What do Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Barak Obama have in common? Besides being powerful leaders who have made a profound and deep-lasting impact on people around the world?
They are committed to lifelong learning. They are dedicated readers who, as author Michael Simmons writes, follow the 5 Hour Rule: they spend a minimum of one hour each workday dedicated to deliberate learning.
Knowledge is the new money, Simmons argues. And as goods and services lose their monetary value—as they become demonetized “things”—the value of knowledge increases exponentially. Even better, he says, “When you use knowledge or give it away, you don’t lose it…It can be converted into many things, including things that money can’t buy…It helps you think bigger and beyond your circumstances…It puts your life in perspective by essentially helping you live many lives through other people’s experiences and wisdom.”
Quoting the eminent futurist Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn,”