We all begin our lives knowing absolutely nothing.  As young children, we found so much joy and excitement in discovering all that life had to offer.  But, as the years accumulate and our knowledge grows, very often we will discover that we are no longer as “teachable” as we once were.

The most important personality trait that an entrepreneur should have is a “teachable attitude”.  If you are still “teachable”, you have an excellent chance to succeed where others fail.  After spending a lot of hours listening and talking with entrepreneurs about their successes and their failures, it is so crystal clear to me that their attitude about taking advice or seeking advice has a profound impact on their success.

Many people, including myself, have oftentimes found themselves focusing on the talents that others have believing that their talents alone will cause them to succeed no matter what they do. But, unfortunately, that is not really true.  Talent alone is never enough to guarantee success in business, in sports, or in almost anything that you can imagine.

I was once told (and I never forgot this) that the biggest difference between those who fail and those who succeed is NOT their aptitudes, it is their attitudes.  Some of the world’s most talented people will often fail unexpectedly while much less gifted people will succeed.  Why is that?

There is no magic answer here.  The answer is rather obvious, but it is not magical.  It is much more just plain common sense.  If you want to succeed at doing something that you have never done before, you really need to be willing to listen to others who can help you.  If you choose not to listen, you will likely fail over and over again.  It all comes down to whether you are “teachable”.

The strange reality is that all of us, if we are being honest, are “teachable” about some things, but totally “unteachable” about others.  Evaluate yourself carefully and you will see that this is true.

Do you find it difficult to admit when you don’t understand how to do something?  And even when you are receiving instructions about doing the very thing that you know nothing about, do you find yourself to be argumentative?  When you are being corrected for making a mistake, is it easier for you to blame someone else for your failure or perhaps just refuse to listen at all to what is being said?  If so, you are likely to be “unteachable” in that area.

Are you more comfortable when you are surrounded by people who tend to agree with you and your way of thinking?  Do you avoid listening to the opinions of people who will likely disagree with your opinions?  If so, could you be “unteachable”?

Well, there is still hope for you if you can admit that you have had difficulty in this area.  The way to move back to having a “teachable attitude” is to focus on the following adjustments to your behavior:

• Be more willing to openly say, “I don’t know how to do this!”.
• Be gracious and thankful when being corrected by others.
• Seek wise counsel when faced with tough decisions.
• Make yourself accountable to choose to learn from others.

The knowledge that you have is valuable to others, so share what you do know while continuing to learn from others,  When you begin to do that, everybody wins.

This article was written by SDK Hunter Consulting Group

About The Author:

Sherman Hunter and SDK Hunter Consulting Group staff consultants provide global moneymaking opportunities and proprietary strategies that quickly accelerate business activity. You may familiarize yourself with these unique concepts by visiting the SDK Hunter Consulting Group blog located at:  https://sdkhunter.com

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