10 ways to stay relevant & learnable today

You can meet two friends, one of them seems to be the one who knows what's going on.

The other friend seems to be lost in the past, smart but not up to date and still living in the past.

First off, we will automatically be attracted to the first friend, unless we're like the second.

Be like the first friend.

Staying in the NOW, relevant and always updated is the way to go. You will enjoy the current times, look forward to tomorrow and embrace the past and learn from it.

There are ways we use to stay updated and in the know as they say, here are 10 ways:

• Know that you don't know

Any subject you think you have digested there is a new update happening somewhere on earth and new information is being created. Then there's the links to whatever you know, the doubts and theories, the thinkers on the subjects and their students. Even if you think you know it all, trust me think again.

• Knowledge is power, to gain more power read more useful stuff.

What you knew back then got you here to where you are in life. If you want to go somewhere else you need to obtain the information to take you there, the knowledge.

This knowledge is your fuel, your powertrain that pushes you forward unlocking everything in your way. Stay strong.

• Start to listen more than you talk, force yourself if you must

We all tend to love talking, proving ourself and stating our ideas to others, We need to get that confirmation that we are knowledgable, we understand, we also know what the people are talking about.

The need to prove ourselves makes us talkative beyond normal, we never admit it though.

You can't listen while you talk, you can't understand while you talk, you can't get the other persons points or hidden meanings while you blah blah.

Silence is golden, talk is cheap.

Oh! and one more thing, if you want to be liked and interesting to others today:

Become interested! and listen.

• Stay open to new ideas

At a certain time in your life after certain success levels and social proof we become full of ourselves. Usually this happens in your thirties, especially if you are given a specific managerial or leadership role.

You tend to listen to you own ideas and tune everything else out or twitch it to your liking.

The people that get ahead in life, I mean really ahead stay open to ideas and use them, investigate them further and in many cases change their perspective and point of views too.

Staying open to other ideas isn't a weakness, it's a powerful trait.

• Enjoy and remember the past but live in the moment

I love nostalgia, my music taste and memories prove that, But I stay current, watch and listen to new stuff. Learn new things and stay tech savvy as much as I can.

I ask the younger generation about stuff I don't get and play their games and listen to their music to get a better understanding of what they are thinking about.

I shy away from my generation that only talks about the good old times, I prefer to talk about the good times, now, then and later.

I choose to live in todays world, not what doesn't exist anymore and become a world class old complainer.

• Get out of your own way and conventional methods of obtaining information

What this means is simply not getting hard headed and insisting on your own ways and methodology. Closing the door on suggestions that say you're wrong.

You need to spice up and upgrade your information pipelines.

Maybe you used to get your information from newspapers in the old days, now you should get it online.

Maybe you only listen or watch news instead of seeking the truth from various sources.

Maybe you like to only read paper books, while the speed of life and ebooks are the way to go, or better yet podcasts and audiobooks.

Maybe the best sources are found with individuals not news channels? mix it up a little and compare.

•  Read, watch, listen outside your comfort zones ( From time to time)

Sometimes it's nice to watch something you never watch, or listen to a different kind of music genre, read a novel while you're used to only reading business books.

Why is this important?

Because it causes your mind to get uncomfortable and play a little and grow outside its norm, it makes you more creative and imaginative.

I get some amazing ideas, crazy to the observer, from the most ridiculous places.

These crazy places are not really crazy, they're simply outside my comfort zones. 

• Question common knowledge, beliefs and given information more

Questioning anything and anyone is common practice amongst thinkers and great minds. Sometimes you need to see what you really understand by questioning a certain idea that has always been there with you in your life.

You will be astonished at the results of this simple practice. 

• Teach, write or produce content more often.

You learn much better this way in order to deliver it and make it digestible to others, simply put; If you don't understand it you can't teach it. The best learning I get is when I produce a new podcast.

I choose difficult or tricky subjects that require vast investigation, study, reading and research to get to the bottom of things. Only then can I produce something I am confident to let out in the world and please my listeners. 

If you want to learn something really good, try teaching it to others. See how they digest it, is it an easy digest or do they get a headache? or worse check out instagram while you talk.

• Stay humble to attract the silent yet informed minds

If you want to repel beautiful minds become an arrogant individual, or a know it all that has to have a say in anything, anywhere all the time.

If however you want to have beautiful mind attraction capability, get humble and stay that way.

When I say stay humble, I mean even if you know the subject well, or more than others, listen and accept other peoples input and thinking.

Take a look around you, who boasts the most information and knowledge forcefully all the time here and there, trust me they are the ones that need it most.

The humble ones are too busy living and learning and in their free time helping others.

 Thank you for your time.. and attention to the end of this blog, I really appreciate it.