Never-ending improvement

September 17, 10:57 AMCareer Achievement ExaminerStanley Bronstein

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A major key to being successful

If you want to be highly successful, you must commitment yourself to constant, never-ending improvement. There's no doubt about it.

What's the best way to improve yourself?

So, what's the best way to improve yourself?  Is it to take great, big steps or is it to take small steps?

The "fastest" way to improve is usually to take great big "one-time" steps. The "easiest" way to improve is usually to take small steps, but to constantly keep taking them.

It's similar to the famous race between the tortoise and the hare. The hare took big, fast steps and the tortoise kept plodding along, slowly but surely. As we all know, the tortoise won the race, despite the fact that the hare was faster.

Which is the most important?

Personally, I believe both are important. I am committed to constantly moving forward, slowly and steadily, BUT I also take great, big steps from time to time. Quite simply, I attempt to do whatever is appropriate in any given situation.

Learning from your mistakes

One way to improve is to learn from your mistakes. A perfect example of that happened to me during a recent visit to the Canyon Ranch Spa in Tucson, Ariz.

Upon arriving, I gave my car keys to a young lady who was working the bell desk. I told her my room was now ready and asked her to have one of the guys unload all the contents of my trunk and put it in my room. I asked her if she thought it could be done within two hours. She said certainly. I suggested to her that she send one of the guys to do it, as there were some heavy boxes in my trunk that contained copies of my two previous books. Approximately three hours later I returned to the bell desk and they gave me back my keys. I then went to my room and saw that my luggage was not in the room. Apparently she had forgotten to have someone unload my car.

A quick check of the bell desk logbook indicated my request was never logged and consequently no one followed up on it. I promptly returned my keys to her and asked if she would please have someone take care of it as soon as possible. She knew I was unhappy, but I asked nicely and I was polite. Sensing the urgency of the situation, she looked and saw no one was available to unload my car. Guess what she did. Apparently she went on her own and unloaded my car by herself (including the heavy books). She did this without being told and without even being asked. She did it because she realized she made a mistake and knew that it was her responsibility to correct it as soon as possible.

Being aware of the need to improve

Another great way to improve is by being aware that you have room for improvement. If you believe you are already as good at something as you're going to get, then you will have no desire to improve. If you think those around you are satisfied, you will not feel the need to improve.

I believe that you should constantly try to improve yourself, even if there is no need to improve. You should improve yourself for improvements sake. You and everyone around you will benefit.