Wednesday, April 10, 1996

Learn to learn to be innovative

The median length of a career in the United States is only six years. That means that 50% of the people in the U.S. change careers every six years. That’s careers, not just jobs.

It used to be that people could go to school, learn a trade, and work hard in that field until retirement. The world just doesn’t work that way any more. And isn’t that an incredible opportunity -- for individuals, for businesses, for innovation and for society.

The opportunity comes at a price, though -- the suffering of those who are displaced from work by rapidly changing technology and innovation. Whole industries are sometimes lost virtually overnight. Look at what happened to the vinyl record industry when music CDs came along.

You owe it to yourself, to your family, to your community to be a lifelong learner. For it is the willingness to learn and adopt new things that will enable you to take advantage of the incredible opportunities of the future. This is an attitude you’ll want to adopt in every area of your life. Innovation can add value to everything you do -- look for new ways to be entertained, to eat, to communicate, to handle financial transactions, to travel, to exercise, to serve others, and of course, to learn. Seek out innovation and you’ll find something useful almost every day.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.