Like any other marketing campaign, there comes a strategy. Essentially, a team that consists of a manager, creative director and a butt-load of art-directors, copywriters, strategists and interns put their heads together in hopes of creating a brand image that will differentiate themselves from competitors. Behind the scenes of a marketing strategy and everything that goes into it, the main goal is: increase profit for the organization.
Bear with me.
Read here, a famous quote by one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, Warren Buffet:
“Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents; nobody can tax it or take it away from you.”
With this quote and me babbling on about strategy and marketing BS, you’re probably wondering, “What’s the real meat to this story?” In hopes that I’ve furthered some understanding with my story-telling etiquette, my point is:
What if you could profit yourself?
An Introduction of The 5-Hour Rule
Simply put, the 5-hour rule is a core concept involved around improving yourself intellectually in three buckets: reading, reflection and experimentation.
Michael Simmons, a columnist from Forbes, co-founder of Empact and best-selling author mentions in his article found in INC. titled “Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule”:
“Throughout Ben Franklin’s adult life, he consistently invested roughly an hour a day in deliberate learning. I call this Franklin’s five-hour rule: one hour a day on every weekday.
Franklin’s learning time consisted of:
- Waking up early to read and write
- Setting personal-growth goals (i.e., virtues list) and tracking the results
- Creating a club for “like-minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community”
- Turning his ideas into experiments
- Having morning and evening reflection questions
Franklin’s five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners.”
Agreeing with Franklin and Simmons’ observation, it comes clear to me that there is a repetitive pattern where the utmost successful people in the world are constant and deliberate learners.
Follow these three buckets and you’re already steps closer to being a Warren Buffet:
Read, Read and Read
There are entrepreneurs like, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey who surround themselves with rich literature and at least one hour of reading per day.
Read here on why reading benefits your mental health:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-benefits-reading-why-you-should-read-everyday.html
Reflecting and Self-Meditation
Thinking time is very important in the 5-hour rule. As I do with my free time, I reflect on decisions, both small and big, and everything that has happened within that day. With this, I learn more about myself and take on the challenge of how to create a better “me” in the future.
Experiment
Most important of the 5-hour rule; take what you’ve learned and experiment! Do anything you can to test your knowledge. This is a great learning experience and a great way to experiment with some of your ideas! What’s there to lose? It could pay off.
…
So, are you up for it?