1

Keep Growing or Start Dying

In nature, there is a universal law that states that in order for anything to survive, it must
continuously change and improve. The moment anything stops growing, it starts deteriorating
and dying.

In the rainforest, trees must keep growing in order to get sunlight to survive. The moment a
sapling does not grow fast enough, other faster growing plants nearby will block its sunlight.
Without sunlight, it will only be a matter of time before that plant perishes.

Change Constantly or Face Extinction

This universal law is also true in today’s world of business, money politics and relationships. It
applies to countries, companies and individuals like you and me. The moment anything stays
the way it is for too long, it won’t last for very long.

If You Want to Be A Leader and Stay a Leader, You Have To Commit

To Constant Change And Improvement

Do you want to become a leader in your field and maintain your success over time? Then you
too have to commit to constant change and improvement.

There are two categories of people: the leaders and the followers. Followers like to maintain
the status quo. Once they find the right way to do something, they just like to stick with it. They
love predictability and hate to experiment with new ideas. They believe that ‘if something isn’t
broken, then don’t fix it.’ They hate to change anything the moment they feel they are
successful where they are.

Leaders, on the other hand, constantly challenge the status quo. They love to learn and
experiment with new ideas. They believe that there is no ‘best way to do something’. As a
result, they are always focusing on how something can be done better. They believe that if
what they are doing today is exactly the way they have been doing it a year ago, then it is
unacceptable. To stay successful, they believe that they have to consistently change and
improve.

They continuously make small improvements on a regular basis to keep getting better and
better. This attitude of ‘Kaizen’ (meaning: continuous improvement) is what turned war
ravaged Japan into an economic miracle during the 1960s-1980s. The Japanese believe that
the ideas and strategies that have taken them to where they are will not be sufficient or
relevant to make them successful tomorrow. Tomorrow is a whole different ball game. As a
result, their ideas have to keep getting better.

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.
 2

If You Do Not Make Yourself Obsolete

Then Someone Else Will!

In the technology and computer world, companies constantly roll out better and better
versions of their software and hardware. Every month, a better version of software is available
for download. You have 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and then the 3.0 is rolled out. Each new version makes
the older one obsolete.

Companies keep making better version of their products because they know that if they do not
make their own products obsolete, then another competitor will make them obsolete! What
many people do not realize is that the same thing is true in our personal and professional lives.

“ If we do not constantly make the old version of ourselves obsolete, someone else will make us
obsolete.”- Adam Khoo.

If we do not constantly upgrade our knowledge and skills and become a better version of
ourselves every year, we too will soon become obsolete! Our companies will soon replace us
with someone with 21st century skills if we keep doing things the 20th century way. The same
is true if you are a business owner. If we keep doing business the same way, competitors will
soon put you out of business with new and better ways of serving customers.

Think about it. Are you a better version of yourself every year? Are you still running your mind
on version 1.0 or have you upgraded to version 3.0? Do you create more value with new ideas,
knowledge and skills constantly? Do you give your boss a good reason to pay you the same
salary or to increase your pay year after year? Do you give your customers a good reason to
keep using your services?

You wouldn’t want to buy a 1.0 version software if you could buy a 3.0 version would you? You
wouldn’t pay the same price for a 1.0 version if you could get a 3.0 version for the same price
would you? Similarly, your company would rather hire someone with 21st century skills as
compared to someone with only 20th century skills.

Success is About Making Small Changes Over Time

Do you want to achieve an extraordinary quality of life? If so, then understand that success is
not the result of a single action taken overnight. Success does not come about by making one
big change but making little improvements on a consistent basis.

How do some people become so successful at speaking, investing, relationships, selling,

business etc...? It is always the result of continuous improvement over time that creates true
talent in any field. In an earlier chapter you learnt that it takes at least 10,000 hours of
deliberate practice to become excellent at something.

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.
 3

I can confidently say that I am an excellent speaker who can command the attention of
audiences of any size for hours. My success as a speaker is the result of my commitment
towards consistent and continuous improvement over the last 15 years. Over that time, I have
done over 5,700 speeches. Some of the talks/seminars I give are repeated several times a year.
For example, I have run my ‘Patterns of Excellence’ introductory seminar over 155 times.

Although I keep doing the same topic over and over again, I commit to the discipline of making
every talk better than the one before. I keep finding ways to make it more entertaining, more
engaging and more impactful. Not only does this prevent me from getting bored presenting
the exact same speech, I get excited to test out a better approach each and every time. This
also prevents my competitors for replicating my material. By the time they listen and copy
what I do, I would be doing something even better, leaving them a few steps behind! This has
been the secret to my success as a professional speaker.

