How Sharp is Your Axe?

1. Know Your Stuff.
Get very good at what you do. If you want to be a top earner, you’ll need to become world class at what you do. No one can snooze their way to the top in this business. Knowing your stuff takes a lot of study, a lot of hard work. It means a commitment.With as many problems that organizations have, why not pick one or two and become an expert in a narrow area of need? Be an inch wide and a mile deep.

2. Keep Learning.
If good is good enough, ignore this advice. But if you want to be the best, if you want to aspire to greatness, develop an appetite for continuous learning. Learn to love learning because it never, ever ends. Just when you think you got it, it changes, it morphs, it moves. The only way to bring real, innovative ideas to your customers is to be continuously learning. That means going to trade shows early for the education. It means asking a lot of questions. It means taking or auditing classes.Take time for webinars. Sharpen your axe.

3. Learn from the Best.
Imagine that you could bring your clubs to that PGA tournament and hang out with the pros as they practice their craft. Or you could hit batting practice with Derek Jeter. Well, in your chosen profession, you can.When you volunteer at your regional association level or when you raise your hand at a PPAI event, or when you sit in a professional development session at an ASI Show or sit in on a webinar — when you do those things, you find yourself elbow to elbow with the best of the best. With million-dollar producers, with the CEOs of multi-million dollar companies, with industry Hall of Famers. You’ll find them exchanging business cards with you and generously sharing their success secrets.