What’s the difference between a star performer who can name his/her sa-lary, and someone who can’t? Successful people tend to lots of effort into improving themselves.

Coach Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina talks about how when he first noticed Michael Jordan, he didn’t see NBA material. However, the UNC basketball clinic accepted Michael for a summer training programme. Coach Smith talks about how his staff was amazed at the amount of effort Michael put into practising and learning the skills that ultimately made him a great basketball player.

Jordan didn’t stop lear-ning how to be a great player in that high school clinic. He kept on practising and learning until he got into the NBA. Then he kept at it until it just became a way of life. He even was able to apply the skill of continual learning to become a good baseball and golf player.

If you want to make more money and to be able to command the types of positions you really want, you need to adopt a Michael Jordan attitude. When continued learning and growth becomes a habit and it’s integrated into your lifestyle, you’ll find yourself moving into a whole new echelon of career success. Continued growth is the key to being able to compete in today’s era of globalisation and high unemployment.

How can you do this?

Successful people tend to maximise a concept that HR professionals call “job stretch”. Job stretch is the difference between what your skills are now and skills that are required to perform a certain set of functions. Successful people seek to make their job stretch as wide as possible while still being able to do their job really well. This means volunteering for that project at work that you might have to spend some extra time researching to be able to do well. It means applying for jobs that require slightly more expertise than you currently have.