How Teachable Are You? Why Learning Isn’t Enough to Change Your Life

Why Teachability Drives Growth

Today I want to talk about something that I believe is incredibly important if you want to grow in any area of your life. It's called the Teachability Index. Now, before we get into it, I want you to ask yourself a question. How teachable are you? And don't answer too quickly, because I think most of us immediately say, I'm very teachable. I love learning. But that's not really the question. The teachability

Two Scores That Define Teachability

index has two parts. The first is your willingness to learn. The second is your willingness to accept change. And there's a huge difference between the two. Think about this. Have you ever known someone who reads every book, listens to every podcast, watches every video, attends seminars, takes courses, and is constantly learning. They know everything, but their life never seems to change. Why? Because learning something and actually being willing to change because of what you learned are two completely different things. And I want you to really hear that. Learning and changing are not the same thing. You can learn all day long, but if you're unwilling to change what you're currently doing, what good is the information?

Weight Loss Example: Learning vs Doing

Let me give you a really simple example. Imagine someone comes to me and says, Michael, I want to lose weight. Great. They've read books about nutrition, they know about exercise, they know what foods they probably shouldn't be eating. They know they should move their body. Their willingness to learn might be a 10. But then I say, okay, starting tomorrow, I want you to change what you're eating. I want you to exercise five days a week. I want you to stop doing these three things you've been doing. And they say, well, I don't know about that. Wait a second. You told me you wanted the result. You told me you were willing to learn. But are you willing to change? That's where this gets really interesting. 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? Not very.

Wanting Results Without Becoming Different

And I think this is where so many people get stuck. They want different results without wanting to become different. Let me say that again. They want different results without wanting to become different. Can you relate to that at all? Have you ever wanted something to change in your life while at the same time resisting the very changes necessary to create it? I know I have. We all have. Think about your business. Maybe you want to double your income. Wonderful. What are you willing to change? Are you willing to change your routine? Are you willing to make more calls? Are you willing to have conversations that make you uncomfortable? Are you willing to stop doing things that aren't producing results? Are you willing to listen to somebody who's already accomplished what you want to accomplish? Or do you immediately say, yeah, but that won't work for me? My business is different. My territory is different. My clients are different. I've tried that before. Do you see what's happening? That's not a lack of information. That's resistance to change.

Learn From People With Results

And here's another part of this that I absolutely love. Who are you learning from? I think that's incredibly important. 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? Or would I want to sit down with Tiger Woods? That's an easy answer for me. I want to talk to Tiger Woods. Why? Because he's gotten the result. If I want to build a successful business, I want to learn from somebody who has actually built one. If I want to become an incredible salesperson, I want to study incredible salespeople. If I want to improve my mindset, I want to learn from people who have demonstrated the results of the principles they're teaching. This doesn't mean you blindly accept everything somebody tells you. That's not what we're talking about. It means being open enough to say, this person has a result I want. Maybe they know something I don't know. That's teachability. Think about how powerful that sentence is. Maybe they know something I don't know. Instead of immediately defending what you already believe, you become curious. What are they doing differently? What do they understand that I don't understand yet? What are they doing that I'm not doing? And then comes the most important question. Am

Curiosity Beats Defensiveness

I willing to change? Because here's the problem. Your current thinking and your current actions helped create your current results. So if you want different results, doesn't it make sense that something has to change? Of course it does. Yet what do we sometimes do? We defend the very habits that are creating the results we say we don't want. Think about that. We say, I want something different. Then someone shows us something different to do, and we say, no, I don't want to do that. That's pretty funny when you really think about it. We want change without changing.

Score Yourself Honestly

So here's what I want you to do today. Give yourself two scores. On a scale of one to ten, what is your willingness to learn? Be honest. Now give yourself another score. What is your willingness to accept change? And don't give yourself the score you think you should have. Give yourself the real score. Because awareness is where this begins. Maybe you're a nine when it comes to learning, but only a four when it comes to changing. Great, now we know something. There's nothing wrong with that. But now you're aware of it. And once you're aware of it, you can do something about it.

Catch Your "Yeah, But" Reflex

So the next time somebody you respect gives you an idea and your immediate response is, yeah, but catch yourself. Just stop for a second. Ask yourself, am I rejecting this because it's wrong, or am I rejecting it because it requires me to change? Wow, that's a completely different question. And this applies to everything: money, business, relationships, health, mindset, success. 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. That's growth.

You Might Already Know Enough

So here's what I want you to remember from today's podcast. Being teachable isn't simply being willing to learn. Being teachable means being willing to learn and being willing to change. You need both. And maybe today you don't need another book. Maybe you don't need another podcast. Maybe you don't need another seminar. Maybe you already know what you need to do. The question is, are you willing to do it? That's the question I want you thinking about today. What do I already know that I'm simply not applying? And what would happen in my life if I finally did it? You might already have the information that changes everything. Now it's time to use it.