The Importance of Continuous Learning

If you've read Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", you'll learn (spoiler alert) that the 7th habit is known as Sharpen the Saw. To sharpen the saw is to always be sharpening your skillset and not letting your ability wane as time goes on. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says:

If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.

To sharpen the saw is to attain wisdom, so my question to you is: How are you stewarding your time to ensure your saw remains sharp, no matter what advancements or disruptions come?

What's the Forecast of Your Industry?

Ecclesiastes 10:10 captures the essence of the metaphor, teaching us that wisdom—not just hard work—leads to success. Taking the time to sharpen ourselves is wise because it allows us to work smarter, not harder. In a spiritual sense, it reminds us that relying on God’s wisdom, and not merely on our own effort, enables us to live effectively. Practically, it also means that we should be giving our attention to the industry we work in to learn what skills we need to be attaining so that we can progress past the status quo and not merely maintain it (or worse yet, lose it).

I recall a time when my father decided to continue his collegiate studies due to the possibility that automation would replace his role in his company. He works as an electrician for a reputable company, and his team were given the task of replacing certain meters with new, automated meters that would make their team effectively unemployable as the artificial intelligence would be capable of processing the data and delivering it to the company without human interaction. After successfully attaining his degree (among other credentials), the time would indeed come that the team would have to be let go and thus the members of the team would need to seek new job positions to fulfill within the company or risk being unemployed.

Thanks to his preparation, my father was able to secure another position (and other positions after) as a result, increasing his salary while protecting his family as he is the majority bread winner of the household. Is there any such preparations that you need to be making? Have you practiced forecasting enough to know what you must do to get ahead later?

What I Am Learning

With the advent of A.I. and many other industry changes, I have had to begin learning new things in preparation for the impact my industry may receive as a Web Developer and SEO Specialist. I love being creative, and Three JS (a WebGL framework to produce awesome three-dimensional work) has long been inspiring to behold. That technology coupled with several other animation frameworks help produce beautiful websites, some of which you can find on Immersive Garden's portfolio (they are certainly an inspiration).

It's been pretty tough to get a decent amount of time to train due to juggling family life with 2 kids while my wife also works. We have not thought through daycare or babysitting, and the thought of spending so much for their care keeps preventing us from moving forward with such plans. I guess this is that aspect of growing up as the kids get older, and boy am I excited for when they're old enough to not need any such services. If you have some tips, drop them down in the comments for me.

Stewarding Your Time

To effectively sharpen the saw means to effectively use your time. Depending on our work day, we may be tempted to spend our time outside of work on entertainment. Though this can be good to an extent, it is vital for us to not let our hands be idle.

I love what Ecclesiastes 11:6 New Living Translation says on the matter:

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

In the world we live in, we may not be farmers, so instead of planting seeds, we may be working in our careers or pursuing entrepreneurial efforts. After work, are we entertaining ourselves to relax or are we giving our time and attention to a hobby (or side-hustle) that could yield results over time?

Though some time with entertainment is beneficial, I think we as a society consume content far too much. I remember when I worked at Siemens, I would have evenings where I would volunteer at church, but then most evenings (especially Fridays), I would order to-go food and play video games until the twilight hours (with no expectation of work on the weekend).

Looking back, I wish I pursued continuous learning instead of wasting my hours on games. There is much to write about on this subject (which is all being compiled into a book to come), and I'm thankful that I am stewarding my time now, though now I'm faced with the tension of being glad to serve my family and at the same time wanting more time to continue to learn/build toward new products and assets.

It's funny because during my single days, I used to think I didn't have enough time to work on the things I wanted to. Now, as a married man with 2 kids, I've accomplished far more than I did in my single years which shows how poorly I stewarded time then. Thank God for redemption and His love toward us, that when we repent, He sets us into the right path and as we lean in to Him, He surely guides our steps. I wouldn't be able to steward time the way I am today had it not been for the character development processes I endured in marriage. Marriage surely grows you if you let it.

Reading Books Around Your Hobbies

If you're not a reader, I highly recommend you start investing in it. I try to keep a pace of reading at least 2 books a month and reflect on it by journaling to see how I can apply something I learned in them. The amazing thing about books is that we get to pull from the wisdom of the author, especially if they're a subject-matter expert around what they're speaking of. Coaching and Consulting could come with a hefty cost, but a book? Inexpensive.

Currently, I'm reading Your Next 5 Moves by Patrick Bet-David and have Scaling Up by Verne Harnish in the pipeline. Because I don't have an employer, I need to learn anything that will give me an edge in business. During lunch or dinner, I usually research what books to read so that I have a list of books to be reading. Sometimes, new books I learn about end up jumping to the top of the list, but this research helps me know what moves I'll be making on a given month based around the topic I'm reading.

If you hate reading, try an audiobook. There's no reason why you shouldn't be reading.

Much To Look Forward To

It's only 18 days into the new year, and at the pace that I'm accomplishing things toward my personal development goals, I look very much forward to what the rest of the year holds. I encourage you to keep learning and keep growing. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.