OK… what’s a “Next step student?” That’s somebody who is moving on to the next level… grade school to high school. High school to college. College to a career. Yeah… I made that up but it makes sense to me… so there you go.
I’m 68 years old. For most of you that seems really old. But not to me. The thing I have learned in those 68 great years… the most important thing I’ve learned… is to never stop learning. And don’t just be passive about learning. Seek out knowledge… especially knowledge that is important to you.
When I was in school and first starting my nearly 50 years in the media business, I hated having to memorize anything. But I enjoyed learning. I was never very good in science and math classes. I have no idea what the Pythagorean theorem is because it is something I was forced to memorize to pass a test. But I can tell you how to process black and white film or make a print from a negative. I learned that. Some of it I learned from other people. Some of it I learned reading the directions and some of it I learned the hard way… by screwing up. But I loved learning it. OK… when a group of pictures I really cared about didn’t turn out… I didn’t so much enjoy that learning experience, but you can bet it stuck with me.
As a young guy who had a little success early on as a news photographer, as a commercial producer and in marketing – I had a little ego. I’m ashamed to admit it now but that ego sometimes got in the way of learning. “Who is this guy to teach ME anything?” Well, duh, he already lived through some of the screw-ups and mistakes and lectures. Open your ears and learn. While there is some truth to the saying, “You learn more listening than talking,” don’t shut up. Ask questions. Make dumb comments. That’s how you learn. Too many times I didn’t want to look ignorant and kept my mouth shut so I didn’t learn as much as I could have from whatever source I was learning from. Don’t do that. Soak it up.
Now is the time to learn. Whatever your chosen field or topic is… learn as much as you can about it. Knowledge is power. It always has been… it always will be. I’ve spent nearly 50 years learning about marketing… how to share an effective message to people who might or might not be interested in what we are communicating. That makes me an expert… right? Not in my mind. I try to learn more about what I do and what I love every day. Nothing in the world stands still any longer. What you know today… changes tomorrow… and changes again next week.
This is, in my humble opinion, by far the most exciting time in history to be alive. When I look at all the knowledge that has been shared in the past 60 years, I am amazed. The inventions. The accomplishments. But I believe that is just a small dent in what is to come. I so envy my son and especially my grandson what they will see in the next 50 or 100 years. I have a pretty good imagination and I have no idea.
So, as you move to the next level, learn. Ask. Take it all in. Remember it. Add to it. Grow as a person and a professional. But, most of all, learn and enjoy life. That’s what it is for and you are just starting… the next level.
