I vividly recall as a child growing up in the Caribbean my parents, grandparents – generally, older persons-having ‘big people’ tête-à-têtes; using sayings that I found difficult to interpret, especially when the younglings were around. To me, it was like another language.

Sayings like:

Crapaud smoke yuh pipe!

What ears hear, tongue shouldn't know

Common sense make before book sense

Cockroach have no right in fowl party! (which I use to get this all the time)

Imagine, I would be thinking: why a crapaud would be smoking a pipe or why a fowl would be throwing a party; but, that’s another story.

The older I got though, the more I realised the power behind these well-crafted, succinct and candid statements. They were pearls of wisdom whose meanings can only be decoded by a worthy few: adults (yes, I went all Thor on you there).

Let’s look at two such sayings and see what we can learn from them.

1) Same story, different day

Einstein impeccably described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

I'm not saying that having a routine is a bad thing- after all, repetition reinforces what we already know and gives us a measure of reliability. But doing the same thing, the same way, every single day; it's as if you're stuck on replay. We just exist, going with the motions of our routine. We become so hard-wired that it becomes challenging to deviate from those fixed pathways. It's as if our brain is set to autopilot; we become predictable.  

But the beautiful thing about the brain is that it is designed to keep learning; its insatiable nature craves a flow of new and novel information. Then why deprive it of doing exactly what it's made to do?

So, don’t be insane; you are not a robot whose main purpose is to just carry out preprogrammed instructions. Don’t just accept change, be the change; challenge yourself to innovate and create.

How can you have a competitive edge and stand out from your peers if you’re predictable and unwilling to accept new and improved ways of doing things?

Simple, you cannot.

2) A rolling stone gathers no moss

There has been some debate on this saying; some argue a positive connotation while others, a negative. But for this discussion, we'll stick to the positive.

Question: were the world to stop moving, what do you think would happen?  Well, I’m pretty sure we'd die- this video gives us an idea: http://bit.ly/2c0nK32

I know it's quite dramatic, but, if we stopped learning then that’s precisely what’s going to happen to our brain, it dies. The plasticity deteriorates making it more difficult to learn and internalise new information. 

Einstein, sums it up nicely yet again when he said:"once you stop learning, you start dying.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. 

Tell me something, wouldn't you not love to:

• grow, develop and improve as a person?
• gain new and different opportunities?
• potentially earn more money?
• hone in on a new skill that will influence your efficiency?
• stay up-to-date in this ever evolving world?
• boost your confidence?
• develop your own business?
• network?

Then, what's really stopping you? Yourself?

Keep learning to innovate!

You may have already started off on a career path that you were certain was for you but it eventually became mundane and less challenging. You may have ideas to develop your own business or to create something innovative that can help solve a particular problem you and others are having but you're afraid to take the leap and make those ideas a reality.

My question to you is, why?

Wouldn't you like to turn your ideas into something tangible? Wouldn't you like to learn something new that can propel you forward and help you stay relevant as this world continues to evolve?

Sir Ken Robinson stated recently at the Distinguished Leadership and Innovation Conference (DLIC) 2017 that WE need to innovate our way forward; WE have an important power: our imagination; but it's what we do with that imagination is what's important. So it's not just taking in new information, it's actually doing something with it and seeing it materialise in ways that can help us and others.

Would you like to know how you can take your rewire your brain for innovative learning that can make your ideas a reality?

Well, we invite you to the 'big people' conversations now!

Click the link below to schedule a sit-down conversation with the Academic Advisor for the International Master of Business Development & Innovation and learn how the programme can help 

Join us for a FREE Information Session on Wednesday 09th August, 2017 from 5:30am-7:30pm at the Lok Jack GSB's North Campus and learn how the IMBDI can be your path to a successful business. 

We also welcome your calls or emails at 645-5600 ext. 166/200 or recruitment@lokjackgsb.edu.tt 

Learn as if you were to live forever. Mahatma Gandhi

About the Author: 

Reshma Singh-Manoo is a Content and Marketing Operations Officer at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. She continues to work her way up the career ladder and to succeed in the field of Marketing and has a drive and love for writing and photography. She graduated from the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Language, Literature and Education (Hons). She is passionate about kids and contributing to charitable initiatives. At home, she is a wife, baker and avid reader.