give ourselves more power for success.

There are many ways to achieve this Tool. The simplest is to look up a new word in the dictionary each day. The key to doing this is just like this book’s system; do it daily and consistently. Maybe you do it in the morning as you sit down to breakfast. If you have a family, you can do it at dinner so everyone learns the new definition. You may even let a different family member pick the word that night. I know there are also desk calendars that have a new definition each day. How you do it doesn’t matter as much as doing it and doing it in a format that will be consistent.

Successful people choose their words carefully. But to have words to choose means you need to increase your ability to do so. This daily ritual can go a long way in many areas in which you are trying to achieve success. In your work and school environments the benefit is obvious. Expanding your vocabulary increases your ability to communicate; a crucial component to success in work and scholastics. It also enhances your ability to increase awareness in the world around you.

Understanding more clearly things that you may read or hear will increase your ability to take more away from those particular interactions. Lastly, we want to know how best to describe ourselves now and who we want to be. Our mission statement provides that foundation. The better words we can choose to fortify that statement provides us with the ability to build a stronger foundation, thus allowing us to build bigger and better projects for our life.

45. A short pencil is better than a long memory.

The good news about Tool 45 is that hopefully you’ve already started doing it. If you have implemented the blueprint system presented in this book, you are writing things down covering multiple aspects of your life. As explained earlier, by writing things down you drastically increase the probability of them happening. We are reinforcing these new directions by putting them on paper.

The other nice thing about writing stuff down is that you can go back and reference it later. If you are unsure about the power of writing things down, have you ever made a To Do list? We all have at least made a grocery list once in our lifetime. The grocery list is a perfect example. Have you ever not bought everything you had on your list? I doubt it. The example seems silly, but on a very remedial level, you greatly improved the chance of buying everything you wanted because you had it written down.

The power of the short pencil extends greatly past lists and goal setting. There are many times I can remember going to speakers and events and just listening. I believed at the time that I would remember all the things that were covered, or if they at least had an outline I would be cool. The truth is that the studies show you will only remember 10% at most, and after a few weeks you will have forgotten 99% of the material.

So my suggestion to you is to take notes at these events, especially if you are paying good money for a seminar. You want to make the most out of being there. First, take notes at the event. Then every night after each day of the event, take 30 minutes to rewrite your notes. It will drastically improve your retention and it will assist you in completing the last step. Send yourself a postcard from where you are at reminding you to type your notes. Most seminars are located at a hotel or have some shop nearby. Just mail it to yourself and write “Type Notes.” It will take a couple of days to get to you, giving you time to think a little about what you have learned.

Also, since you have rewritten your notes after each day, they will be clear and concise. The final great part about typing them out, you will have your own personal resource to be able to go back and visit. Also, if you forgot something, you have the peace of mind knowing exactly where to find it. You may be thinking to yourself that it will take time. Yes, it will, but you are just wasting time and money if you don’t make the best effort to retain what you have learned. Time well spent is an enriching way to spend time. This can apply to anything in your life, work, pleasure, classes and on and on, but if you’re doing these things and want to get the most out of them, this is what the successful people are doing. So if you need help in this area, pick this Tool and that’s what you’ll be doing.