A man walked into a library, wandering for hours picking up random books, flipping pages, starting and stopping forgetting most of what he read. Nearby, a student sat with a short reading list, a notebook and a plan. After a month, one had stacks of books, the other had wisdom. Welcome to message 339 of the Growth Instigators Hotline, where we ignite your personal and professional development. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach.

Thrive and Grow Thursday designing a personal learning strategy. Here's the one big idea I want to lock in today. Learning is only powerful when it's intentional. That's right. Random inspiration feels good, but focused learning changes you. If you want to grow.

Don't just consume, curate. Turn your learning into practical living. Let me say that again Turn your learning into practical living. Follow or create an SOP, which is a standing operating procedure. Follow that SOP and I guarantee you will celebrate your KPIs, your key performance indicators, along the way. Let me say that again Create your SOP, follow your SOP and celebrate your KPIs.

When was the last time you asked what do I actually need to learn right now and how am I structuring it? The highest performers I coach don't just have goals, they have learning strategies. They pick a focus area for the quarter, they choose one or two trusted inputs a book, a podcast, a mentor, a call like this, yeah and they reflect on what they're applying, not just what they're absorbing. Here's the trap most leaders fall into we stay busy learning, but we're actually just grazing information. No growth takes digestion strategy purpose. So here's your reflection for today what's your current learning plan and is it leading you to where you want to go?

And if your team is overwhelmed with content but lacking transformation, I help leaders design custom growth tracks with built-in learning rhythms. Visit growthinstigatorscom and let's schedule a discovery call. Hey, thank you for calling Growth Instigator's Hotline. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a message after the beep or send an email to erin at growthinstigatorscom and let me know what's one area you want to grow in right now and what's one intentional change you could make in how you're learning it. And, as always, keep instigating growth in all you do.