Do you have a learning library? If not, start one. It will change your life!

Leaders are teachers and to be a great teacher, you must first become a great student.

There are no excuses for not learning.

One of the favorite questions I ask people I interview is: “What’s in your learning library?” 

The answers I get reveal a lot. 

Anyone who has a learning library is a serious student. It tells me they are always trying to improve themselves. Those are the people I want to surround myself with.

Your library needs to be well balanced and include topics such as health, spirituality, history, productivity, and leadership, along with a host of other skills and values that will help you master your occupation. 

Someone once told me they read a ton of positive, inspirational stuff. That’s a good start but it’s a grade school mentality. Don’t settle for just being inspired—the goal is to become educated!

Here are some of my recent favorites: 

• Start with Why, by Simon Sinek, will make you rethink how to inspire others to take action.
• Extreme Ownership, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, one of the most useful leadership books I’ve read in a long time. 
• The 5am Club, by Robin Sharma, your morning ritual is by far the most essential one to calibrate. And then automate.
• The Underdog Advantage, by Dean Graziosi, will show you how to rewrite your future by turning your disadvantages into your superpowers.
• You are Awesome, by Neil Pasricha, will help you navigate change and find the strength to keep going.
  

My personal recommendation: Keep a separate journal of the good ideas that you develop from your learning library. Write everything down. I make notes of the books I read and the video training courses I enroll in. I don’t trust my memory so I create an Evernote file of all the key points I learned. I highly recommend it.

• If you listen to something valuable, write it down. 
• If you watch something that makes you think differently, write it down.
• If you come across something important, write it down.
  

My journal is a valuable part of my learning library. I can search, find, and review valuable topics. 

Become a student of the game.

If you truly want to be a better leader, better executive, or just a better person, you need to study the craft.

Want to compare learning libraries? Let’s chat!