“A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.” – Yoda

Pain it temporary.  it is a nerve impulse pulsating throughout your body to hold you back.  It is a mental exercise in the derivative movement toward failure.  We so often choose to give up instead of finding a path to success.  We have the heart.  We have the focus.  We have the determination.  But the spirit to learn and nurture one’s self is the failed journey so many of us follow.

That lack of heart is so often found in the corporate world.  In conference rooms to classrooms to online, training is viewed as this necessary evil….

• “It is required that I take this training”
• “It is the only way I will get promoted”
• “I have learned everything I need for this job.  Why do I have to do more training?”
• “I know more than the trainers.”
• “I am too busy and just don’t have the time.”
• “I already went to college, why do I need to sit through more training?”

How many of you have found yourself saying one or more of these phrases in your career?  Don’t be shy.  I think even I rattled off a few from time to time.

Have you ever wondered, what differentiates a top performer from an average performer?

Thirst!

The thirst for knowledge and improvement.

That is the separation point.

A true leader and adventurer in the workforce has the following attributes:

• A constant thirst for knowledge and learning
• A heart to see things through to completion
• A yearning to share and help others be better
• A passion for something
• A never give up attitude
• A sense of discovery
• A detective mentality.  Hunt for the answers

Is that you?  You don’t have to answer that right now.  Perhaps you are very satisfied with that pay check every two weeks.  It provides food, shelter and an annual family vacation.  Throw in Netflix, college football and a few BBQ’s and you have a full life.  There is nothing wrong with that life path.  I commend you.

From the Edison’s to the Ford’s to the Job’s:  This planet was built by leaders who believed that failure was not an option and that training and education were the key to everything.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine invention was published in 1499, 404 years before the Wright Brothers launched from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  Between six generations, we never stopped learning and finding out how truth and application could become one.

As you make a passage through history, a common theme you will see among the great men and women who have etched a place for all eternity, is the thirst to learn.  Their constant pursuit of perfection through training and education were the foundation of their many successes.

As you look around the office and identify those that are true explorers of knowledge, learn from them.

Here is your homework:

• Find out what your personal passions are.  Dig deep and truly understand what energizes you.
• Seek perfection.  Never settle for what you know.  Find training that will keep you focused and driven.
• Pursue your goals one step at a time.
• Challenge yourself to want to know more.
• Never stop growing as a person, a professional and a student of life.