This is why you should never stop learning

The most common definition of the word "Entrepreneur" is a person who has the ability to identify and discover some type of business opportunity. The concept of "Entrepreneurship" has been very abused lately, since many people use it daily without knowing what the world of entrepreneurship really entails.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur has never been so easy. Today we have countless resources that allow us to expand our knowledge on a daily basis, and that enhance the quality of the so-called "self-learning". Just think about it, 25 years ago, there was no type of social network, the internet was beginning to discover its potential, and therefore there was no type of digital business that allowed us to leverage our knowledge by creating a venture at low (or none) cost, something that thanks to technology, today is very simple, and basically doesn’t require a huge economic effort.

Nowadays most of the people that have changed the way we communicate on a daily basis, used technology to leverage their projects and knowledge, until they managed to build empires like the ones we know today. All these well-known characters that we use today as role models, such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Larry Page, and many other great mega entrepreneurs, knew how to gather a series of skills that led them to exploit them to the maximum their talents. I am a faithful believer that everyone is born with a series of unique talents, the problem is that very few people know how to identify them, and even fewer people manage to develop them.

While there are people who are born with an entrepreneurial mindset, or develop it at a very young age, it can be developed. If we review the history of many millionaires who managed to create empires, starting from very low, most of them acquired knowledge and skills over time, combining them with their talents and a series of aspects that we will elaborate on later.

Becoming a successful person is not difficult at all, the problem is that many people are not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve it. Think about it, if becoming a millionaire was possible overnight, or just a simple task, don't you think we would all be happy to amass great fortunes without any effort? That is why I’m very distant from those who only focus on finding formulas to make “easy money”.

I honestly haven’t found the formula, and guided by the experiences of the great entrepreneurs of today, they haven’t done it either. Although as we discussed earlier, financial freedom is achieved through passive income (income that is generated without any effort), it requires certain skills, knowledge and above all a lot of discipline to achieve them.

In one of his great and memorable talks, in company of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates established that a good entrepreneur never stops learning in his life, and that if he would have done it, he would obviously suffered a detour on his way. Although everyone has their tastes, and therefore different people to admire, I think we all agree that the opinions issued by Bill Gates are practically rules to be followed by those who want to become great entrepreneurs, right?

Financial freedom is not about reaching a certain amount of money, or acquiring some type of asset, but rather a process where each of the experiences and knowledge that we acquire will be a fundamental part of achieving it. While it’s never too late to start, it will always be better to do it as soon as possible, which is why I am very pleased that you have decided to step forward at such an early stage in your life.

The learning process of an entrepreneur doesn’t consist on qualifications, jobs, or diplomas, since this is a process that must last a lifetime. The problem with most people who go to college to get some kind of bachelor's degree, is that they finish their learning process once they finish college, and they have the belief that a college degree is going to solve all their financial problems, or that by being promoted to a higher job, with a higher salary and greater responsibilities, they will have concluded their learning process, and the truth is that this is far from reality.

There are very few things that give me more satisfaction in this life than watching a good movie, no matter the genre, the group of actors involved, the main plot of the film or who has been its director, as long as the end result is a quality product. Like most of you, I like to watch the annual Academy Film Awards, which we commonly refer to as the "Oscar Awards." I have brought this into conversation to remember the words of the popular actor Matthew McConaughey, upon receiving his golden statuette in 2014, where he said that his hero would always himself in 10 years, because that way, he would always have a goal to achieve, and a purpose to be better everyday.

Many people would consider the task finished, after having been recognized with such honor as what it means to be an Oscar winner, but what Matthew wanted to say in his speech, is that life is a constant learning process, where the goal is the way, it sounds a little bit confusing, right? Because it’s not about reaching a simple goal, or in this case, a certain amount of money, but instead it is a process that lasts a lifetime, where the goal will always be to improve ourselves every day, developing and evolving always a better version of ourselves.