Why Some People Never Create Sustainable Success

The trouble with most people is that they do not take consistent actions towards their physical,
professional, personal, financial and social life. They only focus on what is giving them
problems and they work on solving the problem until things get better. Once it gets to an
acceptable standard, they focus on something else. They only start paying attention when
things screw up again.

During one of my ‘Patterns of Excellence’ programmes, I asked a participant what he needed

to improve in his life. He told me that his business was doing pretty well but his relationship
with his wife was going through a rough patch. “I have to focus all my energy and work on my
marriage,’ he said. I paid too much attention to turning my business around and I ignored my
wife’s needs.

The trouble is that if he now focuses all of his attention on his marriage and stops improving
his business, his business is going to get into trouble.

Remember that for us to achieve a successful balance in all areas of our life, we have to make
gradual, daily improvements in every area that is important. Each day in the office, we have to
find a better way to work more effectively. When we come home at night, we have to then
focus on ways to keep our relationships strong and stimulating. Our life does not get better by
jumping into something with lots of enthusiasm and giving our best for a few days, weeks or
even months…and then we jump into something else. It has to be consistent!

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.
 4

Four Keys to Continuous Improvement

Here are four keys to ensuring that you continuously become better over time.

1) Keep an Open Mind.

Start with having an open mind to entertaining new ways of doing things.
Never allow yourself to be trapped with beliefs that things ‘must be done a certain way’. That
immediately limits your ability to innovate and change. Always be prepared to slay even your
sacred cows.

I used to hold the belief that only people who were younger than I would sign up for my courses
and be open to my teachings. For some time, that paradigm stopped me from entering the
corporate training arena. When I finally jettisoned that limiting paradigm, it expanded my
career (and business) ten-fold!

Avoid using the expression, ‘I know…’ Using this sentence stops your curiosity for learning and
discovering new things. For example, if I asked you if you know about ‘investing’ and you
replied, ‘I know about investing’, that immediately switches your mind off to learning more.
Once you believe that your ‘cup’ is full, no more water can be poured in’. To keep my curiosity,
I always say to myself, ‘What I know up to this point is….’ That gets me ready to learn even
more.

2) Commit to Constant and Never Ending Improvement

Once you have an open mind, make a commitment to ‘Constant And Never Ending
Improvement’ in every area of your life. Make it is an attitude that you decide to adopt from
today.

Whether you are working, spending time with your family or exercising, keep focusing on these
two questions

a. ‘Am I doing this the same way I have been doing before?’
b. ‘How can this be done even better?’

Asking these two questions will focus on your mind constantly finding small ways to improve.
It will drive you to consistently raise your standards.

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.
 5

To begin this process, take a few minutes to write down one specific way you can improve in
each of the areas of your life:

a) Career or Business

What is one specific improvement you can make in the way you are doing your job or running
your business?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

b) Handling my Finances

How can you improve the way you are managing, spending or investing your money?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

c) My Health

How can you improve the way you are nourishing your body or how can you improve your
physical health or energy?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

d) My Relationships

How can you improve your relationship with your friends and loved ones? How can you
communicate more effectively or appreciate them more?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Once you have written down your ideas, take action immediately to get results. Repeat this
process every month and make those small gradual improvements that will make a huge
difference over time.

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.
 6

3) Upgrade Yourself Regularly

To constantly get new ideas and inspirations, you have to regularly feed your mind with new
knowledge and ideas. Invest at least 5% of your income every year to attend seminars, courses
and buy self-development books. Invest at least 10% of your time daily to read books, magazine
or website content that would enhance your knowledge and skills in the different aspects of
your life.

I personally feed my mind constantly on topics like communication, leadership, business,

money management, parenting, relationships etc… This constant input of new ideas makes it
easy for me to find better ways of improving what I do. We will talk about this more in the next
chapter.

4) Dare to Make Mistakes

What stops many people from making changes are the fear of failure and the fear of stepping
out of their comfort zone. You cannot let these things stop you.

Realize that when you make changes, there will be mistakes along the way. There will be times
when things will not go according to what you expect. Winners do not see this as failure, but
merely a learning experience that will only bring them closer to a better strategy. Remember
that when you take action, you give yourself the chance to get new results. Not taking any
action guarantees that you will get no new results. So dare to take that risk because not taking
any risks will be the biggest risk of all.

“ Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone”

- Robert Allen, International Best-selling Author

Finally, stretch yourself to get out of your comfort zone and experience something new.
Stretching is the key to personal growth. The moment you stretch your mind and body to a
new level, it will never return to its former state!

©️2020 Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group (AKLTG) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form
without the express written consent of AKLTG is prohibited.