Latest / The Growth Mindset Book Podcast: Ideas That Change the Way You Think / How Teachable Are You? Why Learning Isn’t Enough to Change Your Life

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How Teachable Are You? Why Learning Isn’t Enough to Change Your Life · The Growth Mindset Book Podcast: Ideas That Change the Way You Think

• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Today I want to talk about something that I believe is incredibly important if you want to grow in any area of your life.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the Teachability Index.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we get into it, I want you to ask yourself a question.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: How teachable are you?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And don't answer too quickly, because I think most of us immediately say, I'm very teachable.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love learning.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not really the question.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: The teachability index has two parts.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: The first is your willingness to learn.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: The second is your willingness to accept change.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a huge difference between the two.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever known someone who reads every book, listens to every podcast, watches every video, attends seminars, takes courses, and is constantly learning.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: They know everything, but their life never seems to change.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because learning something and actually being willing to change because of what you learned are two completely different things.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to really hear that.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Learning and changing are not the same thing.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can learn all day long, but if you're unwilling to change what you're currently doing, what good is the information?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you a really simple example.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine someone comes to me and says, Michael, I want to lose weight.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: They've read books about nutrition, they know about exercise, they know what foods they probably shouldn't be eating.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: They know they should move their body.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Their willingness to learn might be a 10.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: But then I say, okay, starting tomorrow, I want you to change what you're eating.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to exercise five days a week.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to stop doing these three things you've been doing.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And they say, well, I don't know about that.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Wait a second.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: You told me you wanted the result.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: You told me you were willing to learn.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: But are you willing to change?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's where this gets really interesting.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can have a willingness to learn of 10, but if your willingness to accept change is a two, how teachable are you really?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Not very.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is where so many people get stuck.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: They want different results without wanting to become different.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: They want different results without wanting to become different.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Can you relate to that at all?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wanted something to change in your life while at the same time resisting the very changes necessary to create it?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know I have.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: We all have.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your business.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to double your income.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: What are you willing to change?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to change your routine?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to make more calls?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to have conversations that make you uncomfortable?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to stop doing things that aren't producing results?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to listen to somebody who's already accomplished what you want to accomplish?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you immediately say, yeah, but that won't work for me?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: My business is different.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: My territory is different.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: My clients are different.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've tried that before.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see what's happening?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a lack of information.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's resistance to change.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And here's another part of this that I absolutely love.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you learning from?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's incredibly important.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: If I wanted to become a great golfer, would I rather take advice from somebody who has read 100 books about golf but never played professionally?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or would I want to sit down with Tiger Woods?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's an easy answer for me.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to Tiger Woods.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because he's gotten the result.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: If I want to build a successful business, I want to learn from somebody who has actually built one.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: If I want to become an incredible salesperson, I want to study incredible salespeople.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: If I want to improve my mindset, I want to learn from people who have demonstrated the results of the principles they're teaching.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: This doesn't mean you blindly accept everything somebody tells you.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what we're talking about.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: It means being open enough to say, this person has a result I want.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they know something I don't know.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's teachability.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how powerful that sentence is.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they know something I don't know.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of immediately defending what you already believe, you become curious.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: What are they doing differently?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: What do they understand that I don't understand yet?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: What are they doing that I'm not doing?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then comes the most important question.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Am I willing to change?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because here's the problem.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Your current thinking and your current actions helped create your current results.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want different results, doesn't it make sense that something has to change?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Of course it does.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yet what do we sometimes do?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: We defend the very habits that are creating the results we say we don't want.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: We say, I want something different.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then someone shows us something different to do, and we say, no, I don't want to do that.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty funny when you really think about it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: We want change without changing.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to do today.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Give yourself two scores.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: On a scale of one to ten, what is your willingness to learn?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Be honest.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now give yourself another score.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: What is your willingness to accept change?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And don't give yourself the score you think you should have.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Give yourself the real score.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because awareness is where this begins.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a nine when it comes to learning, but only a four when it comes to changing.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Great, now we know something.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: But now you're aware of it.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And once you're aware of it, you can do something about it.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: So the next time somebody you respect gives you an idea and your immediate response is, yeah, but catch yourself.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Just stop for a second.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, am I rejecting this because it's wrong, or am I rejecting it because it requires me to change?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's a completely different question.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this applies to everything: money, business, relationships, health, mindset, success.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you want something you've never had, there's a pretty good chance you're going to have to learn something you don't currently know and do something you're not currently doing.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's growth.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to remember from today's podcast.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Being teachable isn't simply being willing to learn.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Being teachable means being willing to learn and being willing to change.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: You need both.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe today you don't need another book.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you don't need another podcast.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you don't need another seminar.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you already know what you need to do.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: The question is, are you willing to do it?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question I want you thinking about today.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: What do I already know that I'm simply not applying?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And what would happen in my life if I finally did it?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You might already have the information that changes everything.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to use it.