accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to dev

Do you remember being 16, 18, 21, full of dreams and aspirations, feeling unstoppable and ready to take on the world? Where is the dream life you had all planned out? Do you now sit quietly while others are being promoted right over your head? Contrary to popular belief, good things DO NOT happen to those who wait. Good things happen to those who go after what they want, with PASSION and FOCUS! Your ONLY obstacle is you! The surprising truth is we have a lot more control over our lives than we think, if we commit and take the time to effect change in our lives.

According to marketing guru and millionaire extraordinaire Ted Nicholas, in his best selling book, Magic Words that Bring You Riches, “Every super successful marketer [professional] I know is constantly working to improve skills. Why? You must be a perpetual student to become a master in any field. Those who never achieve their potential in life simply do not exercise their innate capacity to learn and grow. Continuing education through books is perhaps the best way known to expand your knowledge… In my opinion, every successful marketer [professional] should spend at least $15,000 to $25,000 each year in continuing education. This includes books, tapes, seminars and travel costs. If you can’t afford anything like this level of expenditure right now, devote 5% - 10% of your income to increasing your knowledge. There is no better investment.”

Studies conducted by Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, a nonprofit scientific research and educational organization, consistently show that there is a correlation between vocabulary and executive level and income. Another study by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy indicates that, “chief executives earned 411 times the average worker's pay nationwide [USA] in 2005, down from the 431-to-1 ratio in 2004. Both ratios dwarf the 1980 ratio of 42-to-1.”

What made the difference for these high achievers?

Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.

Those who want more out of life, those who are tired/fed-up with others being promoted right over their heads, and those who are ready to take control, can start right where they are. To begin, answer the following questions:

1. How many books and industry journals have you read in the past three months?
2. How many courses have you taken, and/or seminars you have attended in the past 12 months?
3. How many industry-related conferences have you attended in the past 12 months?
4. How many new words have you learned in the past three months?
5. Are you the person people come to for key information?
6. Do you take full responsibility for your personal and professional development, or do you leave it up to your employer?

Understanding where you are, and having the courage to do what’s necessary to get to where you need to go, will accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to deve

ul marketer [professional] I know is constantly working to improve skills. Why? You must be a perpetual student to become a master in any field. Those who never achieve their potential in life simply do not exercise their innate capacity to learn and grow. Continuing education through books is perhaps the best way known to expand your knowledge… In my opinion, every successful marketer [professional] should spend at least $15,000 to $25,000 each year in continuing education. This includes books, tapes, seminars and travel costs. If you can’t afford anything like this level of expenditure right now, devote 5% - 10% of your income to increasing your knowledge. There is no better investment.”

Studies conducted by Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, a nonprofit scientific research and educational organization, consistently show that there is a correlation between vocabulary and executive level and income. Another study by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy indicates that, “chief executives earned 411 times the average worker's pay nationwide [USA] in 2005, down from the 431-to-1 ratio in 2004. Both ratios dwarf the 1980 ratio of 42-to-1.”

What made the difference for these high achievers?

Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.

Those who want more out of life, those who are tired/fed-up with others being promoted right over their heads, and those who are ready to take control, can start right where they are. To begin, answer the following questions:

1. How many books and industry journals have you read in the past three months?
2. How many courses have you taken, and/or seminars you have attended in the past 12 months?
3. How many industry-related conferences have you attended in the past 12 months?
4. How many new words have you learned in the past three months?
5. Are you the person people come to for key information?
6. Do you take full responsibility for your personal and professional development, or do you leave it up to your employer?

Understanding where you are, and having the courage to do what’s necessary to get to where you need to go, will accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to dev

son O’Connor Research Foundation, a nonprofit scientific research and educational organization, consistently show that there is a correlation between vocabulary and executive level and income. Another study by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy indicates that, “chief executives earned 411 times the average worker's pay nationwide [USA] in 2005, down from the 431-to-1 ratio in 2004. Both ratios dwarf the 1980 ratio of 42-to-1.”

What made the difference for these high achievers?

Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.

Those who want more out of life, those who are tired/fed-up with others being promoted right over their heads, and those who are ready to take control, can start right where they are. To begin, answer the following questions:

1. How many books and industry journals have you read in the past three months?
2. How many courses have you taken, and/or seminars you have attended in the past 12 months?
3. How many industry-related conferences have you attended in the past 12 months?
4. How many new words have you learned in the past three months?
5. Are you the person people come to for key information?
6. Do you take full responsibility for your personal and professional development, or do you leave it up to your employer?

Understanding where you are, and having the courage to do what’s necessary to get to where you need to go, will accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to dev

can start right where they are. To begin, answer the following questions:

1. How many books and industry journals have you read in the past three months?
2. How many courses have you taken, and/or seminars you have attended in the past 12 months?
3. How many industry-related conferences have you attended in the past 12 months?
4. How many new words have you learned in the past three months?
5. Are you the person people come to for key information?
6. Do you take full responsibility for your personal and professional development, or do you leave it up to your employer?

Understanding where you are, and having the courage to do what’s necessary to get to where you need to go, will accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to dev

accelerate your progress, making you more valuable to your employers and your self. You don’t have to wake up another day feeling beaten, disappointed and discontented with your life. Seize the day and kick-start your career.

6 Ways to Kick Start Your Continuous Learning Program

1. Decide what courses you need to take to fill a skills gap if you have one, and find out which organizations offer those courses. Good places to start are professional associations, community colleges, universities and your own company

2. Decide which conferences related to your job you could attend

3. Set a daily reading goal of about 60 pages and schedule it into your day – preferably at the same time each day to develop a habit - which will allow you to read about a book each week. Get up an hour earlier and/or stay up an hour later if you have to

4. Find out what your CEO, senior managers, and people whom you respect are reading. Also, look at what people are reading in coffee shops and on the subway and use the information to build your personal library. Or, look at your bookshelf and start with unread books

5. Visit http://www.magportal.com at least three times a week to stay current on what’s going on in your industry. And, if you find articles that would be of interest and use to people in key positions, forward it to them to make yourself more valuable

6. Subscribe to websites such as http://wordsmith.org, http://dictionary.reference.com, and http://www.wordofthedaywebsite.com, to have a new word emailed to you each day

To effect change in your life, you have to take action, so take the courses and read the books. In no time you’ll be amazed at how many great ideas you generate that will set you apart from others. And, when someone asks you if have read so and so book, instead of saying “No, I haven’t read it: I’ve been meaning to,” you can confidently say, “Yes, I did and what I liked most about it was…”