It’s guest post Monday! This post is written by Brandon Jones who writes at Leadership Done Right. He has a passion to help people see leadership in a new light. You can connect with him on Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to be featured on my blog click here.

There is the saying that, “You learn something new everyday.” Many people say that as if it is a proven fact and it is inevitable, however, I believe that learning only takes place if you proactively chose to learn. There are people in the world that fail at the same thing over and over and over again and yet they approach everything exactly same each time. They are not learning from their experience when they are repeating it over and over and not changing their actions. Sure everyone goes through a new experience everyday, but does that mean that they are learning everyday? Not necessarily.

To learn everyday, you must actively seek learning by study and by faith. There are many ways that you can study. You can study in organized education or you can study by another means. Once you have studied, you must have the faith to practice what you are learning. An example of this is that if you go through a class and you learn many new principles about leadership only to not put them into practice, do you really have faith that what they are teaching and what you are learning is a true principle? When you learn something, you must put it into practice if you want it to work.

The principles of learning are very important! In the first two paragraphs, I explained some of the principles behind why you should try to learn something new, but I didn’t mention how or where you can begin your learning. So, how can you begin your learning? There are three important methods below that explain how you can learn each and every day.

Three Steps You Can Take To Learn Daily

1.  Learn from the best books/literature. There are so many books as well as other forms of literature in the world today. Some are high quality while others are not even worth your mental energy. It is very important to spend your time and energy learning from the best books and forms of literature. As a leader, your time is extremely valuable. Find the books that give you the most value for your time and don’t be afraid to stop reading a book if it is not worth your time. There are also many other forms of literature that exist including blogs, newspapers, magazines, review journals, etc. These are good sources of information and learning, but just as with a book, you shouldn’t be afraid to stop reading if something is not worth your time.

2.  Learn from people. In addition to books, you have interactions with people on a regular basis. Each person has a different perspective on life and how things work together. Take each interaction that you have with someone as an opportunity to learn whether it be a teacher, doctor, coach, employee, boss, coworker, family member, supermarket cashier, or any other person you come in contact with. Each person has had a different experience in life that can give you insight on how to live your life as a leader. There are so many lessons to be learned from the people around us that would be beneficial if we just take a moment to listen and understand.

3.  Learn from reflection. In addition to all the people that you come in contact with, you also make many choices on a regular basis. Some of those choices are good and some are not. Take time each day to reflect on the choices you make and the lessons you can learn.  Also, reflect on how your choices are affecting others. As you reflect, identify what you can do to be better and differently in the future so the outcome is more desirable. In addition to looking at what didn’t go as planned, reflect on what went well and why it went well so that you can duplicate it in the future.

As a leader, learning is very important and vital to your success. If you do the three things mentioned above each day, I promise you that not a day will go by that you will not learn something new that is valuable.

Questions: How have the above mentioned points helped you to learn something new each day? What habits have you changed in your life to make time to learn as mentioned above?