Strength Sensei CP posted on the Dojo of Strength – © all rights reserved
Interesting question, I always ask a variant of this question to my clients during their first interview.
Because my rates are at the top of the field, I often attract a well-off clientele of self-made millionaires, and I try to learn as much from them as they learn from me. I always ask them the following question:
“To stay at the top of your field, how much learning time do you budget per week for seminars, reading trade publications etc.?”
The answer is always practically the same:
“8 to 16 hours a week.”
Note, that the answers from men who have made fortunes in very different areas: real estate, logistics, sales, supplement industry etc…
Unless you allow 8 hours per week on learning, you will never make it to the top 1% of our field, or any field for that matter, whether you are selling coffee, shipping helicopter parts, or developing World class athletes. I spend a minimum of 24 days a year sitting in seminars like SWIS or 212. At those seminars, I often pre-arrange to meet speakers and pay them for consultation time. home and come to learn from others.
I also read an average of 100 books a year ranging from biomechanics to psychology. An average of 2 books per week is easy to do when you forego time wasters such as watching TV. Over the years, I managed to collect everything written on strength training, weightlifting, powerlifting, and bodybuilding after the late 1800s in English, French and German. This has allowed me to see from where modern knowledge in our field has evolved. I also have shelves full of books in foreign languages on strength training, where I have translated tables and figures to gain further information.
All successful people I know are avid readers. Guys like Joe Polish, Mauro DiPasquale, Jonny Bowden, and Tim Ferriss have all extensive libraries. I remember visiting Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale at his house in Canada, and ask him the same question. He quickly displayed his own computer databank of scientific citations. It had over 8,000.000 references in it. This was 1995. It probably has over 50 million papers in it now.
If you want to make it in any field, the best piece of advice I can give you is to get rid of your TV and read more. Remember, there is a direct correlation between knowledge and income. We live in the age of information. For example, the strength coach or personal trainer who completes an internship with us doubles their income within one year. The more you know, the more you are worth.
