8 Paths Towards Creating Consistent Improvements

We talk a lot about continuous improvement inside of business. Whether that improvement involves peoples, processes, or procedures, one thing is certain, being stagnant will only get you so far.

We must focus on continually improving. Not improvement for improvements sake, but improvement for everyone’s sake.

When we continually improve ourselves two things occur. The first is that we create a routine of consistency. Our world moves nicely when there is consistent motion (on the right things). Secondly, we become a better version of ourselves. That translates to everyone.

Everyone else benefits from your growth. Your clients get the best version of you, the most up to date information so they can better themselves. The world gets you being authentic and real… you become someone who is seen as an ‘expert’ or the ‘go-to’ person. This builds trust.

Here are eight (8) paths we can take to ensure that we are continually improving. (The secret is that all these paths can be taken by anyone, anytime. The key is to continually be involved in them).

1. Read Books. Books are essentially ‘free’ mentorship. This angle changed how I look at books, how I read books, and how I even write books. The best way to pick a person’s brain is to read a book they wrote.
2. Listen to Podcasts. Whether on the road, at home, challenging your Peloton coach, or lying in bed, listening to a podcast is like a book, free mentorship. People are dropping nuggets on every podcast and in fact encourage you to come back to the next podcast.
3. Take a skills course. When was the last time you took a time management training? No time? One of the lost arts is investing in smaller, perhaps self-paced courses (think LinkedIn trainings). Not only do you learn or upgrade your skills, but you also have another tool to add to your toolbox. Ask any mechanic and they will tell you…

You can never have too many tools, you never know when you’ll need it.
Always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!

4. Reboot Old Passions. Remember what got you into your current role? Perhaps its time to pull out that old chess board. Maybe you lace up your shoes and jump on the basketball court. Call and old friend. Take a sabbatical. Grab a notebook and start writing that poetry that you stopped because you got “too busy” with life.
5. Ask For Feedback and Critiques. We cannot grow if we do not know where we need to. Seek out a trusted mentor, friend, colleague, client, coach to evaluate where you are at with. Decide on an area that needs growth and seek out how others see you. This keeps us humble and hungry.
6. Create a New Goal to Work Towards. Create a goal. Then, commit to a daily practice of doing something that will push you towards accomplishing that goal.
7. Be Willing and Open to Change. To improve, we must change. To grow we must get uncomfortable for a minute. When we are unwilling or unmotivated to change, we will get stuck. Plus, we will stay there until we are willing to get uncomfortable.
8. Get Around Your Community. There is truth that you are the sum of your five closest friends. This is true is business and in our private lives. Strive to not be the top person in whatever room you are in, however when you are in that room… show up.

The beauty of these eight paths is that we can travel down them all at the same time, and even (sometimes) on the same day. They are simple, yet extremely effective.

In a world that is racing, let’s not complicate it by making our growth impossible or hard.