Kaizen, Be a Constant Learner

This week Inc. Magazine ran a blog post by Michael Simmons entitled “Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule,” and it’s worth sharing!

At the age of 10, Benjamin Franklin left formal schooling to become an apprentice to his father. As a teenager, he showed no particular talent or aptitude aside from his love of books. When he died a little over half a century later, he was America's most respected statesman, its most famous inventor, a prolific author, and a successful entrepreneur. What happened between these two points to cause such a meteoric rise?

Underlying the answer to this question is a success strategy for life that we can all use, and increasingly must use.

The five-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

Every time that Franklin took time out of his busy day to follow his five-hour rule and spend at least an hour learning, he accomplished less on that day. However, in the long run, it was arguably the best investment of his time he could have made. 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.  

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day,according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: "Books were my pass to personal freedom." Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

So what would it look like to make the five-hour rule part of our lifestyle? 

The core concept of the five-hour rule: "Empty Space"

Stay tuned for more on “Empty Space” in our next Coach’s Playbook!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development